Because of their visibility at the center stage of community life, small-town superintendents have a greater opportunity to act as participatory managers and instructional leaders. This paper reports the results of surveys with 25 small-town school superintendents to discover rural/urban differences, work patterns, and exemplary practices in…

This research study sought to contribute to the development of validated criteria for evaluating supervisory performance in the area of rehabilitation counseling. First, it analyzed the relationship between rehabilitation counselor ratings of their supervisors' leadership behaviors and performance outcomes of these same counselors. Second, it…

This paper asserts that task analysis and related task-based approaches to assessing leadership attributes provide a limited view of how leaders function in educational settings. It proposes that several assessment approaches show promise in identifying vocational education administrator leadership attributes. Strengths and limitations associated…

This monograph critiques the literature on organizational and educational leadership, asserting that traditional approaches are unsatisfactory in their own right and within the existing positivist-functionalist paradigm. After outlining problems in defining leadership, the paper critically examines the "trait" approach, particularly…

Increased global interdependence will be the dominant feature of the 21st century. This increased relatedness among the world's cultures and nations will require close intercultural linkages which are often fragile and full of hazards. If the 21st century is to experience a greater sense of planetary community, rather than increased tensions and…

The participatory planning process model developed by Peirce Junior College is described in this paper. First, the rationale for shifting from a traditional authoritarian style of institutional leadership to a participatory style which encourages a broader concern for the institution and lessens morale problems is offered. The development of a new…

The relationship between interpersonal needs and communication in conflict management style messages was investigated in a study to discover the magnitude and direction of the relationship between three interpersonal needs--inclusion, control, and affection--and three styles of conflict management messages--focus on self, focus on issue, and focus…

This information analysis paper examines (1) the characteristics associated with effective change facilitators and (2) the concept of "style" and its value in describing and understanding leadership performance and the role of change facilitators in particular. Three bodies of literature are highlighted and summarized in pursuit of…

The variables that distinguish between deans characterized by colleagues and superiors as "most influential" and deans who were "least influential" among colleagues were studied. The sample of deans managed academic units in five public universities in the west, all meeting the Carnegie classification of "Research I"…

This digest offers camp leaders, outdoor experiential educators, school and college faculty, or youth agency staff who are interested in nurturing youth leaders a framework for designing youth leadership programs which employ an outdoor setting as a "leadership classroom." Basic categories for leadership theory are defined: trait theory,…

To obtain more information about the characteristics, work patterns, and career paths of women in middle management roles, this study collected structured interview data from 45 managerial women in business and education. During summer 1987, each student in the Women and Careers class at Texas Woman's University interviewed two female managers,…

This guide provides summaries and analyses of various measures related to school leadership and administrator skills, behavior styles, and characteristics. The guide aims to help schools, districts, and other educational organizations examine their leadership effectiveness. While principals are stressed, some information is provided about…

Purporting to test a contingency model for schools, data from 45 Arizona schools and 4 British schools were analyzed and compared to examine relationships between organizational environment, structure, leadership style, and perceived effectiveness. Environmental factors were measured by teacher and administrator responses to four Likert-type…

The self-perceptions and attributions for success among 561 college administrators were studied. Questionnaires were completed by presidents (27 percent), deans (27 percent), directors and coordinators (33 percent), and nonadministrative faculty (13 percent). Self-perceptions were measured by adjectives that were subsequently categorized as…

A study on differences between the leadership behaviors and attitudes of male and female college presidents is presented. Women are rarely represented in top academic administrative positions in higher education. Reasons include sex discrimination, negative perceptions of them as administrators, and negative evaluation of their administrative…