bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Superintendent Perceptions of Quantity and Quality of Principal Candidates
Authors: Whitaker Kathryn S.
Published: January 2019

This article presents data from a study of superintendents on their perceptions of the quality and quantity of principal candidates in one state. Through a survey, superintendents were asked to provide information about the quantity and quality of candidates for the principalship, level of satisfaction with mentoring/induction programs, and level of satisfaction with professional preparation programs. The respondents were also asked to provide responses to the factors discouraging applicants for the principalship, and suggestions to increase the pool of candidates for the principalship. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 10 superintendents in the state for more in-depth information about the quantity and quality of candidates for the principalship. Recommendations are offered about methods to increase candidate pools and retain quality individuals in principal roles.
Leading by the Numbers: Using an Assessment Instrument to Stimulate Action Research
Authors: Reese Marianne , Carns Ann W.
Published: January 2019

The Group Environmental Scale (GES) was used to assess the psychosocial needs of faculty members and provide specific feedback for the campus administrator of a “troubled” elementary school. The findings challenged the principal's leadership behaviors and stimulated new thinking that led to changes in her leadership style. A follow-up assessment conducted 10 months later revealed that the principal's transition from a directive to a collaborative leadership style resulted in a significant positive change in the faculty's perception regarding “leader control,” yet significant negative changes in “innovation” and “task orientation.” However, three years after the initial assessment, the school received a quality and performance award based on the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award criteria.
Research Note: Shared Decision Making—Rhetoric versus Reality
Authors: Turnbull Barbara
Published: January 2019

Based on three samples of teachers (n = 670, n = 390, n = 454) from 55 elementary and middle schools involved in New Jersey's whole school reform program, this research note describes teacher participation in various types of school-level decisions over a 2-year period. Decisions in which teachers participated were categorized into three domains—core, managerial, and associated. Analyses were conducted on each decision domain to determine frequency of teacher participation and opportunity to participate. Results indicated that teachers had less than desired levels of participation in all three-decision domains, which included 16 areas of school decision making. They were most involved in core decisions about what and how to teach and least involved in managerial decisions about budget and staffing.
Effects of Cohorts on Learners
Authors: Browne-Ferrigno Tricia , Muth Rodney
Published: January 2019

Cohorts are increasingly popular management tools for recruiting students into professional education programs, for organizing their learning experiences, for promoting performance-based outcomes, and for developing and using innovative teaching-learning practices. This article examines issues about the effects of learning in cohorts by focusing on existing research and posing rhetorical questions about what happens both inside and outside cohorts. The purpose of the article is to stimulate dialogue about the impact of cohort participation on learning outcomes, professorial roles, and professional practice. The authors pose a series of unanswered questions about learning in cohorts as a beginning strategy for developing a nationwide longitudinal study to explore transference of learning in cohorts by aspiring school administrators to their professional practice.
Developing Democratic and Transformational School Leaders: Graduates’ Perceptions of the Impact of Their Preparation Program
Authors: Stevenson Robert B. , Doolittle Gini
Published: January 2019

As administrative preparation programs ground strategies for developing new genres of school leaders in transformational and democratic communities, of particular interest are the instructional and programmatic strategies that contribute to successful program outcomes. Constructed over time, this article highlights the specific contribution of student feedback to a program's coherence as it engaged in a recursive practice of development, monitoring, evaluation, and program revision. In addition, the article argues for the value of considering students’ experiences within a collaborative structure and culture.
Finding the Horizon: Education Administration Students Paint a Landscape of Cultural Diversity in Schools
Authors: Ridenour Carolyn S.
Published: January 2019

A landscape painting metaphor was used to report the implications of this study of 33 graduate students preparing to become elementary and secondary school administrators who kept personal journals during their enrollment in an Issues of Diversity class at a private Midwestern university. The journals forced their cultural lens to be transparent, freeing them to locate the horizon line, a reference point for their own experience, beliefs, and values. The students, a 3:1 ratio of white to African American students and 56% female, revealed feelings of confusion, ambivalence, fear, and uncertainty about race and gender in their personal and professional lives. They described new understandings about cultural differences and showed evidence of moving into new behaviors. The power of journaling for those preparing to be school leaders was another dominant theme from the analysis.
Evaluating Urban Teacher Recruitment Programs: An Application of Private Sector Recruitment Theories
Authors: Winter Paul A. , Ronau Robert N. , Muñoz Marco A.
Published: January 2019

This teacher recruitment study was conducted in one of the largest school districts in the United States. The participants ( N = 152) were newly hired teachers. Findings revealed the participants considered economic (e.g., teacher salary schedule), school (e.g., location), and community (e.g., cultural opportunities) attributes important in their decision to accept a teaching job. Some hiring process attributes (e.g., ease of the application process) received low ratings. Score on a hiring process scale was the most powerful predictor of teacher satisfaction with the recruitment process and attraction to a teaching job in the district. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Making Educational Leadership “Educational”
Authors: Wraga William G.
Published: January 2019

Educational leadership preparation and practice typically concentrate on managerial exigencies at the neglect of definitive functions of the institution of schooling. Educational leadership, however, is truly “educational” when its processes focus on fostering student learning of a worthwhile curriculum and when these processes are themselves educative. This article aims to inform current efforts to reform educational leadership preparation by drawing from historic sources and sources outside the conventional educational administration literature and by highlighting the neglect of the curriculum imperative in such recent efforts. Recent attention to the educational dimension of school leadership by the educational leadership community should be pursued further through collaboration among academic specializations and advocacy by professional organizations in the field of education.
Teacher Leadership in the Context of Whole School Reform
Authors: Brooks Jeffrey S. , Scribner Jay Paredes , Eferakorho Jite
Published: January 2019

This article presents findings from a qualitative case study that examined the role of teacher leaders amid whole school reform. Findings suggest that leadership is ambiguous: a contested notion between principal and teacher(s) and among teachers as well. This ambiguity was manifest on the conceptual and operational levels and significantly affected the ways teachers operated as leaders. The article also describes the role and implications of whole school reform as a mediating factor in teachers’ work as leaders.
Best Practices: Expanding the School Leadership Team—Using Counselors to Facilitate Teacher Collaboration with Families
Authors: Amatea Ellen S. , Vandiver Fran
Published: January 2019

By expanding the school leadership team to include the school's counselors, the staff of a K-12 school successfully transformed many of their existing family-school routines into more collaborative efforts. We delineate the history of this change initiative, the goals and objectives for the change project, and the primary organizational change strategies. Finally, we consider the implications of this change project for school administrators and school counselors.
Principal Selection Decisions Made by Teachers: The Influence of Principal Candidate Experience
Authors: Winter Paul A. , Jaeger Mary Grace
Published: January 2019

Public school teachers (N = 189) role-played as members of school councils making principal selection decisions by rating simulated candidates for principal vacancies. The independent variables were principal candidate job experience, candidate person characteristics, and teacher school level. The dependent variable was teacher rating of the job candidate. A three-way ANOVA detected a significant main effect ( F[2, 162] = 7.34, p < .001) for candidate job experience. Teachers rated the most experienced candidates higher than the east experienced candidates, but failed to rate the medium experienced candidate higher than the least experienced candidate, or the most experienced candidate higher than the medium experienced candidate. Implications are discussed relative to the practice of teachers selecting principals, selection theory and future research.
From Barriers to Breakthroughs: Principals’ Strategies for Overcoming Challenges to Teachers’ Transformational Learning
Authors: Drago-Severson Eleanor , Pinto Kristina C.
Published: January 2019

This nationwide qualitative study investigated how 25 school leaders serving in schools with varying resources, perceive the practices they use to support teacher learning. The study discusses how these leaders understand the human resource challenges they face in supporting teacher learning and highlights their creative responses to these challenges across school contexts. Although the principals experience similar challenges, the challenges manifest themselves differently, and the strategies devised to overcome them are tied to the specific contexts of the leaders’ schools.
The Power of Empowerment: Mediating the Relationship between Teachers’ Participation in Decision Making and Their Professional Commitment
Authors: Bogler Ronit
Published: January 2019

This study examines the mediating effect of teacher empowerment on the relationship between teachers’ participation in decision making and their professional commitment. The data were collected through quantitative questionnaires from a sample of 983 teachers in 25 junior high schools and 27 high schools in Israel. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that teacher empowerment mediated the effect of teachers’ participation in decision making (technical domain) on teacher commitment, thus demonstrating the critical role of empowerment in enhancing teacher commitment. The teachers’ sense of empowerment is also related to their desire to be leaders. Implications are drawn regarding the important role that principals and other school administrators need to play in enhancing the teachers’ sense of empowerment.
School Leadership that is Informed by Students’ and Teachers’ Voices of Hope: Reclaiming Our Lost Ways from an Australian Perspective
Authors: Smyth John
Published: January 2019

This article1 provides both a critique and a more hopeful alternative to the current direction in school leadership. The central framing argument, written from an Australian perspective, is that dominant regimes of school leadership within current school reform approaches are failing because of their inability to listen to the voices of students and teachers. Illustrations are presented from Australian research indicating that when school leadership and improvement are conceptualized and enacted around student learning rather than around management, testing, fear, punishment, and accountability, then genuine change is possible, particularly for students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. For this to happen, however, there needs to be a courageous paradigm shift and the development of a “vocabulary of hope” with which to conceive of, and think about, schools. For this kind of leadership reform to become widespread, there must be a willingness to confront and question for whom schools primarily exist.
School Leadership Preparation in Mexico: Metacultural Considerations
Authors: Slater Charles L. , Boone Mike , Muñoz Linda , Base Melinda , Grimaldo Leticia Romero , Korth Lisa , Andrews James , Bustamante Anna , García Isaías álvarez , Topete Carlos , Iturbe Elizabeth
Published: January 2019

Levels of cultural understanding can be applied to leadership and research. Intracultural understanding is self-contained within one culture. Cross-cultural understanding extends from one culture to another. Intercultural understanding recognizes implications for one's own culture. Metacultural understanding extends beyond one's own and others’ culture to create entirely new meanings.

This study examines an educational administration program in Mexico using researchers from a multicultural team. School directors and those in higher education participated in focus groups to examine the preparation Mexican leaders receive, the challenges they face, and the implications for preparation programs. These issues are significant in Mexico, and have implications for the United States and other countries.
Navigating Stormy Seas: Critical Perspectives on the Intersection of Popular Culture and Educational Leader-“Ship”
Authors: Gause Charles P.
Published: January 2019

This article, utilizing a postmodern mediated cultural framework, critically situates the sociopolitical context of public education within the constructs of a lost ship at sea. Seeking to rupture false assumptions of popular culture and its impact on the learning community, I further explore critical possibilities regarding the intersection of popular culture and educational leader-“ship.”
Conceptions of Power Held by Educational Leaders: The Impact on Collaborative Decision-Making Processes
Authors: Mountford Meredith , Ylimaki Rose
Published: January 2019

This article draws on a reanalysis of findings from two separate qualitative studies that examined a possible relationship between school board members’ and curriculum directors’ conceptions of power and the way they made decisions (Mountford, 2001; Ylimaki, 2001, respectively). The findings from both studies were then compared to the extant literature on collaborative decision making and inherent obstacles of power to sustained collaboration. The findings reveal a pattern among school board members’ and curriculum directors’ conceptions and enactments of power. This pattern of behavior can be used by educational leaders to increase their understanding about the role of power during collaborative decision making, minimize some of the obstacles of power to collaborative decision making, and build and sustain collaborative efforts of all kinds.
Across the Void: Preparing Thoughtful Educational Leaders for Today's Schools
Authors: Glickman Carl
Published: January 2019

In this article, I examine my attempts as an instructor in a university-based school leadership program to cross the generational divide with my students by using democracy as the central concept for understanding what is meant by a quality American education for all children. I guide the course according to the democratic learning principles that my colleagues and I use in working with public schools on educational renewal and school improvement efforts. I try to be responsive to my graduate students in the same manner that I wish them to be responsive to each other and to me by asking them to painstakngly argue the opposite of what they believe about education and leadership. Educational assumptions are challenged through provocative research examples and case studies. At the end of the course, I must painfully evaluate myself on how successfully I have fairly judged the intellectual and imaginative quality of student work regardless of whether it agrees with my own vision and values of leadership.
The Power of Critical Spirituality to Act and to Reform
Authors: Dantley Michael E.
Published: January 2019

The field of educational leadership is currently in flux and transition. Scholars and practitioners are being compelled to engage concepts and frames of thinking that are substantively different from the traditional paradigm that has served as the foundation for educational leadership for some time. Included in this new way of perceiving educational leadership is critical spirituality. The inclusion of critical spirituality in the leadership conversation will help to provide a space for the engagement of other voices that have been somewhat dissonant to the traditional educational leadership discourse. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to delineate the four components of critical spirituality and propose how each can serve educational leaders to bring about radical democratic reform of schools.
Organizational Learning Mechanisms: Exploring a Conceptual Framework for Organizational Learning in Schools
Authors: Schechter Chen
Published: January 2019

In light of the complexity and wealth of information in societies today the notion of organizational learning has become the forerunner of school change discourse. However, organizational learning is still characterized by mystical and amorphous rhetoric, understood well neither by researchers nor by practitioners. Therefore, this article is an attempt to explore the notion of organizational learning through the concept of organizational learning mechanisms (OLMs) and the culture in which they are embedded. A case study in a large school, comprised of middle and secondary grades, provided the context for studying OLMs and the learning values (culture) influencing their productivity. The study strengthens the ability to empirically research learning by schools through the structural and cultural framework. Lessons drawn from the study and future research, which may contribute to the field of organizational learning, are discussed
On the Web, on Reclaiming “Spirituality,” “Authenticity,” and “Revolution”: An Argument for Leadership-With
Authors: Hudak Glenn M.
Published: January 2019

It is argued that the Web is transforming schooling in the 21st century, and as such altering the terrain of what leadership “means.” Theorizing our submersion in the Internet, we discover that the Web enhances a leadership-for paradigm, while at the same time it militates against what is defined as a leadership-with paradigm. For the power of the Web is its capacity to transform our desire for meaningful interconnectedness: transforming “spirituality” and “authenticity” into products for the self-help industry, and leadership into something not intended—disembodied leadership. In our postmodern culture, revoultionary leadership can act to counter disembodiment in its demand for an embodied, “incarnate” leadership. With embodied leadership comes our solidarity with one another: our passionate sense of commitment for social justice and where one acts with such intensity as to stretch the boundary we normally consider as being “professional” into being “revolutionary.” As such, revolutionary leadership is moral, spiritual, and authentic in that one is released from one's professional identity.
Superintendents’ Perceptions about Social Distance, Succession, and “Sunset” Provisions for Asian, Latino, and Native American Candidates Seeking Building-Level Administrator Positions
Authors: Young I. Phillip , De La Torre Guadalupe Xavier
Published: January 2019

Research addressing the attraction and selection of individuals for administrator positions is encapsulated in a structural model that depicts different phases of the employee procurement process. Within the present study, attention is devoted to the prescreening stage of the selection process, and screening decisions of superintendents are examined for applicants varying in national origin (Asian, Latino, or Native American), chronological age (29 years old, 49 years old, or control condition), and level of administrator position sought (assistant high school principals or high school principal). Screening decisions of superintendents are cast into a 3 × 3 x 2 factorial design and a MANOVA indicates a significant interaction effect for national origin by focal positional. This finding is interpreted from a social distance perspective and alternative explanations are provided. Results suggest that only certain groups should follow the succession pattern and that a sunset provision fails to exist for these particular groups of job candidates.
Foundations in Student Services and Special Education Administration: A Pedagogical Process to Promote Leadership for Social Justice in K–12 Schools
Authors: Frattura Elise M.
Published: January 2019

This article focuses from a critical perspective on the pedagogical foundations of a course on educational leadership of student services and special education administration. Additionally, it explores the ability of teaching the “practical application” of administering K–12 special education and student services using critical discourse through a deconstruct–reconstruct process. The course presented in this article examines how the changing role of student service directors and school principals encourages the development and implementation of integrated comprehensive services for all learners. The course employs a range of theoretical perspectives to address the political, structural, and functional constructs within the system that inhibit and promote comprehensive services for all learners. Students in this course complete a districtwide analysis and craft recommendations from a critical perspective to diminish, if not completely remove, practices that marginalize and elevate educational oppression and, in turn, societal oppression. In addition, students receive and generate practical information to assist in building the bridge from fragmented programs for students in need to the promotion of integrated comprehensive services for all learners.
Tinkering toward Utopia or Stuck in a Rut? School Reform Implementation at Wintervalley High
Authors: Brooks Jeffrey S.
Published: January 2019

This article1 presents findings from a 2-year qualitative study that examined teacher and administrator involvement with implementation of school reform initiatives in a public secondary school. Findings suggest that implementation had both positive and negative consequences. Although reforms advanced the school's ongoing discussion about continuous improvement and promoted some useful procedural change, the reform negatively changed some work conditions for teachers. This study prompts educators to consider the importance of context and perspective, both historically and in situ, during educational reform implementation.
“He's a Nice Man, but it Doesn't Help”: Principal Leadership, School Culture, and the Status of Deaf Children
Authors: Slobodzian Jean T. , Lugg Catherine A.
Published: January 2019

Building principals are confronted with a host of challenges, particularly when serving children who live outside of the stereotypical mainstream. This article, drawn from a larger ethnographic study, examines the leadership behavior of one building principal who was the administrator for a program serving deaf and nondeaf children. Although students and teachers saw the principal as a caring and highly skilled administrator who made verbal commitments to building an integrated and caring school community, the school culture was ultimately exclusive. The norms of the dominant nondeaf culture went largely unquestioned, and the deaf students were reminded daily of their diminished status. This article concludes with a discussion of deaf education, educational administration, oppressive niceness, and how leadership practices can be moved toward a social justice ethic for students with special needs in general and for deaf students in particular.
School Climate: The Interplay between Interpersonal Relationships and Student Achievement
Authors: Tschannen-Moran Megan , Parish Jennifer , Dipaola Michael
Published: January 2019

This study of school climate underscores the importance of the quality of interpersonal relationships in a school to student achievement. This study improves on previous studies in three ways: First, it makes use of a parsimonious school climate framework that is easier to interpret than previous measures; second, it replaces a subscale that assesses a school's success at buffering influences from its community with a measure of bridging (DiPaola & Tschannen-Moran, 2005); and third, it measures student progress using state standards of the kind required by No Child Left Behind. We provide educational leaders with a framework to gain insight into their schools’ climates and in turn make improvements within their schools as they strive to meet the benchmarks set by their states and the federal government.
Licensed but Not Leading: Issues Influencing Individuals’ Pursuit of the Secondary Principalship
Authors: Schutte Theron J. , Hackmann Donald G.
Published: January 2019

In this study, we used survey research methods to examine (1) factors that motivated educators in the state of Iowa who held administrative licensure (125 females, 164 males) to actively pursue secondary principalship positions and (2) aspects that dissuaded them from applying. Respondents rated 10 factors that potentially motivated them to pursue administrative licensure, 36 factors related to perceived barriers to pursuing the principalship, and 5 questions related to perceived quality of leadership preparation. Results revealed that educators were attracted to the principalship for intrinsically motivating reasons. Although perceiving potential barriers as being only minimal-to-moderate obstacles, females identified concerns related to gender discrimination and gender stereotypes, and males were significantly more likely to apply to available positions. Respondents indicated concerns regarding time demands of the position and an emphasis on management over leadership responsibilities.
Creating Learning Communities in Low-Performing Sites: A Systemic Approach to Alignment
Authors: Cowan D'Ette Fly
Published: January 2019

Creating learning communities in low-performing districts and schools is especially daunting in an era of accountability and standards-based assessment. This article describes research that informed application of Southwest Educational Development Laboratory's Working Systemically model for increased student achievement. The article highlights 4 needs of low-performing districts and schools, and it describes actions to address these needs systemically while promoting a culture of collaboration and professional learning. It focuses on a process for alignment of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to state standards across levels of the local system. Finally, it discusses roles and responsibilities of external change agents in helping districts and schools learn to work systemically.
The Organizational Socialization of Assistant Principals
Authors: Mertz Norma T.
Published: January 2019

The purpose of the study was to describe the organizational socialization of assistant principals and consider how that socialization prepares them for becoming principals. Using a case study research design and social systems theory as the theoretical framework, 8 assistant principals in 2 different high schools were interviewed (as were their principals) and observed as they went about their work. The assistant principals were socialized in the position by what they lived as assistants, what they learned by the example of their principals and other assistants, and what was and was not reinforced in their practice. They learned to do school as it is currently being done and to see how it is currently being done as the way that it should be done. What they learned prepared them ill to lead schools in new ways when and if they became principals.
Principal Recruitment: Assessing Job Pursuit Intentions among Educators Enrolled in Principal Certification Programs
Authors: Winter Paul A. , Rinehart James S. , Keedy John L. , Björk Lars G.
Published: January 2019

A statewide cadre of principal certification students (N = 516) completed a principal job survey and role-played as applicants for a principal position by completing a principal job evaluation instrument. Significant predictors of principal job rating included the following: self-reported capability to do the job expected satisfaction with work hours and family time, expected satisfaction with intrinsic job facets and job security expected satisfaction with job enrichment opportunities and responsibility and expected satisfaction with income and career advancement opportunities. Implications for recruitment practice and future research are discussed.
Correlates of Job and Growth Satisfaction among Secondary School Administrators
Authors: Conley Sharon , Shaw Shirley , Glasman Naftaly
Published: January 2019

This study examined the job and growth satisfaction of secondary school administrators. Three sets of variables (job, organizational, and personal characteristics) were tested in terms of their impact on 2 related but distinct dependent variables: job and growth satisfaction. The participants included 153 school administrators, 66 principals, and 87 assistant principals. Some analyses combined these groups, and others examined them as separate samples. Strong support was found for the association of job characteristics and some organizational characteristics with job and growth satisfaction, but there was generally a weak association of personal characteristics with these outcomes. Implications follow from study findings.
Hiring the Best Teachers? Rural Values and Person–Organization Fit Theory
Authors: Little Paula S. , Miller Stephen K.
Published: January 2019

Person–organization fit theorizes perceptions of congruity between applicants and organizational characteristics in hiring decisions. This study extends person–organization fit to teacher selection in rural districts, hypothesizing that officials with strong rural values favor applicants who reflect the community's sense of place. Rural values of 214 decision makers from the population of Kentucky districts were correlated with five sets of personnel selection practices— three hiring process variables and two tacit fit filters. Results strongly confirm the theoretical model. All correlations were statistically significant, with most effect sizes between .22 and .67. Implications for teacher selection and school accountability are discussed.
“Getting on the Balcony to See the Patterns on the Dance Floor Below”: Considering Organizational Culture in a University–School–Community Collaboration
Authors: Miller Peter M.
Published: January 2019

Organizational issues are of particular importance in the planning of university–school–community partnerships because in their efforts to pool resources for the attainment of mutually agreed-on ends, it is evident that partnership participants commonly operate in diverse living, schooling, and working environments. This qualitative study sought to learn how differences in organizational cultures affect a university–school–community partnership as it seeks to achieve mutually agreed-on goals. Guided by Schein's (1990b) theoretical framework, the findings indicate that the partnership was significantly affected by the diversity of its partners’ cultural artifacts, values, and basic underlying assumptions and that leadership plays a vital role in negotiating these differences.
Principal Leadership for Social Justice: Uncovering the Content of Teacher Professional Development
Authors: Kose Brad W.
Published: January 2019

Both principal leadership for professional development and leadership for social justice offer promising but underdeveloped conceptions of professional development content that school principals promote toward teaching for academic excellence and social justice. This article examines the professional learning content promoted by three school principals for social justice. Findings reveal a nuanced understanding of two content strands of professional development: subject matter expertise and social identity development. Principals should promote both strands of professional development to support teaching for social justice and differentiate this professional learning according to teacher needs. Implications for practice, theory and future research are discussed.
Those Moral Aspects Unique to the Profession: Principals’ Perspectives on Their Work and the Implications for a Professional Ethic for Educational Leadership
Authors: Frick William C. , Gutierrez Kathrine J.
Published: January 2019

This study examined aspects of work-related behavior considered morally and ethically unique to the profession of educational leadership as expressed by practitioners. The purpose was to empirically test and develop a practical, profession-specific ethic as articulated by Shapiro and Stefkovich (2001, 2005) and Stefkovich (2006). The study used phenomenological-like interview techniques and included 11 principals of diverse public secondary schools representing rural, suburban, suburban/metro, and urban settings. Findings suggest that practitioners can articulate a unique moral practice for educational leadership, one distinct unto itself. Implications of findings offer explanatory power of the moral, value, and ethical bases for educational leadership decision making and in developing and refining a professional ethic for educational leadership.
Exploring the Intersectionality of Multiple Centers within Notions of Social Justice
Authors: Dantley Michael E. , Beachum Floyd D. , Mccray Carlos R.
Published: January 2019

Our hope for creative living in this world house that we have inherited lies in our ability to reestablish the moral ends of our lives in personal character and social justice. Without this spiritual and moral awakening we shall destroy ourselves in the misuse of our own instruments.
A Dialectic of Social Justice: Finding Synergy between Life and Work through Reflection and Dialogue
Authors: Brooks Jeffrey S. , Tooms Autumn K.
Published: January 2019

Educational administration scholars have long argued that reflective practice and meaningful critical dialogue are important aspects of thoughtful leadership. This article explores the efficacy and utility of these two activities in relation to learning about and enacting leadership for social justice. The article centers on the reflective narratives of two leadership-for-social-justice scholars. It considers how their discrete experiences and ongoing dialogue contributed to their development, and it reveals the complexities and deficiencies that they continue to reconcile. The article concludes with a discussion of the value of engaging in these activities. It is written with established and emerging scholars in mind, who are seeking to understand what social justice means and who are striving to situate themselves as active members of a scholarly community.
Educational Leadership: The Effects of Perceived Support, Organization-Based Self-Esteem, and Citizenship Behaviors on Student Performance
Authors: Twigg Nicholas W.
Published: January 2019

It is important to retain qualified teachers in any educational environment. This is especially true for teachers who work in a structured environment fraught with administrative, logistical, and political challenges. The principal is responsible for providing a supportive educational environment, which is necessary for an atmosphere where the teacher feels comfortable. This study suggests that leadership style influences the citizenship behaviors of teachers and student performance through a covenantal model that goes beyond economic, social, and psychological exchange models. Leadership style is measured with a triangulated design where the principal's self-reported leadership style is compared with administrators’ and teachers’ evaluations so that a top-down and bottom-up measure of leadership style is assessed. The covenantal model also shows a significant positive relationship to student performance as measured by the objective state assessment scores. Limitations of the study, implications for administrators, and directions for future research issues are discussed.
Predicting Teacher Success Using Teacher Selection Practices and Classroom Performance Assessment
Authors: Gimbert Belinda G. , Chesley Daryl
Published: January 2019

This study evaluated the predictive validity of two preemployment screening devices—the Urban Teacher Perceiver Interview and the Academic Skills Assessment portion of the Praxis Series test—as used by an urban high-need and hard-to-staff school district. Specifically, we compared predictor scores with subsequent teacher assessment scores generated through the Teacher Performance Assessment process. Three research questions directed this study: Is the Urban Teacher Perceiver Interview an effective predictor of teacher performance as measured by the Teacher Performance Assessment? Is the Praxis Series an effective predictor of teacher performance as measured by the Teacher Performance Assessment? Is the combination of the Urban Teacher Perceiver Interview and the Praxis Series an effective predictor of teacher performance as measured by the Teacher Performance Assessment? When each predictor was factored separately, the results indicated a statistically significant relationship between a prospective teacher's score on the Urban Teacher Perceiver Interview score and the subsequent Teacher Performance Assessment score. No statistically significant relationship between a teacher candidate's Praxis Series score and subsequent Teacher Performance Assessment was determined. The results indicated increased predictability of subsequent teacher performance when based on both predictors ( R2 = .117).
Realities of a School-University Partnership: Focus on Leadership
Authors: Kamler Estelle , Szpara Michelle , Dornisch Michele , Goubeaud Karleen , Levine Gavrielle , Brechtel Seth
Published: January 2019

In this school-university partnership, university faculty team with high school teachers to advance content literacy for immigrant students. Using a narrative research design, we retell stories, chronologically structured by comentoring developmental phases, to retrace our individual teams’ activities. With a distributive perspective of leadership, we examine interactions among university faculty, teachers, and administrators and reflect on the ways of and reasons for accomplishing partnership tasks. In the process, we identify leadership strategies that either offset problems highlighted in the literature or address struggles confronted in this cross-cultural endeavor, and we offer insights regarding essentials for facilitating school-university collaborations.
Urban School Principals, Deficit Frameworks, and Implications for Leadership
Authors: Flessa Joseph
Published: January 2019

This article presents the findings of a qualitative study of four middle school principals in one urban school district. It focuses on principals’ almost exclusively negative descriptions of the families and communities served by their schools. Whereas much previous writing on this topic has attributed such deficit attitudes to a few bad-thinking educators, this article argues that these principals beliefs are in fact aligned with prevailing attitudes about urban communities, the purposes of schooling, and what leadership can and should do in urban schools Remedying principals’ deficit frameworks is a prerequisite for school improvement and will require selecting, preparing, and supporting principals differently; it will also require making visible the systems of belief that obstruct connections between urban schools and communities
Obtaining Validation from Graduates on a Restructured Principal Preparation Program
Authors: Ballenger Julia , Alford Betty , Mccune Sandra , Mccune Donice
Published: January 2019

Colleges of education have come under scrutiny in their preparation of principals. Even professors of education have joined in the criticism characterizing these programs as bankrupt, fragmented, and going down a road to nowhere (Norton, 2002). This article is part of a collaborative research effort of the University Council for Educational Administration, the goal of which is to engage the leadership preparation field more broadly in the individual and comparative study of each program's effectiveness and impact (Orr & Pounder, 2006). This study used within-program comparison of follow-up survey responses from two sets of program graduates from a university-based leadership preparation program to determine differences in program features and outcome measures.
Allocating More Experienced Teachers to Leadership Positions in Schools: A Double-Edged Sword?
Authors: Camburn Eric M.
Published: January 2019

This article presents a critical discussion of the implications of allocating the most experienced and skilled teachers in schools to teacher leadership positions. Placing such teachers in leadership positions supports school improvement initiatives, but it can also pull valuable teaching resources from the classroom. The article examines this issue by investigating how expertise is distributed between teacher leaders and regular classroom teachers in urban schools implementing comprehensive school reform programs. Results indicate that teacher leaders have substantially more postsecondary training and teaching experience than do nonleaders. The implications of these results are discussed.
Training Administrators for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse School Populations: Opinions of Expert Practitioners
Authors: Herrity Vishna A. , Glasman Naftaly S.
Published: January 2019

Cultural and linguistic diversity has changed the social fabric of today's schools. Currently, there is a wider variety of cultural, language, and family backgrounds than ever before. As a result of the increasing numbers of language minority students with unique educational and social needs, some studies suggest that principals need specialized training to ensure that all students have equal access to an education based on academic excellence and high expectations. Yet there are limited opportunities for aspiring administrators to receive specialized training for working with culturally and linguistically diverse school populations. As a result, many school administrators may lack the necessary preparation to develop policies and implement educational programs for diverse students.
Teacher Selection and School Leader Effects
Authors: Mertz Norma T.
Published: January 2019

The article is a report of a study of how principals select teachers. Based on one-on-one interviews with a convenience sample of 57 principals in one state, this study examined the process they used to make teacher hiring decisions, including information they had and subsequently used in making the selection decision and how they went about making the decision. The findings were then considered in terms of decision-making theory and what is known about principal effects on student learning.
Identifying Attributes of Teacher Leaders within the Advancement via Individual Determination Program: A Survey of School Principals
Authors: Watt Karen M. , Mills Shirley J. , Huerta Jeffery
Published: January 2019

This study identified what attributes principals believe best exemplify a teacher leader in schools implementing the Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) program and what attributes they take into consideration when selecting an AVID elective teacher. After surveying more than 1,100 principals, we found that principals tended to rate teacher leadership attributes high in all areas, although they were not in agreement in the areas of professional growth and school/district environments. Respondents also did not consider all teacher leader attributes when selecting their AVID elective teachers. Principals may therefore see an immediate need for a high-quality teacher to teach the AVID elective class yet initially underestimate the importance of the teacher's role in AVID as a catalyst for schoolwide reform.
Parents’ Networking Strategies: Participation of Formal and Informal Parent Groups in School Activities and Decisions
Authors: Wanat Carolyn L.
Published: January 2019

This case study examined parent groups’ involvement in school activities and their participation in decision making. Research questions included the following: (1) What is the nature of parent groups in schools? (2) What activities and issues gain parent groups’ attention and participation? (3) How do parent groups communicate concerns about school policies and practices? (4) What differences, if any, exist between formal and informal parent groups? Social network theory provided the framework for analysis. Seventeen parents in one K–6 elementary school participated in semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed with analytic induction. Participants’ interactions around shared activities created dense networks that supported school activities and influenced school leaders’ decision making.
Student Strip Searches: The Legal and Ethical Implications of Safford Unified School District v. Redding for School Leaders
Authors: Torres Mario S. , Brady Kevin P. , Stefkovich Jacqueline A.
Published: January 2019

The legal freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures is guaranteed to all adult citizens under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. These same legal protections from unreasonable searches and seizures are not guaranteed to today's K-12 student population. School officials are not subject to the same warrant and probable cause requirements required of law enforcement officials to constitute a legally viable search. Instead, the legal constitutionality of searches involving U.S. students is guided by the reasonableness of the search toward maintaining appropriate school discipline. Given the mounting pressures to improve school safety, today's school leaders are facing conflicting legal and ethical challenges associated with balancing the competing goals of student safety with respecting students’ legal rights. Student strip searches are one such example of a legal and ethical dilemma facing today's school leaders. This article explores the legal and ethical implications of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent case Safford United School District v. Redding, involving the strip search of a middle school student for nonprescription drugs. A central inquiry of this article is whether student strip searches are in the best legal and ethical interests of student leaders.
The Dearth of Technology Leadership Coverage
Authors: Mcleod Scott , Richardson Jayson W.
Published: January 2019

This study focused on understanding the extent to which technology leadership is discussed, framed, and given voice in the fields of educational leadership and educational administration. To do this, we collected data and conducted content analyses on conference programs from three leading professional organizations in the field and on a selection of professional journals spanning 1997 to 2009. We found 2.12% of American Educational Research Association presentations had a technology leadership focus, compared to 2.94% for the University Council for Educational Administration and 7.40% for the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration. After determining the 25 most often-cited journals in the field, we found that 43 articles in these journals had a focus on technology leadership, most often centering on technology integration, staff development, and technology policy. Suggestions for moving forward are included.