In central Texas and regions across the country, community leaders are calling for university-community engagement, including development of structures for community-based research and service learning. Including the community in decision making regarding continuing professional education serves as a link between universities such as Texas A&M…

Despite the key role that principals play in leading schoolwide change, districts' efforts to support principals are often limited, particularly in rural settings. In this article, we report the preliminary findings of a cross-district mentoring program for nine midcareer rural school principals. The collaboratively developed human resource…

Sweden has recently seen three major political attempts to empower parents through national regulations--the transferal of authority from the state to district school boards, the heavy promotion of independent schools, and the introduction of local school boards at municipality schools. This article provides an overview of these developments by…

As the current president of National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), Barbara Chester has the responsibility of representing the organization's members in their efforts as advocates for children. Principal Chester's answers to the interview questions reflect the challenges facing schools and the role that principals need to…

This article presents a transcript of a recent interview with Jana Frieler, 2010-2011 president of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). Ms. Frieler has been in education for 26 years, 16 of those in administration. For the past 6 years, she has been with the Cherry Creek School District, most recently as principal of…

From returning phone calls to traversing the political landscape to building trust, American Association of School Administrators (AASA) president Mark Bielang covers a lot of territory as he describes the public relations challenges confronting today's school administrators. Having just concluded his term as AASA president, Mr. Bielang has served…

This cross-national empirical study examines superintendents' professional learning and leadership in Sweden and the United States. Based on a sociocultural perspective, the study highlights the superintendents' preferences for collaborative forms of learning for enhancing their professional knowledge and for building organizational capacity.…

This study investigated the effects of formalized and centralized school structures on 2 emergent concepts in the study of school reform, trust, and collaboration. Trust and collaboration were examined from the perspective of parents, as opposed to internal school agents such as teachers or students. Three hierarchical multiple regressions…

Whole-system transformation is complex, yet possible. The potential for engaging in a successful transformation effort is greatly increased if a district's school public relations (PR) specialists play a strong supportive role in generating, framing, and delivering information to external and internal stakeholders about the need for change, the…

This qualitative case study focuses on a district and community relations plan developed in Oklahoma City Public Schools. This article provides a description of the proposal regarding MAPS for KIDS (Metropolitan Area Projects for Keep Improving District Schools) in Oklahoma City from 1998 through November 2001, and it explores the coalitions that…

Over the course of the past five decades, we have embarked on the path toward educational equity that is strewn with obstacles and roadblocks, forcing us onto a winding path with the end not yet in sight. In order to fulfill the legacy of "Brown," attention should be applied to the reconceptualization of multicultural education as an…

The "Brown v. Board of Education" decision defined public education for African Americans in the United States. In this article I discuss the tradition of African American parental involvement in the pre-"Brown" era, challenges to parental involvement in a post-"Brown" era, and a parental involvement initiative in an urban elementary school. I…

The number of African American teachers and principals in the nation's schools has declined precipitously since the legal decision rendered in "Brown v. Board of Education." In this article I explore the historical and contemporary reasons for the decline in the numbers of African American educators in U.S. public schools and relate the negative…

Schools are facing major problems today that are only marginally addressed by most reform initiatives or by standards-based federal and state legislation. New and different strategies are required if schools are to adequately serve their students and communities. This article demonstrates that service-learning is one dynamic way to promote school…

The professional discipline of strategic public relations offers many benefits to organizations. It helps them prevent and mitigate crises. It allows them to identify and manage issues that may interfere with their goals and objectives. It also leads them in building and maintaining quality relationships with strategic publics. However, can the…