In this article, the authors describe their experiences in working with superintendents, principals, assistant principals, and teacher-leaders in New York City, embedding NSRF work into all their professional development efforts, and how responsive facilitation and using NSRF's principles of reflective practice, collaboration, and shared…

After ten years of a democratic education system in South Africa , the demographic realities should be better understood in educational planning. The fragmented nature of the pre-democratic education system has led to undesirable perceptions about quality education and has subsequently influenced the demographic imperatives present in the South…

School districts have primarily stressed the instructional management aspect of the principal's role, while research has focused on principal effectiveness as a factor for increased student achievement. A synthesis of effective school characteristics identified by the literature is the first objective of this paper. A second purpose is the…

In examining the dynamics of change processes in high schools, this study makes initial interpretations about school officials who serve as change facilitators. The researchers found that a trend exists for the source of change to come from outside the high school. Principals, assistant principals, and department heads as well as central office…

In an effort to support the contention that the levels of student achievement and discipline depend more on administrative style and school ethos than on inner city location and/or social class, race, or IQ of students, an investigation was conducted of a single midwestern urban high school. The procedure consisted of observation and interviews of…

To claim that ethics and morality lie at the foundation of effective administrative praxis is neither new nor revolutionary--numerous studies have demonstrated that moral issues are embedded in the weave and texture of schooling and influence administrative choices. This paper explores the challenges, tensions and dilemmas new administrators…

Topeka West High School has approximately 1,500 students divided into four houses of 375 students. An effort is made to randomly distribute the incoming sophomores equally among the four houses. Each house has an assistant principal, a counselor, and a staff of 8 to 10 teachers representing the instructional areas of English, social studies, and…

Because life is unpredictable and plans often go awry, improvisation can be an important skill for educational leaders. This article explains the importance of improvisation; describes what drives it; and provide five questions to ask for assessing how leader improvisation, or lack of it, can affect a school district. (WFA)

Suggests changes necessary to get more women into vice principalships and principalships. Data on percentages of women graduating from principal's qualification courses in Ontario indicate that the pool of potential female principals far exceeds the number hired. Suggests ways school boards can achieve equality in employment and ways aspirants can…

Looking at medical care administration, 14 assistant principals noted that the hospital administrator managed the business of health care, while the chief of staff provided leadership to the doctors and nurses. The assistant principals then posited: Can the organization model found in many hospitals offer any insight into ways that school…

Whether the dropout rate is a good measure of a quality education is debatable. One could probably make a case that a high dropout rate is just as credible an indicator of a quality education program as a low dropout rate. As with any high-stakes measure of performance, those being evaluated scramble, sometimes frantically, for strategies that…

At a 1990 symposium on principals, speakers from Tennessee and other states shared their perspectives on school leadership. The symposium proceedings contains the following presentations: (1) "Under Fire: The School, the Principal and the Preparation Program" (Barbara Nye and Mary Jane Connelly); (2) "The Roles of Principals:…

The four Special Emphasis Elementary Schools in the Corpus Christi Independent School District have markedly increased students' achievement, particularly in reading and language arts. This study was conducted to determine the perceived impact of the Special Emphasis (SE) components and to aid in the implementation of future SE schools. The…

School administrators and supervisors who were evaluated using the Cleveland, Ohio City School District's Administrator/Supervisory Review Process were surveyed concerning their opinions of the review process. The questionnaire, which was returned by 203 principals, assistant principals, and other supervisory staff out of a total of 376…