Women face unique challenges as superintendents. This study determined barriers women face as superintendents and elicited reasons why these women would consider leaving the superintendent's position. Thirty-nine PreK-12 women superintendents in Illinois participated in a web-based survey in January 2008. Survey items included information…

Investigates the correlation between creativity and good leadership. (Author/JM)

Educational leadership has been the focus of many studies; however, leadership does not occur in a vacuum. Understanding the context in which it occurs will in turn help to explain the phenomenon itself. Rural communities in the United States have many differences when compared to urban and suburban areas. Twenty-eight percent of schools in the…

The role of work-based learning is a pivotal part of developing the learning region. With rates of employment at their highest for many years across Europe, the need for up-skilling the workforce in many areas will be essential to retain competitiveness and employability. This paper will focus on quality management up-skilling in small to…

As the events of Virginia Tech tragedy recede in time, leaders of other colleges and universities are sure to look at Virginia Tech president Charles W. Steger's performance and question the readiness of presidents to act like corporate executives, take visible control of a campus in crisis, manage the onslaught of cameras and microphones, and…

This study considered the question, how do principals influence student achievement? We adopted a direct-effects model with antecedent effects to measure the relationship between principal characteristics and student achievement. Using such a model, we postulated that preservice principal characteristics, such as training and experience, enable…

This paper adds to earlier reviews by the author of the changing roles and identities of contemporary professional staff in UK higher education, and builds on a categorisation of professional staff identities as having "bounded", "cross-boundary" and "unbounded" characteristics. Drawing on a study of 54 professional…

The role of the school superintendent is complex and challenging. The type of leadership exemplified by school superintendents is crucial to their ability to respond appropriately and adequately to growing diversity issues and economic, social and community influences. Because individuals learn from the styles and/or characteristics of others whom…

The construction and opening of a new school adds a new dimension to the principal's role. The purpose of this study was to describe the duties and responsibilities of a principal opening a newly constructed school, during the year preceding the opening of the school, and during the first year of occupancy in that school. The study was enriched by…

This report describes a policy analysis project examining principal evaluation instruments, policies and processes in the fifty United States, the state of Missouri, and 15 Kansas City, Missouri area school districts. Since current research demonstrates that the principal plays a critical role in the success or failure of improvement initiatives,…

The link among the quality of principals, caliber of teaching, and levels of student achievement is a tight one. School leadership is a key factor in the recruitment and retention of quality teachers; teaching quality, in turn, profoundly influences improvements in student learning and achievement. Yet despite their central role in this equation,…

Elitism argues that the values and experiences of the political elite shape policy, while institutionalism contends that an individual's behaviour is constrained by institutional settings. This article shows that both perspectives work well overall, while offering persuasive arguments, but the former is dominated by the latter. This explains the…

Since former Surgeon General David Satcher first identified childhood obesity as a threat to the nation's health in 2001, health professionals have investigated potential solutions. Venues in which to address this problem have also been explored. The school setting was identified by the Institute of Medicine as a viable location in which to…

School construction or renovation projects can have a profound affect on students, faculty and administration. The literature revealed that continuous communication is essential for a smooth process. This research identified bureaucratic issues and school climate to be leading factors of concern during construction projects. Analysis of this study…

The assumption that effective leaders differ in some identifiable and fundamental ways from other people is still a large part of mainstream I/O psychology. Based on a research review on the trait theory of leadership and what is known about the concept of expertise, this paper attempts to find a convergence between leader and expert traits.…