While there has been considerable research activity in the area of middle management/middle leadership since the late 1990s, the concept remains under-theorised and ambiguities persist in relation to who middle managers or middle leaders are and what they do. The recent shift in terminology in the literature from 'middle management' to 'middle…

Principal Alison Harris is blunt in describing what she confronted on her arrival to Ranson IB Middle School in 2011. "I was placed in what many people would call an impossible situation," she says. During her initial visit to the school in 2009-10, she watched as students changed classes--while teachers pressed against the lockers to…

This study examined the leadership styles of the chief state school officers of the United States and the District of Columbia. The entire population of 51 chief state school officers was surveyed and a response rate of 60% was obtained. The study examined the relationship between the leadership style, select demographic variables, and the…

This case study reports on the work of Denise Watts, who in 2011 was the newly named Project L.I.F.T. executive director and a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools zone superintendent. She approached Public Impact for help in meeting the new Project L.I.F.T. (Leadership and Investment for Transformation) goals. Facing urgent needs for real change, Watts…

The problem. Educational leaders face challenges in the 21st century, make numerous decisions daily, and have the choice to make decisions based on ethics. Educational leaders may follow a corporate model regarding expenses and revenues while ignoring the best interests of children and their academic achievement. The alternative to the corporate…

This book provides a valuable balance between what one must know and what one must do to turn around low-performing schools. The 3-E framework simplifies this complex process by focusing resources on the environment, the executive, and the execution of the turnaround plan. Central to each of these components is a spotlight on the values supporting…

Pupil transportation is an essential part of the overall school program, which requires constant supervision and direction. Perhaps no other phase of the school program is more closely observed by the public or has a greater tendency to mold public opinion about the schools than the school bus system. The success of any school district pupil…

A survey of randomly-selected Alabama principals sought to compare a theorist's model of educational administration with the actual model used by working principals. The 172 principals ranked the importance of 13 statements about administrative priorities drawn from the theoretical model, a three-part construct combining administrative processes,…

This paper delineates six attributes of an ideal high school governance structure: respect, freedom, rationality, flexibility, equality, and involvement of staff and students in the decision-making process. (Author/SJL)

Numerous studies have used the power metaphor in the physical science sense to describe power in the organizational sense. This paper views school as an electrical distribution system to illustrate how power operates in schools and offers eight lessons for administrators desiring to effect positive empowerment results in school settings. (26…