The authors' purpose for this article is to describe a K-12 public school district's journey to internalize and actualize its mission, strategic planning and vision as one coherent engagement using Lean principles and tools. Lean jointly comprises an organizational philosophy and management toolkit prominent in private, government, and nonprofit…

This study utilized findings from the 2010 decennial study of the school superintendent to determine the extent to which four predictor variables ("courses," "professor credibility," "size" [enrollment of employing school district], and "gender") accounted for variability in superintendent overall ratings of their academic preparation. The…

Although university-based school administrator preparation programs are required by accreditation agencies to assess the dispositions of candidates, valid and reliable methods for doing so remain scarce. "The School Leaders Disposition Inventory"[C] (SDLI) is proposed as an instrument that has promise for identifying leadership dispositions…

One of the more controversial reform efforts, concerning efficient school systems, is teacher compensation linked with student outcomes. However, absent from the public discourse and empirical research literature concerning systemic reform is the probative value of pay structures which connect the compensation of school executives and student…

Little is known about the change style preferences of superintendents, and how they differ from school principals and from business leaders and whether a superintendent's change-style preference affects student achievement. The purpose of this study was to explore the change-style preferences of South Carolina superintendents, compare them with…

This article presents a mixed-methods study that examined leadership program graduates' self-assessments as they specifically related to the knowledge, performance, and disposition indicators of the Interstate School Leader Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) Standard 5 (1996). This ISLLC standard is generally referred to as the "ethics standard" by…

As the understanding of burnout continues to be refined, studies that examine school principals and burnout will be helpful to those who provide support to school leaders and are concerned about principal attrition and pending shortages. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between burnout and gender, age, and years experience…

This study focuses on arguably the most important evidence related to preparing and licensing school district superintendents--the first year of practice in this challenging position. Subjects in this research were novice superintendents in office during January, 2005, in four states: California, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio. The primary…

School principals play an important role concerning technology use within their schools. While school districts across the nation are spending considerable resources in order to provide technical infrastructure to teachers and students, questions remain concerning the priority principals place in how teachers and students use technology within the…

Peter Senge's message during the 2005 American Association of School Administrators (AASA) conference reminded people that they live not only in a school system, but also within a highly diverse, global community. Their individual and organizational policies, practices, and behaviors, can and do impact the learning experience for those they…

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are places where teachers work with intentionality to improve their own craft for the benefit of students. Teachers and administrators study collaboratively and analyze student learning results to improve academic achievement for all students. Administrators working to implement PLCs seek to expand…

Research on the enduring contribution of leadership to student achievement can be integrated as part of a system planning model. This article offers a formative sample in the convergence of two dissimilar forces: (1) the stability of school culture, whose rock-solid nature resembles a tectonic plate; and (2) the flowing energy of administrators…

America's public education system still holds the best promise to provide educational access to all children. However, public education has come under fire within the past two decades for not serving all student needs. Therefore, increasing demands are being placed on public schools to reform in order to improve achievement. Critical to the…

Creighton, Harris and Coleman (2005) suggest that educational leadership instructors introduce aspiring administrators to a sound knowledge base. Currently, engaging in teams is recommended for high performance and problem-solving. Bolton (1999) recommends that instructors coach teams so teaming skills are improved. But, oftentimes, there are team…

The surge of high-stakes testing and accountability has been felt in Texas and all across the country. Every state is demanding to some degree or another that administrators and teachers increase their workload, alter their teaching, rearrange the curriculum, adjust professional development, and implement improvement programs in order to raise…