School principals are critical to students' academic achievement, second only to teachers. They are the primary agents of change in their schools, fostering supportive learning environments that enhance student learning and teacher effectiveness. Moreover, they often design and oversee the initiatives and hiring to sustain the positive changes…

Cognitive-behavioral theories offer a long-standing theoretical approach in clinical psychology that has wide-ranging implications for management education. We designed a cognitive-behavioral-based learning transfer tool for executives to enhance their application of leadership skills from professional development programs. We summarize the…

High-quality professional learning can build principals' capacity to lead successful schools. This brief summarizes a study about principals' professional learning based on a national survey of elementary school principals. Many surveyed principals reported that they had access to professional development that has been identified as important for…

In this article, we illustrate how ideas and practices of mindfulness can be integrated into management education, drawing from our work on postgraduate programs run with working managers. Our purpose is particularly to show how mindfulness can be introduced into the curriculum in a way that is acceptable for participants and clients, and brings…

Administrator training programs may compromise the ability of governors (superintendents) to offer an authentic "lay" input. This article explores the views of governors concerning the need for expert status. Training courses may contribute to a sense of inadequacy and to the tendency to become incorporated into an institutionalized…

Describes a recent study of principals' evaluations and perceptions concerning the quality of inservice learning experiences based on five alternative models. Findings disclosed participants' preferences for short-term institutes sponsored by a professional association and informal networking. More work is needed to design effective inservice…

The Institute for Development of Educational Activities' Principal Inservice Program aims to help principals become more competent. The two-year program uses facilitators who work with groups of six to ten principals so that each can achieve four goals: (1) to carry out a project in personal professional development; (2) to implement a school…

This report describes a process of development in which managers move beyond addressing shortcomings and are encouraged to recognize and internalize their strengths. The document begins with the idea that the failure to recognize one's strengths is at the root of many performance problems. It describes the difficulty in getting managers to…

The article provides some hints from industry on how to be a good manager, focusing on defining and meeting various levels of objectives, improving an organization, identifying attitudes useful in successful management, and assigning and developing managers by paying attention to their personal strengths. (SB)

Makes a case for more developmental activities for principals, lists characteristics of ideal programs, identifies important competencies for which principals have indicated training needs, and reviews ways to overcome problems involved. (JM)

Examines trainers' perceptions that head teachers present more problems as learners than other groups of managers. Partly because of professional isolation, secondary head teachers seem to have great difficulty with trainers' authority. Head teachers are frequently judgmental and resistant to experiential learning and personal change processes.…

This paper looks into the theory, and the practice of Management Information Systems (MIS) in the university setting, suggesting that university administrators are often more interested in "soft" information than "hard" information provided by MIS. Attitudes of university administrators are discussed, as well as management styles, supporting the…

The Division of Information and Academic Services (DIAS) is a large service division (over 400 staff) at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). In 2002 it supported a novel one-month rotation of roles by the three department directors. The rotation was conceived as an important professional development opportunity for each of the directors and…

A goal of the Colorado administrator survey is to provide Colorado institutions of higher education and the state board of education with information for the continued improvement of administrator education programs. Of 67 participants, 42 surveys were used. Respondents made assessments concerning major areas of their preparation programs. Major…

Effective schools research indicates that principals heavily influence student achievement and school improvement. Although principals are responsible for administering special education programs and ensuring appropriate evaluation and placement of handicapped students, their university preparation and professional training have been minimal and…