For assistant principals to become effective leaders and the assistantship to become a feasible position, the office's dynamics and context must be understood, people must be better trained to meet the position's demands, and the job must be made a more appropriate training ground for the principalship. Both university and school district…

Examines taxonomy for understanding and applying various facets of ethical argumentation and conceptualization to administrative practice. Stresses importance of developing conceptual analysis approach from scientific, conceptual, general normative, and applied normative ethics strands of literature. Offers prescriptive approach to ethics and…

Explores 40 urban principals' perceptions concerning obstacles to school effectiveness. Schools as organizational workplaces are plagued by stress, frustration, and alienation. There is a growing gap between school culture and the larger society. Kids who no longer buy into the American dream often fail to meet educator-imposed expectations.…

Provides a sequentially integrated approach to educational policy development. By incorporating analyses of educational decision-making basics, accepted site-based management practices, sound educational research, assessment of policy values, and a disciplined decision-making process, campus management teams can provide the effective, proactive…

By reviewing the training of medical professionals, one can identify similarities to the preparation of education professionals (teachers). On a basic level, the medicine and education fields are both practice-oriented; require individuals with problem-solving, decision-making, and interpersonal skills; depend on information bases that multiply…

The intrinsic value of a college education is increasing as America's political and economic position in the world marketplace becomes more threatened. We will all lose if the participation of African-American students in higher education is not increased. Institutional executive and faculty leadership dedicated to providing an environment where…

Summarizes a study to determine the qualities sought by school boards when employing superintendents, as perceived by superintendent search consultants. Highly desirable qualities included performance in previous positions, performance during the interview, evidence of leadership and managerial skills, communication skills, and experience and…

Over the past 20 years, the status of women in higher education has marginally improved. This status report focuses on affirmative action's role in hiring and retaining women in higher education, the hostile work environment facing women and minorities, adverse policies affecting African-American women faculty, rank and salary inequities,…

Describes how a doctoral studies reform initiative was conducted at the University of Kentucky. Funded by a Danforth grant, the new educational administration program stresses school leadership and educational reform and was inspired by demand for distance learning technology, the Kentucky Education Reform Act, and an opportunity for hiring new…

Examines the micropolitics within Delaware's RE:Learning project schools. Describes four teacher factions (the enthusiastic vanguard, cautious observers, sleepy cynics, and outspoken opponents) that typically emerged, persisted, and sniped at each other. Explores each faction's traits, sketches factions' interactions within steering committees,…

Mary Douglas's typology, using grid and group dimensions, provides a means to classify and compare social environments in terms of their differing cultural constraints on individual autonomy. This article uses the Douglas typology to examine the grid and group characteristics of four diverse schools to determine the framework's applicability to…

Although the prior teaching experience of students of educational administration is usually ignored for purposes of program planning, the experience can be important in developing an administrative perspective. Drawing on conceptual change theory, a curriculum framework can be designed to foster the beginning stage of a cognitive shift during…

Three field-oriented, problem-based administrator preparation programs at the University of Colorado at Denver have provided opportunities and challenges. Student involvement in planning and conducting learning, collaboration among faculty and students, and use of performance-based learning outcomes and portfolio assessments are among the…

Presents assumptions and components of an experiential learning model to demonstrate the transformation of traditional educational leadership program delivery models. Two examples of experientially-based course projects are presented to illustrate teaching and learning as a transactional process of creating personal knowledge. (SLD)

Presents a philosophical grounding for valuation in educational administration. It is based on a naturalistic perspective that shows how scientific methods and relevant concepts and explanations can be used in situations requiring moral deliberation. Examples illustrate how administrators can use tentative explanations and consequence analysis to…