Advances in Educational Administration – serie

"Improving Educational Performance: Local and Systematic Reforms", Volume 5 of the series published in 1997, examines improvement of educational performance through state and local reform efforts and through increases in school choice opportunities. Researchers present operational frameworks that address the perceived failure of public schools to provide high levels of student academic performance. These frameworks included measurement, motivation, and accountability in local school districts; state-driven systemic reform of curriculum standards; and accountability through school choice and school-centered reform. Perspectives presented on accountability and educational performance compare the effects of centralized governance and local authority, examine the relative benefits and adverse effects of state government and market competition on school operations, and review the tensions between professional and community control of instruction and assessment.

Urban education is the primary target of the school reform movement and remains the most difficult to assess and repair. The crisis in urban school systems mirrors many of the problems found in big cities - poor economic conditions for schools and families, personnel shortages and high turnover rates, improper facilities and materials, and political struggles over issues of structure and control. This book analyses the problems affecting urban schools and their students and the efforts that have been made to make these schools more accountable and effective. This book is organized in three parts. Part one provides an overview of many of the issues facing urban school districts, their students and their communities including meeting the needs of racially, ethnically, linguistically and culturally diverse populations, financing schools located in economically disadvantaged areas, and attracting and maintaining qualified teachers and administrators. Part two examines the impact demands for increased accountability and equity influence urban education reform. The issues discussed in this section include academic standards and high stakes testing, technology and the digital divide, the role of leadership and impact of teacher shortages, and school finance and public policy. Part three focuses on strategies developed to reform and improve urban school systems. These chapters examine federal education policy, the impact of school choice and related issues such as privatization and vouchers, the influence of community involvement, and state sponsored reform and reorganization efforts.

The administration of public schools encompasses myriad generic issues having to do with curriculum content, instructional methodology, human resource and financial management, and of course, the guidance and counseling of students. Woven into this tapestry is the obligation to individualize educational programs to accommodate the needs of a wide and diverse student population. The needs of children may be categorized by economic, social, ethnic, physical and mental differences unique to each child and family. It is incumbent upon the public school to accommodate these differences with specially designed educational programs and to remediate any effects that may be detrimental to learning. Prominent and unique among such programs is special education, for which the program of learning is usually separately funded at both federal and state levels, but even more importantly, the learning regimen is individually calibrated to address the needs of each child determined to have a disability. Indeed, assuring children with disabilities their statutory rights constitutes a substantial segment of public school administration in the United States today. The various ramifications of the educational needs of children with disabilities and their attendant circumstances are so extensive that one book on the subject cannot be sufficient to address the magnitude and broad scope of the field. However, in this book we have attempted to discuss several of the salient issues that are of prominent concern to both school administrators and teachers. The book proceeds from the broad consideration of rights and costs to more specific issues regarding the categorization of children and the disproportionality of the various racial and ethnic groups of children who may be improperly designated as disabled. Within the context of such classifications the book discusses the screening strategies on which the rights of children with disabilities are so delicately balanced. To inappropriately classify a child may result in a form of subtle discrimination or denial of a statutory right to the provision of a particular type of educational instruction or accommodation. As is indicated throughout this book, the assessment methods by which a child's free appropriate education is determined have become a science of considerable importance. Incident to this necessity of precise assessment is the need for risk screening strategies and protocols to identify symptoms, behaviors and indications of learning disabilities requiring particular and specialized educational redress. Among issues of greatest importance is the determination not to exclude children with disabilities from the regular classroom and the mainstream of learning. Inclusion or mainstreaming is among the most contentious and perplexing issues confronting school administrators. What constitutes the legal requirements and the educational considerations of the least-restrictive environment comes directly into play in provision of an appropriate education. Beyond the all-important inclusion issue, other chapters of this book address problems of cultural and social mores that affect children with disabilities, symptoms of depression in parents of children with disabilities, maltreatment of children with disabilities, and symptoms of children who have suffered post-traumatic stress from catastrophic events in their own lives. Each chapter suggests measures to be taken by educators in identifying and redressing such matters. Policy implications for the enhancement of the effectiveness of special education programs are identified for the school administrator to consider.

In today's society where most students own MP3 players, engage in constant instant messaging and downloading from the Internet, more than ever school administrators and staff should be aware of issues in administration, policy, and applications. This book provides a comprehensive presentation of current policies and practices of technology in K12 schools. The first part of the book lays out the foundation of what schools should be concerned about involving various aspects of technology and its impact on school administration and teaching. The second part of the book introduces technology, policy and philosophical discussions on the use of technology in schools. The third section of the book provides an examination of technology of practical applications of technology currently used in schools. Sharon Tettegah holds faculty appointments in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Psychology. She also has appointments with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign. Richard C. Hunter is a faculty member, and former chair in the Department of Educational Organization and Leadership in the College of Education at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign.

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is designed to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged and disadvantaged children through its Title I program. Title I provides disadvantaged students with compensatory education. Only Title I schools are required to meet NCLB accountability guidelines but some states apply federal accountability guidelines to non-Title I schools; and states must separate achievement test scores by racial subgroups. The book explores models to achieve equity in Title I schools. The authors define what is required of states in Title I schools. The NCLB guidelines are flexible: states may confine their accountability involvement to Title I schools only and limit the number of Title I schools in their state; states may establish their own standardized tests and establish their own racial subgroups. The authors examine how each state reacts and implements NCLB accountability standards, and challenges to these guidelines in the courts and in the body politics by states. The text examines the achievements of NCLB, and the implications of the Act. The text also reviews implications for a larger immigrant population that did not exist in 1965 when Title I was originally enacted by Congress; and the impact of globalization the educational needs of the country. It explores models to achieve equity under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.

"This volume: * focuses on education reform and professional development processes intended to prepare and develop prospective and practicing educational leaders into leadership positions; * examines cultural, political, legal, economic and social justice issues that affect leaders while serving in the role of educational leader/learner; * examines the various ways in which educational leadership, politics, policy and reform are interconnected; * focus on the critical significance of transforming education leadership agendas if educational leaders are to truly change the face of how meaningful leadership development and preparation is planned and implemented for effectiveness; * introduces various frameworks for restructuring leadership and learning including the need for collaborative and community-based efforts for redesigning, planning, and implementing leadership development programs; * encourages interdisciplinary educational leaders to re-examine who they are as leaders of learning, as learners of leadership, and life-long learners. A corollary purpose of this volume is to encourage a discourse that focuses on 'out-of-the-box' approaches in preparing future school leaders to push the envelope of leadership practice."

Advances in Educational Administration presents new perspectives and the latest thinking within the areas of educational leadership and administration.

"Distributed Leadership: School Improvement through Collaboration", Volume 4 of the series published in 1995, focuses on defining leadership and questioning the relationships among leaders and followers through a series of case studies. From data collected at two elementary, one middle, and one high school located in Texas, Missouri, and Illinois, researchers offer in-depth analyses of a variety of leadership styles in schools working toward structural and academic reform. These case studies reflect themes that include shifts in leadership roles through participative decision making, connections of leadership processes with instruction and curriculum development processes, and change efforts motivated by student success. Commentary addressing these themes focuses on re-examination of traditional assumptions about the organization of schooling, and on the advantages of school-based decision making through distributed leadership.

Leadership in Education, Corrections and Law Enforcement: A Commitment to Ethics, Equity and Excellence fills a unique gap in the knowledge base - the juncture between leadership, ethics, law, and how public institutions/organizations understand and practice the essence of all three. Authors from law enforcement, corrections education, and educational leadership present different yet overlapping constructs around ethics and law, and make an important step towards reconciling these differing views to demonstrate the significance of collaboration and partnerships for a common purpose.

Global Leadership For Social Justice: Taking It From The Field To Practice proposes perspectives for conceptualizing the preparation of leaders for social justice and equity-oriented work in schools. Although faculty in the field of education have prepared thousands of school leaders, and the research continues to expand, limited research exists regarding how to prepare leaders for social justice work in schools, especially considering international contexts. This book builds on extant empirical and theoretical work in the area of educational leadership, and deepens understanding of what leading for social justice and equity-oriented work looks like within diverse schools.

This book will feature lessons learned about the successful implementation of leadership program preparation and development programs that are grant-funded by the United States Department of Education through the School Leadership Program. Each chapter will highlight one or more practices that have been identified as a best practice by the literature and detail how the program implemented the practice(s). It is clear from the literature what should be done to prepare aspiring and current leaders (i.e. mentoring, in-depth internships, partnerships) but what is not clear is how to do this. This book will do exactly that with real-life experiences in the implementation of these practices (including successes, challenges, etc.). These will be authentic examples from the field about how practitioners have addressed challenges in implemented successful activities such as coaching, the internship, evaluating projects, and forging partnerships with preparation entities.

This volume of "Advances in Educational Administration" examines discretionary behavior/performance, an emerging yet critical phenomenon for educational organizations to be effective in responding to the complex expectations of the 21st century. Discretionary behavior refers to the employee behavior that is not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and in the aggregate promotes the efficient and effective functioning of the organization. Discretionary behaviors of the educational workforce can contribute to maintenance and enhancement of the social and psychological organizational context which supports the task performance and organizational effectiveness.

With the influence and pressures of the globalized economy, education systems are at a crossroads and need to find a place and/or identity that reflect new or transformed realities for learning environments. Questions such as to what extent, in what way, and how are we doing will need to be raised and answered before learning environments can begin the work necessary to create people who are ready to enter the globalized workforce. This book will present chapters written from a variety of perspectives to address the question "what is needed within systems of education to prepare the next generation of leaders for a competitive global environment?" The authors focus on such topics as online learning, technology, leadership, and English Language Learners to show the challenges to traditional educational practices and the ways in which learning environments are responding to the new reality of globalization.

The introduction of educational markets into public and higher education in many countries has led to more competitive environments for schools and higher education institutions. This, in turn, has led to an increased priority being given by school leaders to the marketing of their institutions, largely because the survival of many educational institutions is now dependent on their capacity to maintain or increase their 'market share' of students, funding and resources. This book presents the works of leading scholars and researchers in the field of educational marketing who handle issues of student retention; trust; building relationships with parents, curriculum marketing, strategic marketing, and market orientation in the educational arena. Special attention is given by the authors to the promotion of education in respect to school innovation, success, and accountability. The book is intended to enrich the theoretical and practical knowledge of scholars who are interested in understanding the leadership of educational institutions, and of principals, marketers, and administrators who face inter-institutional competition in the context of schooling, tertiary or higher education.

A critical challenge for urban charter/autonomous/independent schools is finding educational leaders with the courage to lead with authenticity; integrity and ingenuity using standards based practices to effect transformational change within schools. Two decades after the first charter school opened, leaders still continue to face a range of challenges that traditional public school leaders do not face. Without the type of district support that traditional public school leaders benefit from, charter/autonomous leaders must be able to prepare themselves by tapping into alternative resources quickly and efficiently. This book begins by cultivating the balance of self, both personal and professional, that will guide leaders to manage the operational and educational demands of leading a charter/autonomous school. With a didactic approach identifying skills and capacities needed above and beyond the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium Standards (ISLLC), this book will give administrators the requisite skills and necessary tools to effectively manage the complexities of leadership in urban charter/autonomous schools.

This volume originates from the International Study of Principal Preparation (ISPP), a collaborative project representing nearly a decade of research on principal preparation in countries throughout the world. Through focused stages of research, the ISPP systematically examined the kinds of preparation available to principals and how this preparation serves principals in their first years in the post. The authors attend to dynamic changes that are affecting the way principals work. Demographic shifts, globalization, and emerging technologies are transforming the world and the role of educational leaders. Economic and political forces are causing waves of migration from one country to another. Even within the same country, changes in labour markets and political turmoil are pushing people into new communities. The authors provide extensive reviews of literature on educational administrator preparation and also offer a perspective on local history and culture. They develop an intercultural approach to understanding the principalship and to highlight marginalized and underrepresented groups.

Drawing from the works of renowned psychologist, Albert Bandura, an interdisciplinary and international group of collaborative and well-respected scholars demonstrate the positive impact of collective efficacy on an international scale. Bandura stated that "A group's attainments are the product not only of shared knowledge and skills of the different members, but also of the interactive, coordinative, and synergistic dynamics of their transactions" (Bandura, 2006, p. 316). In this book leaders from many professional disciplines and global cultures collectively shared research, understanding, and experiences about leadership development and growth. Disciplines include education, law, sociology, theology, psychology, law enforcement, aviation, corrections, criminal justice, military, peace and negotiation. Authors represent North America, Latin America, Asia, Middle East, Europe, and Africa. This book exemplifies the benefits of collective efficacy and bridging gaps among professions and scholars where there's often a tendency to work in silos and isolation. We share much that might benefit us and others when explored and discovered. Emergent themes include transformational leadership, servant leadership, service learning and community development, consciousness and emotional intelligence, leaders of the new millennium, and challenges for future collective efficacy.

Pathways to Excellence: Developing and Cultivating Leaders for the Classroom and Beyond examines how leadership and layers of leaders are developed and cultivated from the classroom to the boardroom. A wide body of research exists that focuses on specific educational leadership development and training programs. Evidence of being ready to lead upon program completion and performance post preparation is less available. Scant attention has been paid to programs that prepare leaders in different layers of an organization to not only become individually high performing but to also work collaboratively to create great schools. The book contends that the principal cannot effectively lead a school alone - other key players are critical. The editors have cast a wide net of respected contributors from various levels of organizational school leadership and specialties including traditional schools, charter schools, teacher education, district level leadership, special education, master teacher leadership, university and college level leadership. Implications for theory and practice will be discussed as it relates to leadership development and preparation of key players and constituents.

This unique volume has been written collaboratively by children, families, teachers, school leaders, scholars, and community organization representatives. With each author having a platform to express his or her individual voice, chapters centre on the authors' lived experiences (ranging in skills, knowledge, and activism) in promoting social justice and equity in schools. With a focus on long-standing trends in schools regarding ability (both mental and physical), race, ethnicity, class, religion/beliefs/faith, native language, immigration status, gender, sexuality, family structure, and geographical location, the authors demonstrate how they live their work by facilitating courageous dialogue, promoting inclusive practices, and building authentic relationships with those in power as well as those from marginalised populations. Authors reflect on their personal and professional lives and help the reader understand the call that lies within each of them: to live what is just and right for all children.

The majority of the research in the US public education system has been conducted in large urban areas that do not reflect the majority of urban systems. The categorization of the size of districts does not capture the organizational diversity and complexity of school systems, including at-risk students and other demographic variables. The implications are that policy, preparation, research and funding are adversely skewed by an overrepresentation of research in urban districts that do not reflect the majority. This edited collection explores the ways in which small to mid-sized school districts influence leadership preparation, leadership practice, and accountability and assessment. With contributions from respected specialists, the volume addresses topics such as coaching, poverty, leadership preparation programs, accountability and assessment, English Language Learners, district leadership, and organizational learning and trust.

This book examines issues in educational law and the way leaders, policymakers and policy implementers influence just processes and outcomes in schools. From the lens of professors, attorneys and administrators we explore how lessons learned from the authors' experiences and research might improve the preparation and practice of educational leaders. We examine how leaders can and should be conceived as advocates for justice, especially those with positional power and formal influence. Educational law has both conceptual and empirical qualities. While research on justice often begins with abstract conceptualizations, it is also manifest as tangible and observable activities and behaviours. Thus it follows that law can be studied through a variety of methodological approaches. Depending on the epistemological and/or methodological orientation of a study, justice may be a measurable or observed event, a purely theoretical construct, or a combination of both. Leaders must address questions about law and justice. Of equal importance is how to navigate complex legal issues and how to best engage in the decision-making processes while keeping the best interests of students at the fore.

This book's primary focus is on racially and ethnically diverse women in educational leadership. Each chapter is written from a unique conceptual or empirical lens as shared by international female leaders. Of particular interest to readers is the ingenious pairing of contributors for optimum scholarship, whereby the majority of chapters are co-authored by at least one male in a leadership role who shares in the crusade for social, cultural, political, and economic gender and racial equality for effective leadership that works. The general content is framed by but not limited to theoretical frameworks such as Black / Feminist Thought, Critical Race Theory, and Leadership for Social Justice. The chapters range from a critical examination of global society and cross-cultural collaboration, to the intersection of race, law, and power. Each chapter illuminates the lives and experiences of racially and ethnically diverse women in leadership positions in a diverse range of educational settings and contexts.

This book explores the dark side of leadership–those areas of unethical, unlawful and unconscionable practice in which some organizational leaders engage. Each chapter addresses a unique aspect of such practice, and takes on difficult (and often ignored) topics such as lying, deliberate miscommunication, racism, corruption, sexism, ageism, greed, abuse of power, and recruiting and promoting unqualified personnel to leadership positions. The authors identify organizational issues and problems while also offering solutions to improve leadership practices that prevent interpersonal, organizational, and institutional toxicity. The general content is framed by, but not limited to, theoretical frameworks, such as ethics, values, chaos and complexity theory, power, free will, trust, critical race theory, systems theory, cultural (in)competency, and social justice. Importantly, the book includes scholars from around the world (e.g., Canada, Australia, Israel, USA) and learners of leadership from across sectors such as higher education, K-12 education, public safety, communication, business, and other relational-oriented fields of inquiry and practice.