An effective school requires an effective leader, but great principals rarely just happen. They are cultivated. This Wallace Perspective draws on a decade of foundation research and work in school leadership to show how urban school districts can play a major role in ensuring they have principals who can boost teaching and learning in troubled…

School district administrator openings are occurring across Texas and many other states at an increasing rate. The high rate of turnover in the superintendency has become a national problem. Texas was chosen for the study due to the total number of school districts in the state and the high percent of rural districts. The other selected states,…

A bargaining process, begun over 10 years ago, is based on problem-solving rather than on adversarial confrontation and uses elements of participative management. It has resulted in outstanding benefits for two school districts. Called "Theory Z bargaining," the process follows a procedure based on each side treating the other with…

Over 100 former board of education members from Oregon completed a questionnaire originally prepared by the "American School Board Journal" for the purpose of investigating why school board members leave their positions. This document presents the full results of the Oregon survey and also provides a summary of the findings and an…

A survey of a random sample of 165 Oregon school board members examined the degree to which they agreed with four standards for appropriate school board behavior. The standards were drawn from the literature intended to educate school board members about their proper roles. The respondents agreed strongly with three of the standards: that the…

This document is a brief discussion, in outline form, regarding the legal representation of the school board and the superintendent. Specifically, the school lawyer ordinarily represents the board rather than an individual employee such as the district superintendent. Exceptions to this rule, conflicts of interest, and disclosure matters are…

A study by a charter school advocacy group found the most common reason for charter school closure was mismanagement, followed by financial difficulties, inability to find a suitable facility, and failure to meet the academic goals of their charter. Vignettes of charter schools in Alaska and Oregon illustrate these problems and offer advice for…

This extensive survey pretest utilized in-depth interviews with school superintendents and city managers in selected cities throughout Oregon and in Los Angeles. The purpose of the pilot study was to explore the similarities and differences in conflict management between the two professions. The study reveals that superintendents and city managers…

SOME 138 ARTICLES, RESEARCH REPORTS, AND UNPUBLISHED ITEMS, DATING FROM 1953 TO 1966, CONTRIBUTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A RATIONALE FOR A MAJOR STUDY OF PROBLEMS FACING PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS. BRIEF REVIEWS COORDINATE THE MATERIAL UNDER SIX MAIN HEADINGS--(1) EDUCATIONAL CHANGE, (2) NEGOTIATIONS AND TEACHER MILITANCY, (3) ASPECTS OF…

MAJOR ISSUES AND PROBLEMS FACING PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS WERE DEFINED THROUGH AN ANALYSIS OF CONFERENCES AND PERSONAL INTERVIEWS WITH 47 ADMINISTRATORS OF VARIOUS-SIZED DISTRICTS IN 22 STATES. ASSISTING THE RESEARCH TEAM WERE PERSONNEL FROM 11 STATE DEPARTMENTS OF EDUCATION, SIX REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL LABORATORIES, 36 COLLEGES AND…

This paper addresses the issue of community relations through a presentation given by the four members of the school board and administration of a medium-sized school district in Salem, Oregon. Community relations is defined as two-way communications between a school district and the public. Public feedback is necessary for improvement of…