It was important, in selecting a new chancellor for Damp Valley State, to find someone to preserve and cultivate the university's reputation as a fourth-rate backwater. Founder Throckmorton P. Wallow would have been pleased with the choice, by a painfully diverse and politically correct search committee, of Estralita Gonzalez, who had formerly…

Stress occurs among all groups in a school community and can affect morale, performance, and leadership ability. This article discusses how educators must deal with and control stress. Principals must address their own stress to create a healthy school culture. Moreover, the author presents two survival strategies that can provide support and…

In surveys, research university faculty often report that they value teaching more than their departments do. This incongruence holds implications for job satisfaction, stress, time spent on teaching, organizational continuity, and even student evaluations. Using an interactionist view of organizations, Mary C. Wright examines the reasons for this…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate how race and race relations influence school leadership practice. Design/methodology/approach: This ethnographic study was conducted in a high-poverty, high-minority, urban high school in the Southeastern USA. The authors utilized an anthropological conceptual framework called a moiety, through…

Beginning teachers continue to exit the classroom in alarming numbers, despite numerous recruitment and retention strategies. High teacher turnover rates result in a deficit of quality teachers and instruction; a loss of continuity and commitment; and time, attention, and funds devoted to recruitment versus support. The purpose of this empirical…

This paper is an extension of the author's earlier work on developing management information services and creating a culture of assessment in libraries. The author will focus observations on the use of data in decision-making in libraries, specifically on the role of leadership in making evidence-based decision a reality, and will review new…

Purpose: The study investigates how various accountability contexts--including states, local boards, districts, school site councils, parent associations, and teachers--affect the ability of principals to influence instructional and supervisory decisions in their schools. Data: Data for the analysis come from 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey…

The principal's administrative style strongly influences teachers' satisfaction. This paper provides an overview of literature on administrative styles and presents findings of a study that explored the relationship between principals' leadership styles and school climate. A principal-evaluation survey was distributed to 30 graduate students in…

Until very recently, ethical issues were given little attention in administrator-preparation programs. This digest outlines the ethical responsibilities of school leaders and the dilemmas that they face. It offers the following suggestions for resolving ethical dilemmas: (1) Leaders should have and be willing to act on a definite sense of ethical…

Metaphors are useful for creating new meanings and making assumptions explicit. This paper describes the metaphors that four female principals used to conceptualize their thinking about leadership and power. Data were derived from observations and interviews with the principals, who had been identified by their school boards as outstanding…

Project Success was initiated to identify the good things that happen in American public education. One thousand administrators nationwide, identified by their peers as successful were asked to describe their leadership characteristics and beliefs about education. Responses were received from 491 administrators. Chapter 1 presents sample…

Transactional leadership, or managing a static system of institutional exchanges, was the standard for colleges in an era of expanding markets, apparent never-ending growth, and little competition. Current conditions, however, call for transformational leadership, which involves leaders who create new approaches and relate to people in more…

This paper asks: Which of the alternative views that women bring to the position of superintendent have the potential to change the nature of the position itself? The paper examines the classical "feminine" definition of power in light of its potential to support an ethical practice not often attributed to superintendents of schools, namely, an…

This paper presents findings of a study that investigated associations between the learning environments of schools and the principal's interpersonal behavior as perceived by teachers. It also describes the development and validation of an instrument to measure principals' interpersonal behaviors with their teaching staffs. The questionnaire was…

Librarians providing individual information instruction need to be able to quickly and accurately assess the student's level of experience and ability and to offer the correct balance between support and challenge. Paul Hersey's Situational Leadership Model can provide librarians with a cognitive framework for assessment; it helps the instructor…