Purpose: This article presents a conceptual synthesis of the international literature on inclusive education while expanding upon, and incorporating, the articles in this special issue. The authors present their 3P model (philosophy, policy and praxis) and relate each paper in this special issue to different aspects of their model.…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reconceptualize the theory-practice gap in educational leadership, not as a deficit, but as a necessity for legitimacy within institutional contexts. Design/methodology/approach: This paper draws on institutional theory to reframe the theory-practice gap, which is often seen as a deficit of leaders or…

This study assesses factors that affect principals' roles in curricular innovation. A random sample of 69 Israeli principals participated in the study, which sought to estimate the predictive ability of policy, strategy, organizational, and background factors in explaining the variance of leadership styles. (TE)

In the United States, national legislation was created to protect disabled students' education rights. Courts have provided tests for integrating such students into school systems. Some are concerned this advocacy has gone too far and that court decisions authorizing "full inclusion" misinterpret the law's intent. This article examines…

Explores what difference the tightness or looseness of language makes in a policy's actual implementation. Applies three policy language categories (philosophical, professional, and prescriptive) to several uses (purpose, evaluation, discretion, responsibility, and relationship) to explain the importance of wording battles to policymaking…

Reviews the thrusts for educational equity and diversity evinced by the constitutional provisions and measures adopted during successive plan periods in India. Analyzes the impact of relevant policies and programs on promoting equity and fostering diversity. Identifies the challenges facing educational administrators when tackling equity and…

Identifies problems occurring in the Guangzhou (China) compulsory-education program (poor primary-education quality, administrator shortages, poorly trained teachers, insufficient education revenues, and high teacher turnover) and suggests solutions. Presents a situation analysis to determine how the education system works in practice. Promotes…

Examines the emergence and early implementation stages of Queensland (Australia) Education Department's policy for devolving responsibility to state schools. Clarifies the department's rhetoric in developing and promoting its decentralization policy; examines policy efficacy at the "school face" level; explores possible policy outcomes,…

Describes Sudan's New Educational Policy, a top-down educational reform plan promulgated by the Nimeiri Government during 1970-85. The plan attempted to increase enrollments dramatically and change a colonial British curriculum to a modern, authentically Sudanese curriculum. Fortunately, the plan ignored the Khalawi, alternative institutions that…

Attributes role changes for Belgian principals to turbulence in the policymaking arena and to involvement in large-scale improvement projects during the past 20 years. Principal's tasks are grouped around two sets of activities: assessing the importance of external and internal factors on the local school and making central policies more…

Analyzes the evolving U.S. principalship between 1960 and the present, focusing on three influential roles: program manager, instructional leader, and transformational leader. Assesses these roles in light of contextual changes, particularly developments in national and state educational policy. Unfortunately, a strong administrative leader image…

Draws on other articles in this journal issue to identify emergent themes concerning the principal's evolving role in several countries. Explains the context for change, including reform pressures and political response, and examines principals' changing work environment, their transformed roles, and preparation and professional development…

After 1987, Gorbachev's initiatives provoked strong educator discord over the extent of desirable national education policy change and the rewriting of the nation's history. Classroom teachers and low-level administrators pushed for greater decision-making authority at lower levels. By 1989, these differences had settled into a pattern of ongoing,…

Outlines the differing educational philosophies, policies, and organizational structures of the two Germanies, from nursery to university level. Examines future prospects for integrating both institutions and personnel. Although unification was made possible by the former East Germans, they and their institutions must make the greater adaptation…

Considers educational planning as a communication of shared symbols creating intent geared toward change. Elaborates 11 groups of metaphorical images of planning (as circle, recipe, compass, map, puzzle, tree, maze, Ariadne's thread, prediction, art, and spider's web) bridging impression and expression. Relates this metaphorical analysis to…