美国薄弱校教师的职前培养策略与启示

近年来,美国尝试通过调整其职前教师培养项目,培养适于到薄弱校任教的师资,以提升薄弱校质量。其遵循的调整策略有:强调家长参与职前教师培养项目;吸纳更多的少数族裔群体或弱势社会经济背景者成为职前教师;补充职前教师培养项目的课程资源;要求教师教育者接受持续的专业培训且有薄弱校工作经历;立足薄弱学区构建教师专业发展学校;在薄弱学区发展驻校教师培养项目;重视对职前教师培养项目进行质量评价和绩效问责。这些对改进我国职前教师教育的质量提供了借鉴。     

美国马萨诸塞州校长证书制度及其启示

20世纪50年代以后,美国的学校管理人员证书制度逐渐完备,教育管理人员的培训工作发展迅速,并逐渐制度化。马萨诸塞州校长证书制度就是由州制定证书标准(高级临时证书、标准证书),与哈佛大学校长中心合作开设相关课程。修完课程及完成实习,并符合证书标准者,即可取得校长证书。本项目是由州政府与大学校长中心合作办理,州制定证书标准,大学校长中心规划并开设课程,以专业学分取得校长证书。对美国马萨诸塞州的校长证书制度进行深入的探究与思考,对我国的中小学校长培训工作将有较大的借鉴意义。一、美国马萨诸塞州校长证书标准和哈佛大学校长…     

以文化创造佳绩的教育人——余丽英校长

余丽英,长沙理工大学子弟学校校长、中学高级教师。身兼全国作文教学研究会理事和学术委员、湖南省小学管理专业委员会会员、天心区黄土岭学区片片长等职。在教育一线磨练多年的余丽英,1991年任长沙交通学院子校校长,2003年任长沙理工大学子校校长。任校长以来,她按照"以人为本,质量立校"的办学思想,团结和率领教师     

美国职前、入职和在职教师教育评估体系简介

教师专业生涯发展由职前、入职和在职教育三部分组成。美国通过对大学的认证和学生的选拔保证了职前教育质量。毕业生经过学科专业评价，获得初级证书，进入新手教师教学导入计划。在达到标准并通过课堂行为评价后，才能获得正式教师证书，进入教师专业。对在职教育，没有统一的标准，但要求教师继续学习并取得更高学位。     

美国校本管理背景下中小学校长的素质能力及其培养培训

20世纪80年代中期以来,美国大力推行校本管理体制,这使得中小学校长的角色由“行政官员”演变成了学校经营责任人,也使得校长的职能由学校管理转向了学校经营。美国校本管理背景下校长角色地位和职能作用的转变要求校长要具备新的素质能力,对此,相关组织(如州际学校领导者证书联合会)、一些州和学区制定的校长资格标准作了明确的规定。而美国一些研究生院和学区按照校长资格标准的规定,制定并实施了新的校长培养培训计划。     

推广校园观课文化 促进教师专业发展

在职教师教育是教师教育的一个重要的环节,教师在职教育最重要的目的是改善教师的专业水平,促进教师的专业发展。波拉姆对教师在职教育是这样定义的:“在具有初级专业证书之后,从事于初等和中等学校工作的教师和校长参与的教育和培训     

美国中小学校长角色及其特点

2009年10月至12月,我有幸参加第二批上海—加州影子校长培训项目为期八周的培训。在美培训期间我查阅了有关资料,结合实地观察,重点就美国校长角色进行了研究。美国中小学校长的角色定位日常事务的处理者。美国公办中小学是学区的一个组成部分,各个学区校董会和由其任命的行政长官及管理机构负责该学区内所有公立学校的教育教学领导和管理。管理的内容包含     

"城市教师驻校模式":美国教师教育改革的新方向

"城市教师驻校模式",是美国教师教育改革的新方向.它主要是针对城市学区优秀教师缺乏和新教师流失过大,而传统的大学教师培养,选择性教师计划和教师专业发展学校又无能为力的困境而提出来的教师教育第三条道路.它通过一年的驻校期和三年左右的入职指导期,成功实现了职前与入职的一体化,提高了教师留任率;理论学习与临床实践的结合,提高了师资培养质量;中小学重组,优化了教师专业学习环境;为城市学区提供优秀师资,促进了教育公平.     

美国"城市教师驻校计划"职前培养探析

"城市教师驻校计划"是进入21世纪后在美国新兴的一种教师教育模式,它将教师培养过程分为招募、职前培养和持续入职教育三个连续的阶段,其中,职前培养是该计划的核心.研究发现,其职前培养彰显学区主导特点,主要表现为服务学区的培养目标、课程设置的话语权、以学区学校作为主要教学场所、建立专业共同体教学制度.对我国高校教师培养的启示是:基于区域社会需求制定培养目标、坚持中小学为培养场所主体、创建专业共同体教学制度.     

陈春红:以人文精神塑造和谐校园

正陈春红,现任十八里店学区管委会主任兼十八里店小学校长,兼任中国教育学刊学术研究员、朝阳区教育学会学术委员会委员、中国教育学会教育管理分会理事会理事。陈春红1987年参加工作,从教27年,先后担任一线语数教师兼班主任、教导主任、校长、党支部书记等职,在学校、学区管理实践中,她积累了丰富的管理经验,以"健康、快乐、阳光"提高思想修为,以"人文、和谐、品牌"创建优质管理,坚持以干部队伍建设为前提,以     

Leadership development programs: investing in school principals

Considering that some university-based principal preparation programmes may not be properly training principals for leadership roles, “grow your own” leadership development programmes have become more popular across the US. This study provides a contribution to previous research in terms of the specific components a district leadership development programme may incorporate into its curriculum in order to positively influence school principals’ effectiveness as school leaders. A purposeful sample of second-, third- and fourth-year campus principals working in a large urban school district in the south-west region of the US who had participated in their district’s leadership development programme were administered the Principal Effectiveness Survey and participated in semi-structured interviews to examine the influence of the programme on the participants’ effectiveness as leaders. Survey results indicated that principals consider training activities related to human capital, executive leadership, school culture and strategic operations as having a “high” influence on their effectiveness as school leaders. In addition, interview data revealed the importance of supervisor support and building relationships with peers as critical to their continued success as leaders.     

Developing Human Capital: training and mentoring for principals

The links between educational development and economic capability are widely recognised and have provided part of the rationale for the shift to market concepts of education in many countries. As more functions have been devolved to school level, it has become increasingly evident that principals require training and development to carry out their new responsibilities and to lead improvement in their schools. In Singapore, aspiring principals take a 1‐year training course which includes mentoring by an established principal. In England and Wales, the new National Professional Qualification for Headship is undertaken on a part‐time basis and adopts a quasi competence model without a mentoring dimension. This article compares the two approaches and concludes that training is likely to be more effective if mentoring is a central component of the process.     

Examining the generalizability of administrative personnel allocation decisions

This study examined the effect of district and school size on principal teacher allocation decisions. The study tested the invariance of a personnel allocation decision making model for elementary school principals from three categories of school and district size. The sample consisted of elementary school principals from small, medium, and large schools and districts. The results confirmed the fit of the model across schools of all sizes and across small and medium size districts. For large school districts the proposed decision-making model did not fit the data. This result implies that district size has an effect on the personnel allocation decisions made by elementary school principals.     

The District Superintendent and School Improvement: A Western Australian Perspective

ABSTRACT

The contribution district superintendents can make to school effectiveness and improvement is a neglected area of research in Australia. Research in the US suggests four ways in which superintendents impact on school improvement: the evaluation of principals and auditing of schools; the matching of school and district goals; the provision of informal support for principals; and the appointment and positioning of principals. Within an Australian setting of devolution to school‐based management, evaluation assumes major importance at school level and at district superintendent level in the pursuit of school effectiveness and improvement. An evaluation of the performance of two superintendents in Western Australia took place in 1990. It focused on superintendent performance within one key accountability area, the provision of principals’ professional development. The evaluation procedures and results are described and analysed, and implications are drawn for improving district superintendent evaluation as a means of enhancing school effectiveness and improvement.     

Professional development schools: Cataylsts for teacher and school change

Drawing on data from questionnaires and 49 interviews with teachers and principals, the impact of involvement in Professional Development Schools on teacher professional growth and school change at seven Professional Development School sites is explored through a cross-case analysis. Each of the seven sites, four elementary and three secondary, served five or more years as a PDS site. Program results were mixed, underscoring the importance of a range of context variables to program success, including school district support, principal, staff and University faculty stability, student body composition, school and faculty size, as well as the nature of teachers' program involvement. Implications for PDS program development and research are discussed and a range of policy issues explored, including those associated with tensions between university faculty roles and PDS responsibilities.     

A Response to Restructuring: The Dilemmas of School Principals in a Process of Change

An urban school district is undergoing a process of change as proposed in the educational reform agenda introduced by a new superintendent. This qualitative research study provides insight into the concerns of some elementary school principals in the district during the initial phase of the reform as they deal with the transition from a historically bureaucratic to a decentralized system, attempt to make sense of their dilemmas, and seek new ways of managing in a restructured environment. Major issues revealed in this study indicate there are some basic considerations to be addressed in initiating a districtwide process of change and eliciting site administrator support (i.e., understanding the dilemmas of managing in a different power structure, providing opportunities for sufficient input, and devising a sound professional development program for principals to assist in reconceptualizing administrative roles). Implications suggest that it is essential for top school executives initiating change processes to develop good communication processes and gain an understanding of the cultural norms of a school system to gain the commitment of school principals and school constituencies. This study, which contributes to the empirically based literature on school reform, also illustrates that initiation of structural changes needs to be clearly related to the ultimate goal of improving student achievement so that all school constituencies understand the focus of the reform agenda. Consideration of these issues in devising plans for educational change may enhance actualization of desired outcomes.     

The Viability of Combining Academic and Career Pathways: A Study of Linked Learning

In an attempt to reform high schools and prepare students with the knowledge and skills needed for the 21st century, educators and policymakers have turned to programs that combine career and academic pathways. One such program, Linked Learning, has taken up the reform challenge by relying on technical adjustments, rearranging students’ schedules, and integrating career technical education (CTE) with a set of courses that support students’ eligibility for their state and university college system. Linked Learning has attempted to avoid the pitfalls often associated with an earlier vocational education model. This article reports findings from a year-long study of eight schools in five districts whose district leaders and principals have placed Linked Learning at the core of their platform for school reform. Interviews with these educators reveal that while changing the structure of students’ course schedules offered some advantages for students, school principals were challenged to keep their academic and career promises. This qualitative investigation has shown that to understand reform challenges it is essential to examine the broader school, district, and state context in which the reform is embedded. Both structural and cultural considerations must be addressed if high school reform is to more effectively support students.     

Capacity-building for educational managers in South Africa: a case study of the Mpumalanga Province

Wide-ranging changes in the education system have rendered many serving school principals ineffective in the management of their schools. Many of these serving principals lack basic management training prior to and after their entry into headship. Changes in education thus increase their problems and this causes untold harm to the education of the learners. This research deals with the quantitative data and qualitative analysis about the perceptions of 172 principals and 28 district/circuit managers in the Mpumalanga Province on their satisfaction with the programme and its effectiveness in facilitating learning.Questionnaires were used to gather the above data that was subsequently analysed using mean scores, frequencies and percentages. Responses from open-ended questions, in addition to the structured questionnaires, were recorded and categorised for the purpose of qualitative analysis.Results of the research show that principals and district/circuit managers were satisfied to very satisfied with the quality and adequacy of their training and agreed that the training was effective to very effective. A general tendency of higher mean scores among district/circuit managers than among principals was observed. Findings from the qualitative analysis supported and elaborated on the findings of the quantitative data.     

Recognizing and Supporting the Critical Roles of Teachers in Special Education Leadership

Most discussions about special education leadership address the work of principals and district administrators, without reference to the collective and distributed forms of leadership that have taken center stage in contemporary discussions about improving schools. To explore the contributions of and roles for teacher leadership in special education, selected teacher leadership literature in general education is reviewed, including the emergence of new teacher roles in schools, roots and meanings of teacher leadership, and possible benefits of teachers as leaders. Although no studies were found that specifically investigated the work of special education teacher leaders, illustrations of their work are provided as they lead through school-wide collaboration, participate as clinical faculty in Professional Development Schools (PDSs), serve as mentors to new colleagues, and work in district-wide professional development. After a review of several examples of teacher leadership in special education, barriers to teacher leadership and ways of supporting the work of teacher leaders are considered.     

台湾中小学校长专业证照制度及启示

当前台湾要求建立中小学校长专业证照制度的呼声越来越高,但是理论上的共识却受制于实践上的障碍,主要体现在教育行政部门人力资源紧张、动机不够强烈、经费拮据、对专业化的自信心不足等方面。其前行之路须厘清四个主要关系:一是确定认证办理机关,以“国家教育研究院”为主体,高校和地方教育行政部门辅之;二是明确认证对象资格,建议先在候用校长中开展,再逐步推广到现任校长;三是完善认证培训课程,可借鉴英国NPQH建设个性化体系;四是建立认证专业标准,其中制订能力与道德伦理标准尤为重要。这同时也为大陆中小学校长专业化发展提供了借鉴。