Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the successful school and principal (SSP) model, which has developed over 13 years of Israeli involvement in the ISSPP study. Design/methodology/approach: This is a conceptual paper summarizing the findings of more than 20 case studies of successful, coasting and low-performing schools and their…

Purpose: Hiring teachers is among principals' most critical work but what remains uncertain is the relationship between a principal's tenure in a school and the rate at which they hire teachers who will stay. Teacher retention and principal experience are key predictors of school stability. This study therefore investigates the influence of…

Purpose: Education is a key institution of modern society, long recognized for its central role in the reproduction of inequities and with the potential to challenge them. Schools behave as their systems are designed. Achieving equity and excellence is not possible through attempts to fix "the school" or educators. Principles of systemic…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on gender and social justice (SJ) among pioneer female principals and superintendents in the Arab education system in Israel. The research questions were: what motivated these women to act for SJ? Are there common personal characteristics and educational values which characterize these women? What…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the best practices of school leaders, teachers, pupils, parents and the community in selected transformed schools in Selangor, Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative multiple-case study explores the best practices in two selected transformed schools through in-depth interviews,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the program structure and design considerations of a 25-day, full-time apprenticeship in a university-based principal preparation program. Design/Methodology/ Approach: The study used a qualitative case study design that drew upon interviews and focus groups with program participants as well as…

Purpose: In recent years the benefits of distributed leadership have often assumed the status of an unchallengeable orthodoxy. There is a general acceptance that leadership is best when it is dispersed. In reality this is often little more than a form of "licensed leadership" in which those working in subordinate roles can only exercise…

Purpose: The use of data for instructional improvement is prevalent in today's educational landscape, yet policies calling for data use may result in significant variation at the school level. The purpose of this paper is to focus on tools and routines as mechanisms of principal influence on data-use professional learning communities (PLCs).…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine principal succession planning and management by analyzing current practices of handling school leader succession in four Georgia school systems. Design/methodology/approach: Looking through the lens of organizational leadership succession theory, the practices of school systems as they experienced…

Deming's principles and TQM problem-solving tools and techniques can be used to solve noninstructional problems such as vandalism, dropouts, and student absenteeism. This case study presents a model for principals to apply to identify root causes, resolve problems, and provide quality outcomes (at reduced cost) in noninstructional areas. (Contains…

Purpose: This paper presents routinized action theory as a way to examine the regular, habitual activities that occur in school organizations. Using this theoretical lens, school routines were analyzed in order to understand organizational stability and change. Design/methodology/approach: Using case study methods, three discrete cases are…

Proposes a variety of epistemological lenses for viewing the school change process for school administrators' use. Applies these lenses in an actual case study depicting school change, illustrating how administrators can shift focus, position, and mode of inquiry from their usual rational viewpoint. Analyzes implications of using such lenses for…

Describes examples of standards frameworks for principals' work operant in three countries and describes an alternative approach based on interviewing 40 Australian principals. By combining qualitative case studies with probabilistic measurement techniques, the alternative approach provides contextually rich descriptions of growth in performance…

Describes action research that helped a school community recover from a music teacher's suicide. Summarizes an external counselor's advice to the principal and various stages of coping with trauma, dealing with loss, and negotiating a new stable state. Finds the principal central to the politics of grief. Explores an educative grief management…

Purpose: This paper aims to identify what counts as successful school leadership within a Norwegian context. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses multi-site case study methods as a methodological approach. In selecting cases the first strategy included schools appointed as "good practice schools" by the Ministry of Education and…