Despite the current press to improve school leadership, little scholarly attention focuses on building problem-solving skills in university leadership preparation programmes. This paper reports on two qualitative case studies that examined educational leadership students' probing of school problems through the arts. Fieldwork was used to derive…

The field of socially-just educational leadership focuses on identifying and ameliorating marginalization and inequity in schools. Critical spirituality is emerging as a powerful support within this field. Critical spirituality, a combination of internal convictions and dispositions informing external commitments toward social justice, is an…

This study was designed to understand how school districts treat their current principals and principal candidates who have taken online courses or who have earned online degrees. Through a survey of 105 human resources directors in K-12 schools across the USA, the study found five major themes: (1) districts are reluctant to hire principals with…

This paper resembles a personal narrative on leadership and democracy and outlines how an educational leader can conceptualize democratic leadership and take some steps towards transforming theory into practice. The concepts of democracy and democratic schools within the discourse of educational theory and research are briefly discussed. Based on…

This presentation analyses five years of data from student portfolios required as part of a principal preparation programme. Portfolios serve as continuous student progress assessment from programme entry to exit, evaluation of each student's understanding and application of Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) and National…

This article is primarily methodological but has dual aims. First, it makes a case for Q methodology as an effective and so far little exploited means of capturing, comparing and contrasting individual perspectives on a specific question in the field of educational leadership. In common with other research approaches designed to uncover the…

Many schools are currently faced with the difficult task of including increasing numbers of students with disabilities and improving academic outcomes for these and other students who struggle to learn academic content. Recent research has shown that the principal is the key to ensuring that a school meets both of these goals and is both inclusive…

Numerous scholars contend that students with and without disabilities benefit both socially and academically from inclusive services. Other researchers advocate for educating students with disabilities in self-contained settings. The aim of this article is to compare the literature on the rationale for use of self-contained special education…

Despite the national emphasis on assessment and accountability for student learning, it is unclear whether day treatment and residential schools are participating in current reform efforts. On average, responding principals reported that 87% of students participated in state assessments. Although 80% of schools use local education agency or state…

Children with autism accounted for almost one third of a comprehensive sample of published court decisions concerning the core concepts of free appropriate public education (FAPE) and least restrictive environment (LRE) under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. The other major, and more significant, finding was that when comparing…

Research on the extent of stress and burnout among special education administrators is not as well developed as research on the extent of stress and burnout among teachers. This study utilized the Maslach Burnout Inventory to determine levels of stress and burnout among administrators of special education. Results indicated administrators of…

At the 2011 Office of Special Education Leadership Mega Conference in Crystal City, VA, demographer Jim Johnson, of the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise and the University of North Carolina, discussed the changing demographics of the US, coining one of his six observations on the changes ahead as the "silver tsunami (Johnson,…

School accountability reports reveal that wide achievement gaps exist among different subgroups of students in PK-12 schools. Research findings reveal that general and special education teachers improve their classroom practices when working in professional learning communities (PLCs). In addition, research shows that special education teachers…

Principals are a critical component of creating a positive school environment that supports new teachers to meet the diverse needs of their students. The induction process for beginning special educators can often be more challenging for school administrators and may require different supports than those provided for novice general educators. The…

The limited use of evidence-based practices has led to increased interest in forms of professional development that improve teacher practice and student outcomes. Traditional forms of expert-centered professional development have been demonstrated to have little impact on teacher practices or student outcomes. Newer forms of learner-centered…