Education Commons^™

Collaborative Autonomy: Exploring The Professional Freedom Of Three Science Teachers, Michael Ralph, Darian Robbins, Stephen Young, Laurence Woodruff

Educational Considerations

Education reform efforts must support and protect professional autonomy for classroom teachers. When policymakers attempt to make systemic change in ways that reduce the professional autonomy of educators, student learning suffers. Teachers need the freedom to identify their professional goals, seek resources and collaboration opportunities in pursuit of those goals, and act on feedback regarding their progress in meeting those goals. We present three stories from teachers who share a department engaged in collaborative autonomy. These accounts provide guidance for how professional autonomy can be defended by those pursuing systemic change.

Leadership During Change, Mischel Miller

Educational Considerations

The national education system, similar to the Kansas education system, has seen little change since the 1800s(Throckmorton, 1967). In fact, over 50 years later, there have been few changes. Children come to school around the age of five to enter kindergarten and then move through the current system by age and grade level. These children sit in rows, are addressed by the expert teacher, are given information, and are expected to memorize and regurgitate the material in a standardized testing process. Schools in Kansas predominately open their doors in August and close in May (KSDE, 2018), perpetuating the long history …

What Does A Successful 24 Year Old Look Like?: Reflections From The State Board Of Education, Jim Porter

Educational Considerations

“What does a successful 24 year old look like?” This is a critical question that must be successfully addressed if Kansas is to “Lead the World in the Success of EACH Student.”

For many decades we have attempted to fit the student in to the system and many students have been successful, however, many have not. What would happen if the system were built around the individual student? What would happen if student’s interests, passions and talents were controlling when determining the best educational plan for each student?

By developing Individual Plans of Study based on student interests, abilities and …

Introduction To The Special Issue: Leadership In Kansas For The 21st Century, Randy Watson

Educational Considerations

Kansas is currently experiencing a leadership challenge. This is evident both in the number of leaders new to their positions in K-12 school districts and in the methods our state must implement to effectively train those leaders for Kansas’ education to prosper into the 21st century.

North Dakota’S Experience With The Academy Model: A Successful Replication, Tom Hall, Ann Clappe

Educational Considerations

Leadership is a key factor in improving schools and ensuring academic success for all students. At the building level, the leadership role has traditionally been assigned to the principal, but principals cannot be expected to be the sole leaders in their buildings.

Inspiring Confidence And Professional Growth In Leadership: Student Perspectives On University-District Partnership Master's Academies, Pilar Mejía, Samrie Devin, Heather Calvert

Educational Considerations

School leadership matters when discussing teacher effectiveness and student performance, and preparation programs need to graduate principals with the skills necessary to lead schools for tomorrow. The traditional approach to preparing educational leaders is no longer getting the job done. It is going to take everyone working together to better prepare those who will lead the schools we need.

Foreword: [Introduction To The Special Issue Preparing And Developing Educational Leaders In International Context], Haijun Kang, Donna Augustine-Shaw

Educational Considerations

In the context of globalization and education internationalization, preparing educational leaders for today’s schools and other educational settings has never been more important.

Adaptations Of International Standards On Educational Leadership Preparation In Egypt, Ted Purinton, Dalia Khalil

Educational Considerations

This paper is a case study of one leadership preparation program, utilizing US school leadership standards and practices, offered in Egypt. This case study illuminates how cultural and policy distinctions impact differing necessities of educational leadership, and how those necessities conflict or concur with the international standards and assumed best practices. In particular, it serves as an exploration of policy borrowing, considering that leadership preparation in developed countries has been, on some levels, an issue of occupational field professionalization.

Leadership Education And Development For Justice Using The Canonical Framework Of John Rawls's A Theory Of Justice, Brandon W. Kliewer, Jeff Zacharakis

Educational Considerations

Higher education that presupposes a specific conception of justice do well in preparing students to make claims of justice from specific perspectives or positions. However, civic leadership students with a strong background in specific conceptions of justice are often not equipped with necessary skills, dispositions, and habits to exercise leadership in ways that can manage political contestation associated with competing claims of justice.

Implementing A Dominican Model Of Leadership, Suzanne Otte

Educational Considerations

Effective and ethical leadership, as practiced by scientists, statisticians, businesspeople, doctors, and politicians, is necessary to solving today’s vexing and knotty crises.

Leading The Newly Merged High School: Exciting Opportunity Or Overwhelming Challenge?, Lance E. Thurman, Donald G. Hackmann

Educational Considerations

In the current economic times, school personnel are regularly challenged to reduce the costs of operating the nation’s school systems. School district consolidations often are proposed as a mechanism to realize fiscal savings for local communities; indeed, the number of U.S. school districts has declined dramatically over the past 70 years, decreasing from 117,108 in 1939-40 to 13,809 in 2008-2009.

Theory Into Practice: A Cry From The Field For Innovative Leadership Development, Debbie K. Mercer, Scott Myers

Educational Considerations

Leaders make the difference. This is uniquely evidenced in school districts where a single superintendent impacts the lives of so many children, teachers, staff, and community members every day. With so much responsibility, the need to mentor the ongoing professional learning and development of this key leader is critical.

The Influence Of Mentoring On Developing Leaders: Participants Share Their Perspectives, Donna Augustine-Shaw, Elizabeth Funk

Educational Considerations

In an age of continuous and rapid change, today’s school superintendents face a litany of unique challenges as they lead individuals and organizations through tumultuous and unpredictable times.

Case Study In The Power Of Collaboration: Planning Process For The Kansas Educational Leadership Institute, Mary Devin, Debbie Mercer, Mike Mathes, Tom Trigg, Sharon Zoellner

Educational Considerations

Systematic statewide support for the recruitment, development, and retention of quality leaders in schools and school districts was not a new idea in Kansas in late 2010, but at best it was at an elusive concept. Diverse groups had considered it among components of a long-range commitment to move Kansas education quality from good to great, but no plan for creating such a system was in place.

Doctoral Programs In Educational Leadership: A Duality Framework Of Commonality And Differences, Perry A. Zirkel

Educational Considerations

In recent years, doctoral programs in education leadership have been subject to notable criticism and proposals for reform.

Beginning With The End In Mind: The District Office Leadership Role In Closing The Graduation Gap For At-Risk Students, Martha Abele Mac Iver

Educational Considerations

We need to begin with the end in mind as Stephen Covey (1989) reminds us. Graduating all students ready for college or career is the ultimate goal of the K-12 educational system.

A Canonical Analysis Of Successful Vs. Unsuccessful High Schools: Accommodating Multiple Sources Of Achievement Data In School Leadership, Robert C. Knoeppel, James S. Rinehart

Educational Considerations

What distinguishes successful schools from unsuccessful schools? This question has relevance for the practice of educational leadership as well as the preparation of leaders.

The Role Of High School Experience In College Student Leadership Development, Susan R. Komives, Matthew Johnson

Educational Considerations

Colleges and universities have long claimed student leadership development to be a desirable college outcome. Until the latter quarter of the 20th century, college experiences that developed leadership outcomes were ill-structured, incidental or accidental, and largely only targeted students who held positional leadership roles.

The Newest Offering In The Higher Education Leadership Movement: A Model Campus-Wide Residential Program For Faculty And Staff ., Susan M. Scott, Mary Hale Tolar

Educational Considerations

The purpose of this article is to review the recent emphases by institutions of higher education on leadership development and to describe a model program for a population not yet widely addressed: faculty and staff.

Leadership, Gender, And Politics: Political Perceptions And Participation Of Young Female Voters In A Presidential Primary, Mary Christine Banwart, Kelly Winfrey

Educational Considerations

The political arena, where historically women in the United States have been under-represented, provides an important laboratory for examining leadership and gender via the candidacy of now Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton, who in 2008 was the first woman to run competitively for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Student Selection Criteria In Undergraduate Leadership Education Programs, Daniel B. Kan, Rebecca J. Reichard

Educational Considerations

Citizens expect and deserve effective leadership in both the public and private sectors. In today’s 24/7 information access society, high profile leaders have become a source of constant scrutiny by citizens and the media demanding results and integrity on par with the enormous salaries and fringe benefits these individuals receive.

Preparing School Principals For A Diverse And Changing World, Gilbert Davila

Educational Considerations

The mission of the School of Leadership Studies at Kansas State University is to develop “knowledgeable, ethical, caring, inclusive leaders for a diverse and changing world."

Engaging Millennial Students In Leadership Education, Jill R. Arensdorf, Anthony C. Andenoro

Educational Considerations

As new generations of young people mature and enter higher education, educators must adapt their teaching methodologies through an examination of theory and research related to generational differences.

Assessment And Accountability In Higher Education: A Program's Response, Irma O'Dell

Educational Considerations

Pressure from external stakeholders increasingly requires higher education institutions to provide concrete evidence of student learning, i.e., learning that will assist graduates to become productive, working members of society.

Preservice Principals' Post-Internship Concerns About Becoming A Principal: America And Scotland In Review, Mack T. Hines Iii

Educational Considerations

The capstone experience of teacher preparation and principal preparation programs is generally the internship. These experiences should provide preservice teachers and principals with the opportunities to develop their skills in teaching and school leadership respectively.

Beyond Narrow Confines: Special Education Leadership For Ethnically Diverse Urban Learners, Gathogo Mukuria, Festus E. Obiakor

Educational Considerations

Human frailties exist in everyone. There are some things that we know and some that we do not know.

Valuing Exceptional Ethnic Minority Voices: New Leadership For A New Era, Festus E. Obiakor

Educational Considerations

Educators and school leaders have continued to look for new ways of thinking and doing as they confront changes and shifts in paradigms and power. [Introduction to this special issue.]