Principals are essential in any institution of learning. Great schools do not exist in the absence of a great principal, which demonstrates the importance of strong leadership. However, due to complexities and the demanding nature of their jobs, there has been an increasing deficiency in the supply of these professionals. Schools have recorded…

Purpose: Ontario is the most ethnically diverse province in Canada. School educators cannot disregard the reality of diversity in all its senses. The question that directs the focus of this paper is: to what extent are leaders in Ontario formally prepared to lead schools that support the students of today? The paper aims to discuss this issue.…

Assigning teachers to a position for which they are not suitably qualified influences effective educational leadership. The paper reveals assumptions and misconceptions about the lived experiences of teachers in out-of-field positions and what it means for effective educational leadership. The multilayered meaning of out-of-field teaching for…

Catholic schools play an important role in the United States' educational landscape, forwarding a model of excellence in education, providing school choice, lowering overall public education costs, and central to their mission, serving as a ministry of the Catholic Church. However, Catholic schools face historically unprecedented challenges, and…

This paper explores what, from school principals' perspectives, constitutes leadership for coping with and adapting to policy change within deprived school contexts. Using qualitative interpretive research, we drew from the practices of five principals that were purposively selected from a broader study, which focused on school principals'…

Within the realm of K-12 education, instability is an inherent feature that school leaders must successfully manage. "Turbulence," in the form of micro-level issues (day-to-day, in-house happenings) and macro-level concerns (externally imposed organizational disturbances/changes), develops indiscriminately and may escalate quickly…

Recent years have seen large-scale growth in the international school sector, with schools reporting increasing competition to recruit and retain expatriate teachers, particularly in hardship locations. Using a gap analysis framework (Clark & Estes, 2008), this study seeks to identify the knowledge, motivational, and organizational factors…

Instructional leaders must be proficient in their knowledge of effective instructional strategies in order foster an environment that uses what has been identified as "best-practice" for students with disabilities. This role is critical in rural school systems where principals take on more responsibility and the ability to employ highly…

This study focuses on how a cohort of participants in a programme aimed at producing "turnaround leaders" came to understand this policy and their role within it. Using a theory of action framework, I find that, over time, participants' espoused theories of turnaround shifted in three key areas: (1) the cause of poor school performance,…

This article draws on data from three multicultural New Zealand primary schools to reconceptualize principals' roles as leaders for learning. In doing so, the writers build on Sinnema and Robinson's (2012) article on goal setting in principal evaluation. Sinnema and Robinson found that even principals hand-picked for their experience fell short on…

The purpose of the study was to explore, discover, and understand organizational leadership processes in successful inner city schools. In order to understand the phenomenon taking place in inner city schools that were able to overcome the many challenges present in urban school settings and increase the likelihood of success in ethnic student…

A gap in research exists that demonstrates how principals use their authority to make decisions and how that intersects with change management models. The purpose of the study is to examine how one elementary school principal has led change and how teachers perceive the effectiveness of the change. The study seeks to explore principal's and…

In this paper, we argue that school leaders are removing those who embody or vocalize alternative conceptualizations of educator. It seems as if Collins' call in his 2001 book "Good to Great" to "get the right people on the bus" is being taken very seriously by school leaders seeking to raise standards. This is achieved by…

The purpose of this study was to determine what effective leadership practices are employed by Catholic high school principals to cultivate a culture of academic success and foster Catholic identity. This study addressed and identified the following: 1) the effective leadership skills Catholic high school principals need to embody to be successful…

Today's principals work in a setting that has become increasingly complex and characterized by a great deal of uncertainty and variety. Reflective practice is a process that principals can utilize to develop expertise in effectively operating under these conditions (Short & Reinhart, 1993). The purpose of the study was to explore the extent…