This paper reports multiperspective research on 10 successful, experienced headteachers working in a range of urban and suburban schools of different sizes (with different school populations and free school meals indices of between 20% and 62%). All had raised the levels of measurable pupil attainments in their schools and all were highly regarded…

Examined job/occupational instability among child care teachers and directors. Found that over half of teachers and a third of directors had left their centers 4 years after initial interviews. Highly trained teachers were more likely to leave jobs if they earned lower wages, worked in less stable climate, or worked with greater percentage of…

The genesis of the moral leadership concept in educational administration and examples of studies exploring this idea during the 1979-2003 period are discussed. The author recommends more contextually sensitive descriptive studies with a focus on the social relations among school leaders and others, giving particular attention, in a…

This book presents the largest and most comprehensive look at the men and women leading the nation's public schools. This profile of the school superintendency offers a close examination of: (1) superintendents' personal characteristics, professional experience, and professional preparation and training; (2) superintendent/school board relations;…

For three weeks, this author served as a stateside evaluator conducting school site visits at four Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DODDs) located in The Netherlands. Those three weeks in The Netherlands were filled with forming new relationships with team members at each school site, learning about the unique needs of children who are…

The talent enigma juxtaposes the discourses of "talent" as an inherent individual quality to be sought out and recruited as against talent as inherent in organizations which grow their own. This article explores this issue in the context of an international "crisis" of school leadership, examining how that crisis is constructed…

This paper describes research regarding preschool director's career decisions and provides a framework for understanding the growth and development of director competence through the career cycle. A 4-page survey about career development was completed by 257 directors of part- and full-day, nonprofit and for-profit early childhood education…

Four community college administrators, including a president, provost, director of learning resources, and dean of student services, offer their perspectives on what it means to be a black woman administrator in higher education today. First, "Jump at the Sun," by Bernadine Coleman Thomas, contends that a black woman administrator can be…

One principal's criterion for proper decision-making information may be much different from that of another. Information providers need to decide what constitutes relevant information when communicating to decision-makers. Fifty-three principals and 11 assistant principals were administered two indicator tests to investigate the relationship…

Polling and comparing the perceptions of principals, office staff, and teachers, the author focuses on the design of his study, which was intended to evaluate behaviors and competencies considered vital to school principals and to cite areas for professional development. Such professional development needs, sought by the large midwestern school…

Twenty-four characteristics of effective leaders are described as an aid in helping others become effective student activities directors. It is stated that leaders are made, not born; leadership must be learned from experience, not from a textbook; and one must build on successes and learn from mistakes. Among the characteristics of effective…

A college president discusses long-range planning in a private college and suggests problems and difficulties confronting those responsible for it emphasizing the critical ingredient of presidential leadership qualities that stimulate a spirit of dialogue and philosophizing about the nature, aims, and objectives of the institution. (JT)

Examines the way principals gain compliance, and reports some initial observations regarding relationships between the types of power principals were perceived to exercise and staff assessments of issues pertinent to the ef fective operation of schools. (Available from Department of Educational Administration, University of Alberta, Edmonton,…

This study was undertaken to provide a comparison of primary/elementary teachers' perceptions in Australia and the United States of the skills, competencies, and behavioral attributes that principals should possess to administer an effective school. Utilizing the Audit of Principal Effectiveness, 140 primary teachers in Australia and 347…

Attending to the questions of how school leadership influences learning and achievement and what effective school leaders do, this document describes a measurement-based approach for studying and developing effective school leadership. The document details the conception, refinement, and psychometric properties of the Instructional Leadership…