The Educational Leadership Master's Cohort Program at Delta State University was redesigned in 2011 to reflect current industry standards and streamline the program. Since its inception in the mid-1990s, the program has provided a nationally acclaimed model for principal preparation. The recent redesign focused on preparing school principals to…

Despite the dramatic shift in demographics occurring within public schools, there is still a dismal amount of research connecting issues of diversity and race with the curricula guiding educational leadership preparation programs. In the field of leadership preparation, little information has been offered as to how professors facilitate social…

Within the context of a pilot leadership seminar, this participatory action research project explores how to effectively lead in turbulent learning environments regulated by federal policy that mandates high levels of student achievement coupled with a rigorous standards-based reform movement. Our analysis indicates: (a) adult development is a…

This article describes the process of replacing a modest Master's level school leader preparation program with an innovative Ed.D. program at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). The new doctoral program is intensive, highly selective, intellectually rigorous, and field-based. The authors provide side-by-side comparisons of the difference…

Improving student achievement in math and science has become a priority in the United States. As instructional leaders, principals can influence instruction in these vital subjects by working with classroom teachers to improve their instruction. Surprisingly, the research about the principal's role in supporting instruction in these subjects is…

This paper presents an array of structural configurations that invite new consideration of the necessary conditions for developing systemic school reform; first by reviewing the current literature, and then by examining thirty-six existing partnerships as structural configurations, an exploratory typology for the analysis of successful…

Instead of focusing on how principals should be trained, an contrarian view is offered, grounded upon theoretical perspectives of experiential learning, and in particular, upon the theory of andragogy. A brief parable of the DoNoHarm School of Medicine is used as a descriptive analog for many principal preparation programs in America. The…

Recent research suggests the need for more intensive clinically-based teacher preparation programs. Many institutions of higher education, in partnership with school districts and education reform organizations, are responding to these findings. This article focuses on the experience of administrators and faculty in one urban teacher residency…

This study examines the demographics of SACs and the schools they serve, and proposes that demographic similarity with the school principal influences the SAC membership. The findings draw attention to the likelihood that appointment to SAC chair may be contingent on an individual's demographic similarity with the school principal. Principals also…

Evolving purposes for the United States educational system have driven legislative policy over the past 40 years, beginning with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, reauthorized as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in 2002. However, researchers have demonstrated US policy intents are often unrealized in educational practice,…

This study outlines the perceptions of school leaders regarding the New Senior Secondary Curriculum in Hong Kong. It illustrates the diversity of perceptions and responses of school leaders in terms of the purposes of the reforms, challenges to be faced, and strategies for implementing the reform. The findings suggest that school leaders'…

This article draws contrasts between useful, research-based recommendations for the further development and assessment of teacher- and leader-preparation programs and those studies aiming at total "reform" that are frequently distinguished by their questionable methods, faulty assumptions, and complete disregard for the established research in…

The purpose of this qualitative, narrative study was to investigate the role of the superintendent in leading the district to be more culturally proficient, resulting in the narrowing of the achievement gap in culturally diverse small districts. Eight superintendents of small school districts were purposefully selected based on their district size…

This study proposes participatory action research as a signature pedagogy for principal preparation programs. Signature pedagogies bring professional knowledge and core values together in distinctive teaching and learning arrangements. A rationale and learning results are presented that describe key components of action research intended to help…

The increasing use of school advisory councils for budgetary decision making is an obvious trend in new patterns of school governance. As decision makers, council members are lobbied by groups and individuals desiring funding for their particular interests. Problems that need attention are judiciously considered as competing interests vie for…