This case examines how school leaders manage the increased demands of a new state-mandated teacher evaluation process. Subject to negotiations, districts and their local teacher unions can allow for teachers to be credentialed and serve as evaluators within their own schools. The challenge is examined through both the opportunity costs of this new…

Group decision-making can result in important benefits for organizational effectiveness. However, collaborative environments do not emerge organically. Effective leadership is critical for group success. Educational leaders must understand group processes and the importance of creating a culture that supports collaboration. Student discipline for…

This case study is a narrative of four major leadership paradigms: managerial, transactional, transformational, and distributed leaderships. Understanding these leadership styles may help both practicing and prospective school leaders navigate better in the complex, dynamic, murky, and challenging waters of educational leadership. Furthermore,…

This case provides principal licensure candidates a strategic perspective on leading and managing educational technology initiatives. It presents issues related to vision setting, planning, implementation, organizational structure, and decision making. The case narrative is presented from the perspective of a principal, but it can also be used to…

Educational leaders are increasingly required to become effective change agents as schools and universities are faced with pressures to cut costs and adapt to stakeholder demands. This case details the administrative challenges of restructuring a private-sector higher education provider from a traditional to an enterprising university capable of…

In 2010, Principal Kirk introduced Small Group Meeting (SGM) at Hillcrest Elementary. SGMs are multiage student groupings who meet with school faculty once a month to work on community building, service-learning projects, and advising. Many teachers liked the SGMs, some felt they needed more time to prepare, and others felt it was a waste of time.…

High-stakes accountability policies have brought about significant change in schools, but have also triggered instances of cheating and gaming at school and district levels. This undisguised case study involves the El Paso Independent School District, one of its high schools, and a popular principal accused of cheating. This context provides the…

This case was written for school leaders, specifically building-level principals and central office administrators attempting to implement school turnaround reform efforts. Often, leaders who embark on this type of organizational change work in intense environments that produce high levels of pressure to demonstrate improvement in student…

This case study is intended for use in an educational leadership class to facilitate conversation on providing effective instructional practices to students on the autism spectrum. In particular, this case study demonstrates how a school district incorporated a research-based model into their system to provide support to teachers of students with…

Sister R., the first author, is a Dominican Sister of Peace. Until recently, Sister R. had been the director of the Maya Ministry Family Literacy Program, working with the Maya Community in Lake Worth, Palm Beach County, Florida. She described her work with these indigenous, preliterate, hardworking peoples as "a university of the poor" in which…

Personal and professional histories can provide insights into educational leadership and administrative practice. Drawing on a life and professional historical narrative of a Black, female principal, this case explores the intersection of race, spirituality, and social justice based on excerpts from a life narrative of a Black, female principal.…

This case is based on real-life experiences of community school members within Horner School--an inner-city public school. Specifically, the case explores challenges faced by Cathleen, a 1st-year, White, female principal, who was hired by central office to "revamp a charter school" to promote a quality education for all children. The case raises…

In this case, Mr. Phuture, a district administrator, attempts to lead a diverse team of educators and community members in an effort to develop a district-wide action plan for the integration of instructional technology in K-12 classrooms. Along the way, Mr. Phuture confronts ambiguities in the superintendent's directives, passionate contradicting…

This case was written for educators who are involved in organizational change such as school turnaround, new instructional programs, intervention programs, and implementation of new programs. It explores how a new administrator navigates the implementation of a response to intervention (RTI) pilot program and how instructional leaders create…

This case describes the struggle of a small school employee association located in a right-to-work state as it attempts to continue exercising influence after a political turmoil caused the composition of the school board to change. This case presents many elements that foster discussion of basic employee rights such as freedom of association,…