More ways than one: Federal strategies to equalize access in education and health care

This article examines the responses of school principals from an urban school district to Michigan's zero-tolerance policy. We specifically seek to understand how school leaders interpret and implement the policy and how their administrative discussions subsequently affect the educational experience of children in urban schools. Given that a disproportionately high number of African American and Latino students are negatively affected by this policy, how do school leaders in predominantly African American districts implement it? The findings in this study reveal that the disparate interpretation of the zero-tolerance policy among school leaders and its implementation negatively affects the educational experience of urban students.     

Through the nominations of principals: Effective teachers of African American students share limitations of high-stakes testing

This study examines how elementary school teachers, nominated by their principals as effective teachers of African American students, perceive their effectiveness in an era of high-stakes testing that is influenced and constrained by policy dominance. The implications in this study might be useful in preparing prospective and practicing teachers to examine their instructional practices as they pursue successful outcomes with culturally diverse students.     

A joint venture in urban high school reform

This article describes a joint attempt by the federal government, a private foundation, several local social service agencies, and a local school district to revitalize an urban high school and its neighboring community. This revitalization was to occur through the development of an information system that would provide high school students, adult learners, and community residents with data on educational and job opportunities in St. Louis. The information system was to be reinforced by counseling and referral services provided jointly by the school system and by local civic organizations.The intended purposes and potential impact of such a project that aims at urban high school reform are discussed. The paper provides some insights into the potential pitfalls involved in the implementation of small discretionary projects, as well as the promise of providing integrated social services to an urban population.Presently Assistant Vice President, The Fashion Institute of Technology.     

The intersection of school context and teachers’ data use practice: Implications for an integrated approach to capacity building

The current emphasis on data is a powerful force behind educational reform strategies. Administrators and teachers are inundated with data and increased expectations for data-driven practices in an effort to drive school reform. This mixed method study examined teachers’ experiences in a pilot professional development program to enhance data literacy and data use practices among nine grade-level elementary and middle school teacher teams in a single school district. Pre, post and follow-up surveys of the 28 teacher participants revealed promising outcomes of the professional development program. Significant increases in teachers’ reported data literacy, efficacy, and collaboration were evident. The study also examined school-level factors that supported data use practices and data cultures. Interviews with 15 school principals revealed how structural features such as district requirements, school expectations, and established policies and routines influenced teachers’ data use practice. Structural factors facilitating collaboration were associated with instructional goals and improvement cultures.     

Power and the ‘autonomous’ principal: autonomy,teacher development,and school leaders’ work

ABSTRACT

One aspect of instructional leadership is the work principals undertake in supporting and developing teachers’ skills and capabilities. This paper examines this aspect of school leadership within a climate characterised by increased principal workloads, heavy external accountabilities, pressure to improve student results, and heightened autonomy which included discourses regarding principals’ increased freedom in staffing decisions. The case studies within this paper focus specifically on principals’ work in relation to the recruitment and development of staff. Policy and discourse suggests that principals have the autonomy to recruit and build staffing teams to meet school needs and improve outcomes, though questions have been raised about how autonomous public schools can be a part of a wider system. This paper explores the role autonomy plays in leadership practices relating to staff recruitment and development. The findings contribute to a body of knowledge regarding the ways principals make sense of and enact their work under highly pressurised school improvement policy conditions.     

Epistemological beliefs and leadership approaches among South African school principals

Studies on school restructuring and the leadership role of the principal in this process suggest that what has been the traditional leadership approach of the principal appears to be changing in relation to the substantial changes and school-wide reforms that are continually taking place in schools today. These school reform initiatives necessitate new and creative ways of thinking about our concept of educational leadership and its various approaches. It also became clear from the literature on leadership that a person’s assumption of various types of knowledge influence his or her leadership approach. The purpose of this study, based on a quantitative empirical study in selected South African schools, is to identify this impact of principals’ assumptions of knowledge on their leadership approaches. A total of 100 questionnaires with open-ended questions were sent electronically to school principals of randomly selected schools to assess the link between principals’ assumptions about the nature of knowledge and principal leadership. The t-test, Lambda test and an Analysis of Variances test were used to analyse the data. The findings confirm the relationship between core epistemological beliefs (EBs) and beliefs about leadership practices among South African school principals and provide substantial justification for using EBs in the study of school leadership.     

Principals’ Perceptions of Barriers to Teacher Dismissal

Although scholars and popular press writers are critical of school district failures to remove inadequately performing teachers, little has been said about the thinking of principals on this issue. Because principals are the front-line implementers of evaluation policy, their beliefs about barriers (real or perceived) are likely to influence their actions. This study asked elementary and middle school principals in the state of Oregon to identify barriers to deal effectively with inadequately performing teachers. Results demonstrated that principals believe teacher unions to be the most significant barrier, and blame the union representatives more often than the language of the negotiated contract. In addition, principals identify the amount of time required to engage in the process as a barrier. Continued study of principal beliefs about these factors may suggest (1) areas of needed reform in the implementation of evaluation and (2) administrative training needs.     

Principal self-government and subjectification: the exercise of principal autonomy in the Western Australian Independent Public Schools programme

The launch of the Independent Public Schools (IPS) programme in Western Australia (WA) in 2010 reflects the neoliberal policy discourse of decentralisation and school self-management sweeping across many of the world’s education systems. IPS provides WA state school principals with decision-making authority in a range of areas, including the employment of staff and managing school budgets. Using an analytical toolkit provided by Michel Foucault and Foucauldian scholarship, this article examines how the IPS programme functions as a regime of government and self-government. Data collected from two IPS principals is used to examine the subjective effects of power as it is exercised in the IPS regime. The article finds that the IPS initiative introduces new possibilities for principals to actively participate in practices of self-formation, through which these principals self-steer, exercise their freedom and govern themselves and their schools. It illustrates how governmental mechanisms depend on, harness and shape the autonomy of these principals, and how their individual practices of self-government align with neoliberal governmentalities.     

Implementing a new senior secondary curriculum in Hong Kong: instructional leadership practices and qualities of school principals

This paper attempts to identify the leadership practices and qualities of school principals engaged in implementing a curriculum reform in Hong Kong. Based on interview data of school principals, this paper shows that the types of instructional leadership practices that school principals adopt and the contextual conditions in which these practices occur are key factors explaining the differential effectiveness of implementation efforts. Six efficacious instructional leadership practices and two contextual conditions critical to their development were identified. This paper reconceptualises instructional leadership as a collective and transformational endeavour, functioning in communities of practice to support school development at different levels.     

The Structure and Substance of Teachers’ Opportunities to Learn about Teacher Evaluation Reform: Promise or Pitfall for Equity?

Despite growing momentum to overhaul teacher evaluation policies and practices, scant research examines how educators at the street level of such reform—principals and teachers—make sense of them, and almost no research examines the implications of current evaluation reforms for equity. This article provides findings based on a study of 14 districts implementing a new teacher evaluation policy in Connecticut. It focuses on how principals shaped teachers’ opportunities to learn about the new policy. We find that the majority of teachers’ opportunities to learn were formal and in whole group or one-on-one formats. We find important differences in the quantity and quality of learning opportunities at the district level, with districts serving greater shares of low-income students, students of color, and English language learners generally offering teachers fewer and lower quality opportunities to learn about the new reform than their counterparts. As such, this article builds on prior research illustrating the potential of new evaluation systems to exacerbate inequities and raises important cautions regarding the extent to which the unprecedented teacher evaluation reforms (currently underway) may exacerbate inequities among school districts.     

Perceptions of the principal’s role in democratic school governance in South Africa

This article explores governors’ perceptions of the role played by school principals in the democratic governance of secondary schools in South Africa. The South African Schools Act No. 84 of 1996 has mandated that all public schools in South Africa must have democratically elected school governing bodies, comprised of the principal (in his or her official capacity), educators, non‐teaching staff, parents and learners, but the latter is applicable only in secondary schools. This reform is intended to foster tolerance, rational discussion and collective decision‐making. In the light of this reform an empirical study investigated the role of the principal in the school governing body (SGB), particularly in promoting parent and learner participation in SGBs. The findings highlighted the important functions that principals fulfil with regard to the functioning of the SGB. Principals are viewed by governors as playing a positive role in SGBs. Governors referred to principals as ‘the finger on the pulse of what is happening at school’; they are resource persons for other members of the SGBs and ‘the engines’ of the schools. Governors viewed the principal as in charge of the professional management of the school, ensuring that all duties are carried out adequately, setting the tone in SGB meetings, and responsible for interpreting education policies and ensuring that they are well implemented. Furthermore, principals have the responsibility of ensuring the maximum participation of both parent and learner governors in SGBs meetings. Principals can also contribute greatly to school governance issues, since they are usually at an advantage in terms of their familiarity with official regulations, provincial directives and knowledge of educational reform measures. The findings highlighted persistent power struggles in rural schools that may arise when principals overplay their roles as this creates tension among SGB members. However, principals enabled implementation of democratic values such as tolerance, rational discussion and collective decision‐making in schools through their leadership roles.     

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.     

School principals as mediating agents in education reforms

School principals may be seen as mediating agents, standing at the school doorstep, between the extra-school and intra-school worlds. The principals’ mediating role becomes more crucial during a time of education reform, which involves external demands on the one hand, and teachers’ resistance to these demands on the other. This study explores how principals mediate between the demands of a national reform policy and teachers’ attitudes and needs. In this qualitative study, 59 school principals were interviewed. Findings from the data analysis indicated that principals used two complementary mediation strategies: (1) mobilising the teachers towards the reform and (2) mobilising the reform towards the teachers. The mediating strategies used by principals are discussed, suggesting practical implications and further research avenues.     

Beginning teachers’ induction in Chile: the perspective of principals

This case study investigated the role of school principals in the induction of beginning teachers in Copiapó, Chile. Building upon group and individual interviews, and review of extant literature, the following findings were established: (a) principals in this study expect beginning teachers to be fully formed as classroom teachers; (b) principals were unlikely to talk about induction practices that might help beginning teachers to learn pedagogical strategies for classrooms; and (c) principals’ induction practices focused on the symbolic role that principals play as the highest authority within the school which has little practical influence on helping beginning teachers to develop their pedagogy. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

Empowering school-based management through decentralised financial control

Abstract

This article focuses on decentralisation of financial control as a strategy used to develop school-based management (SBM) and improve performance. SBM is a management mechanism aimed at improving schools by shifting decision-making powers regarding the budget from the central level to the schools (Raywind 1990, 142). The article examines the role of the state in decentralisation by exploring the current South African education policy on this aspect of educational reform as expressed through the Norms and standards for school funding (RSA 1998). The policy was designed in response to the demands for educational reform and restructuring initiatives.

A common feature in the implementation of this policy is the devolution of decisionmaking authority over the management of resources to schools. This includes devolution of state-allocated budgets and delegation of financial management responsibilities to school-based financial management structures through the district as a primary education service delivery system for the state. To assist both the district and the school in carrying out their responsibilities, a model for school-based financial management is presented in this article.     

Secondary School Principals in Curriculum Reform:Victims or Accomplices?

The Shanghai Municipal Education Commission convened an important conference in early 2010. A major focus of the conference was the apparent failure of the New Curriculum Reform to take root in schools. One of the conclusions presented at the conference was that school principals were responsible for the gap between the intent and effect of the curriculum reform. This article uses data collected from a group of Shanghai secondary school principals to examine the state of the curriculum reform from “the inside.” The main purpose of the article is to identify why the principals themselves believe that the reform is not working as intended and indeed whether they are in some way complicit in the slow rate of reform implementation. Principals involved in the study suggest the contradictory messages they receive from government officials about how principals’ work should be formally and informally assessed do little to promote meaningful reform implementation. Therefore, it is suggested that one of the main reasons why curriculum reform has so far not been able to bring about deep change at secondary school level is the enduring cultural norms which continue to underpin societal expectations and accountability, rather than a lack of curriculum leadership on the part of school principals.     

The effects of principals’ perceived instructional and distributed leadership practices on their perceptions of school climate

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which leadership styles predict school climate, in order to identify whether a relationship exists between principals’ perceived practices of instructional and distributed leadership and their perceptions of school climate (mutual respect and school delinquency), controlling for a net of principal and school characteristics. This research was conducted on a principal data-set from the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), which was administered by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Several linear regression models with and without the country controlled dummy variables were conducted, respectively. Results indicated that principals’ perceived distributed and instructional leadership practices are significant predictors of staff mutual respect in the school. Nevertheless, such leadership styles did not appear as important factors for school delinquency and violence. School size and socio-economic status turned out to be the two most important factors predicting school safety. These results add nuance to the findings of previous studies that principals’ emphasis on instructional practice and sharing leadership can play a significant role in promoting the trust, collegiality and respect among staff. However, more than such leadership styles may be needed for creating a safe and orderly school environment.     

Policies and Practices Involved in the Evaluation of School Principals

Careful evaluation of principals can help school systems to ensure that they have effective principals and effective schools. This study investigated policies and practices used by school systems in Alberta, Canada, to evaluate principals. Nearly all the superintendents in Alberta and a sample of recently appointed principals participated in the study. Three sources of data were used: (1) policy documents supplied by superintendents; (2) questionnaires completed by superintendents and principals; and (3) interviews with ten superintendents and ten principals. The results revealed substantial diversity among practices of principal evaluation, several constraints upon effective evaluation, the complexity of the evaluation function, substantial differences between the opinions of superintendents and principals about the importance of evaluation purposes, and the potential for positive effects for school districts of this evaluation activity.     

School Principal as Pedagogical Leader

The position and duties of a school principal should be rapidly changing along with the changes in the policy of school development. School‐based curriculum and staff development are the main components of the present policy. If an individual school is the basic unit of development then the role of the principal is crucial in leading pedagogical activities within the unit. This study, carried out in Finland, attempts to consider how principals see their work now. The results show that the principals’ still see their most important tasks in organisation (resource provider) and in maintaining a good climate in school.