Purpose: The study aimed to explore the authority and power of kindergarten superintendents in public education to elucidate their leadership dynamics. Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 Israeli kindergarten teachers about the authority and power of their superintendents. Thematic analysis was used to…

In the United States, state-level agencies manage a variety of early care and education (ECE) programs serving children birth through age 5, including publicly funded preschool programs. A state office of early learning (SOEL) often oversees and manages select early childhood programs. SOELs typically have a significant role in such tasks as…

Purpose: This study examines the social organizational structure of one early childhood education (ECE) center in Finland and the relationship between this structure and the roles and the responsibilities of the members of the organization. Design/methodology/approach: The research is a qualitative case study with ethnographic features. Its…

Rural schools are a distinctive feature in the autonomous community of Aragon, as state-run rural schools are the main cultural institution in small towns. This research was conducted in four grouped rural schools (hereafter referred to by their Spanish acronym, CRAs) in the province of Teruel in 2017. Our objectives included analising the views…

Problematic aspects of implementing policy are not simply a product of the policy message, but rather are constructed by the actors engaged in the process. This qualitative interview study addresses the role of school leader's organizational identity beliefs in constructing policy problems and demonstrates how these perceptions seem to play an…

There is a growing emphasis on accountability in the management of preschool education across the world. It has become common practice in many countries to evaluate kindergartens to monitor and ensure their quality. The Chinese government has been implementing the policy of evaluating kindergartens for 30 years. It mainly involves assessing…

This paper addresses the roles of job position in relation to early childhood leadership (ECL) and school type as a potential moderator of this relationship in China. A sample of 918 research participants, including 149 principals/vice-principals, 108 middle leaders and 661 teachers, was investigated. A three-factor model of ECL including staff…

Intergovernmental Relations are conventionally defined as important interactions between governmental units of all types and levels. In the process of universalization of rural preschool education, intergovernmental relations act as an increasingly significant role in facilitating the operating mechanism of vertical institutions at national,…

In Europe, there are many different ways in which early childhood education and care professionals are trained. This article investigates how these different forms came into being. Comparing two small, prosperous European countries, Sweden and Switzerland, we analyse the developments in training regimes for early childhood professionals since the…

Tamim is an organization designed as a school network, much like those found in the charter school sector, among innovative public schools, and in smaller numbers in other corners of the private school sector. Tamim is built on the notion of expanding existing prekindergarten programs associated with local Chabad Jewish centers into full…

Using administrative and qualitative data, we investigate how decentralization affects the supply of optional educational services using the example of school-based prekindergarten (pre-K) in New Orleans during the transition to a majority-charter system. Although charter school leaders are motivated by student- and school-level benefits of pre-K,…

The main purpose of this article is to explore and develop a basic understanding of a new formulation of children's learning within ECEC policies in Norway. In the Nordic Countries, one question of importance is the shift in ECEC policy from a social-pedagogical approach and a holistic perspective on children's learning towards a heavier emphasis…

This study aims to reveal what the principals' experience of being a principal means to them. Phenomenological research design was used in the study. The study group of the research selected by the maximum diversity sampling consists of 37 principals. The findings of the study show that the most time-consuming tasks of school principals are…

This article explores organisational routines introduced in schools and preschools in a Swedish municipality and analyses the relationship between ostensive and performative aspects of improvement work. We take our theoretical point of departure in organisational psychology and an organisation development (OD) perspective by integrating the…

Chicago, the third-largest school district in the country with 355,000 students and 638 schools, was forced to close its buildings on March 17 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, COVID caseloads were growing rapidly in the city, especially among its low-income populations and residents of color. District leaders spent the first few weeks…