Maximize the effectiveness of your professional activities through the use of wikis, and raise student achievement in turn! With strategies from online educator and technology expert Stephanie Sandifer, this book provides how-to advice on the way in which wikis result in a more efficient use of time, better communication, and increased adult…

As part of a CfBT Education Trust funded study, we investigated the practical steps school leaders can take to ensure that self-evaluation of school performance led, through the effective staff development, to genuine school improvement. On the journey from self-evaluation to school improvement our research identified what schools did that worked,…

Observers of school reform efforts in 17 central New York school districts found a performance dip that sets in during the implementation stage. Staff performance suffers because everyone is learning the new system. Assistance, support, and training need to be offered until everyone has mastered the basics. Gradually, the reforms will become an…

Educational leadership, curriculum development, and staff development are critical areas that need improvement for long-term educational gains. (MD)

Purpose: A subgroup of principals--leaders for social justice--guide their schools to transform the culture, curriculum, pedagogical practices, atmosphere, and schoolwide priorities to benefit marginalized students. The purpose of the article is to develop a theory of this social justice educational leadership. Research Design: This empirical…

Effective schools research offers administrators evidence of teaching methods that enhance student achievement; imparting this knowledge to faculty through staff development is essential. A solution to the problem of interrupting classroom time for staff development is to utilize teacher time in a nonthreatening method that is collegial in nature.…

Research evidence clearly indicates the need to improve the school administrator's effectiveness as a key factor in educational reform. One difficulty is balancing administrators' wants with organizational needs. Inservice education planners' examination of these wants and needs led to the client-based needs assessment process described in this…

There has been a diversity of activity to change policies relating to the recruitment, admission, and preparation of new educational professionals in college and university settings. These policies, coupled with state mandated polices to upgrade the competence of current teachers and administrators, has resulted in a great amount of policy to…

Board members' role in technology implementation ranges from prompting development of technology plans to gathering community support for funding technology initiatives; they need substantial knowledge to enable them to ask the right questions, absorb new information, make good decisions, set appropriate policies, and lead confidently as…

Teachers' personal concerns related to the tension between a bureaucratic and a professional conception of teacher evaluation are seen as a major roadblock to school reform. Suggests strategies for using the Stages of Concern Model to address the concerns of teachers as they implement an educational innovation. (16 references) (MLF)

Describes the Southwest Texas Program for Improving Basic Skills Instruction in the Secondary Schools. It promotes a thoughtful, inquiry-oriented dialog between a university and six participating schools that encourages teachers to become more effective decision-makers. (MD)

Outlines a 13-step process to develop a tailor-made administrator evaluation system for schools which emphasizes process and anticipates resistance to change. (MD)

This folio series is designed to be used by school leaders--particularly superintendents and principals--involved in the process of comprehensive school reform. The folios can be used to initiate discussion, guide planning, or organize review sessions. The suggestions are intended to help the reader explore possibilities when designing a new…

In this annotated bibliography of 12 publications on school climate are 3 entries that suggest specific ways to improve the school climate and 1 that outlines leadership techniques for principals. Ways to assess school climate are covered by a review of assessment instruments, a discussion of the measurement issues, a description of major…

Identifies district administrators' responsibilities for implementing Tennessee's Comprehensive Education Reform Act. Lists 11 short-range plans concerned with distributing career ladder information and determining and executing staff development and evaluation plans. Suggests 10 questions regarding evaluation and staff development which need to…