Examines the current (inadequate) system of initial preparation and inservice development for school leaders and suggests potential ameliorative strategies. University programs are badly tarnished, from student recruitment practices to curriculum content and employment certification procedures. Establishing a professional knowledge base and…

Examines ways to improve the potential transfer of knowledge, skills, and attitudes through professional development institutes. Discusses briefly the conceptual basis for transfer and presents specific ways to transfer theory into practice in the design of a two-week training institute offered to school principals at Vanderbilt University. (33…

Analysts have recently identified features such as program content that distinguish emerging administrator training programs from traditional ones. To examine variations in current approaches to school administrator training, three questions are addressed: (1) What are the variations in program content and organizational processes among emerging…

A proposal that calls for increasing the relevance of administrator preparation by applying a problem-based learning approach is offered in this paper. A review of literature on problem-based learning (PBL) in medical education concludes that, compared with traditional programs, PBL yields superior or equivalent results on a variety of outcome…

Articles in this issue are among the first published findings from empirical evaluations of administrator training programs begun in the 1980s. This introduction presents background information on the leadership development movement in which these program evaluations occurred. Themes emerging from these studies are synthesized. (SLD)

Results from an exploratory evaluation of the Indiana Principals' Leadership Academy (IPLA) over its first four years are reported. Interviews with 30 principals (20 IPLA graduates and 10 current participants) and review of IPLA documents reflect favorable responses to the program by principals and its strengths and weaknesses. (SLD)