This article offer guidance for selecting and hiring an architect or planner, as well as insight regarding consultant fees and what can be expected for the money. This article is dedicated to planning--specifically, what to look for and how to find a planning professional. Furthermore, it is stated that in the qualifications-based process,…

A critical component for successful schools is effective leadership. In the 1980's the concept of leadership emerged and the rules changed for school principals (Lashway, 2002). Previously, administrators were primarily evaluated based upon their abilities in managing school facilities and operations efficiently. Academics became the new focus.…

The first 3 years of one high school's efforts at school change are detailed in this book. It describes the implementation of the Quest Program, a teacher-designed, interdisciplinary experiment in curricular reform at Brookville High School (a pseudonym), Massachusetts. The participants--teachers, administrators, students, parents, and college…

Assistant principals (APs) who successfully influence principals to behave in ways that support their goals increase their chances of achieving desired resources. This paper describes how assistant principals can build influence and strong working relationships with their principals. To begin, APs must understand themselves, their principals, the…

This book provides a model of followership that removes the passive connotations of the role and presents a dynamic alternative for contributing to an organization's pursuit of its mission. The dynamic model, in which leaders and followers form an action circle around a common purpose, balances and supports dynamic leadership. Chapter 1 explores…

Most people would agree that schools should strive to increase their effectiveness. This handbook provides leaders and facilitators of the school-improvement process with practical information and guidelines for conducting the day-to-day work of school change and improvement. The book is organized around five questions that represent stages of the…

The long-term success of school improvement depends on the ability of participants to function productively together. This book explores a variety of forms for collaboration in schools and presents a framework for understanding how to build stronger working relationships among colleagues. Following the introduction, chapter 1 establishes the…

This paper uses the seven principles of "stalking," the cultural wisdom for training Yaqui Indian warriors as described by Carlos Castenada, as a framework for organizing insights shared by successful women superintendents. "Stalking" is a metaphor for the process through which women seek success as superintendents. The research used a modified…

Stewardship is the willingness of the leader to serve for the well-being of the school, rather than through controlling stakeholders. Stewards are capable of turning their schools into learning organizations, in which all stakeholders share a feeling of ownership. This book is a sequel to "The Principal's Edge," which covered the first 9 of the 21…

This facilitator's guide offers tools for training leaders to solve problems in new and collaborative ways. It distinguishes between having knowledge about a subject and being able to use that knowledge effectively. The guide offers 15 units designed to meet the following objectives: (1) draw on each participant's work experience; (2) engage…

Efforts to reform educational administration programs depend on the ability of faculty members to develop shared purpose and understanding. This paper describes the experiences of nine faculty members in a department of educational administration in a large midwestern university, who, in seeking to transform their preparation program, transformed…

Newly appointed principals are usually confronted with the complexity of their new role, which some researchers believe is complicated by the recognition of their role distance from teachers. This paper examines the nature of the passage from the teacher role to the principal role. It pursues Marshall's (1991) micropolitical hypothesis, which…

This paper discusses barriers encountered by leaders when they attempt to implement change and redirect the collective focus in groups. It describes co-creative relationships that occur when leaders and followers work together in a reciprocally responsible relationship based on a common purpose. The process of covenanting toward a common purpose,…

Pieces of three narratives, related through dramatic readings, recount the experiences of three women who teach and write in the field of rhetoric and composition. One directs a freshman writing program, one is a full-time composition instructor, and one is an assistant professor of rhetoric and composition. Each is employed within the English…

The department of English at West Chester University, Pennsylvania provides a laboratory for examining the situation of composition in a department that has documented its dedication to a unified study of English based on attention to reading and writing. The department adopted a "Statement of Coherence" that signals a dialectic: the…