This report is the first of a series on cultivating excellence in education for the purpose of training and retraining school leaders of the 1990s. The common role of educational leaders is discussed. Their central areas of responsibility and administrative and leadership skills are reviewed, not as discrete concepts, but as complex and dynamic dimensions of that role. Central areas of responsibility include a working knowledge of the personnel function, finance, communications and community relations, student services, curriculum and instruction, and capital improvements and maintenance. Administrative and leadership skills should reflect efficient planning, evaluating, supervising, directing, communicating, organizing, and coordinating. (JAM)