Education Commons^™

Developing Leadership Skills, Gerald Gaither

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

An analysis of current leadership theory is presented, along with a summary of the major literature findings. Emphasis is placed on providing ideas which have practical as opposed to theoretical application. A sub-theme in the article is that leadership skills can be learned or taught, and the manuscript challenges institutions to implement leadership development programs, such as the Kellog Leadership Project.

Review: The Administrative Portfolio By Peter Seldin And Mary Lou Higgerson, Deryl R. Leaming

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

A book review of The Administrative Portfolio by Peter Seldin and Mary Lou Higgerson.

Which Ant Are You?, James P. Evans

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

An article discussion the need for vision in leadership.

What I Believe About Leadership And Education : A Reflective Essay, Cheri Thomas Cederlund

Graduate Research Papers

I believe that the role of the principal is vital in the development of a school climate and a culture where instructional leadership emerges from the teachers themselves. Building a culture that supports and builds capacity for shared leadership and learning takes work. "Such a culture doesn't magically appear; it evolves through explicit and intentional work at defining, redesigning, and continuously improving every aspect of the way they do school" (Conzemius & O'Neill, 2001, p. 114). Although every person within the organization plays a role in initiating this culture, shared responsibility and leadership, the most significant role a principal can …

A Vision Of Middle Level Administration : A Reflective Essay, Wendy R. Cunningham

Graduate Research Papers

Administration, regardless of its specific place, is never an easy job. Daft (2002) states that leadership occurs among people; it is not something done to people. Another author, Robert DeBlois (2000) says that an effective organization and a good leader rely on the talent, commitment, and leadership of many people in the organization. No one person, good leader or not, can effectively oversee, motivate, recognize, and support every individual within a school community. Being a good leader is no more or less complicated than knowing who you are and what your job is.

A Preferred Vision For Administrating Secondary Schools : A Reflective Essay, Travis J. Fleshner

Graduate Research Papers

The mission and. vision of the American public school system must promote the individual success of each of its students. School districts throughout the country are as unique as the students that attend them; just as the needs of each school system are unique. The physical structure and climate vary from district to district, and state to state. The dynamics of the educational system are too great to box up and label one district as the model for all others use as a pattern. However, there are important elements that create school districts that are higher achieving than others. The …

A Preferred Vision For Leading Secondary Schools : A Reflective Essay, Jon T. Flynn

Graduate Research Papers

Educational leadership is a calling that encompasses many responsibilities and numerous obstacles to overcome. The rewards associated with this profession, however, overshadow the potential challenges. Every child that finds success by way of a meaningful educational experience is a tribute to the work of an educational leader. Although a large portion of the educational leader's work is not performed directly in front of a classroom of students, the ramifications of his/her work can be seen throughout a building.

Like an orchestral conductor, the educational leader is responsible for synchronizing separate sections into one meaningful, fluid collection. This person is responsible …

A Preferred Vision For Administering Elementary Schools : A Reflective Essay, Melinda J. Hart

Graduate Research Papers

A balance between all academic standards will create an effective leader striving to provide a safe and educationally rich learning environment for all children. An administrator must be clear in the set of beliefs they plan to practice.

My professional vision is to utilize my leadership style to create a school climate where the worth of all children is recognized and all children will be included in the classroom to the maximum extent possible. These children will grow to be socially responsible individuals capable of functioning successfully in the world around them to the best of their abilities. The overwhelming …

A Preferred Vision For Leading Secondary Schools : A Reflective Essay, Gerald W. Hatfield

Graduate Research Papers

Educational administration is an appealing career opportunity for me because it will allow me to put into action two core values that I learned in my early years - we all deserve the chance to succeed and that hard work toward a lofty goal is what leads to cherished success. I believe that if l continue to develop four personal characteristics, my chances of being an ; effective administrator will be greatly enhanced. First and foremost, I must act with integrity at all times. Second, I must present an organized approach to my school activities. Third, I must be a …

A Preferred Vision For Leading Secondary Schools : A Reflective Essay, Jeffrey A. Haverland

Graduate Research Papers

I believe there are four critical elements necessary for any administrator to be a successful leader of learning. The first critical element is the creation and maintenance of an exceptional school climate and culture where learning is approached with enthusiasm and wonder. Second, the administrator must maintain a direct connection to the learning environment, at all times, so that learning is seen as important and expected. Third, ethical leadership of the school community is foundational to the success of the school community, and the building administrators must always act with integrity. Finally, the administrator must develop, implement, and continually support …

Leading An Elementary School To Excellence : A Reflective Essay, Christine L. Mccarron

Graduate Research Papers

The educational leaders of today have the potential to be a vital part of some of the greatest transformations of education in history. The new information that we are learning about the brain and how we learn, combined with ever-changing technological advances and political mandates, will cause us to reconsider all of our school structures and methods. That reform will not occur by initiating any single program, strategy or mandate. Instead, we must extend our picture of reality by finding powerful and all-embracing ways to perceive and describe trends and patterns over time.

Koinonia, Jim Mccormick, Lisa Burch, Stuart C. Lord, Jenny Collins, Tracy Balzer, Steve Austin, Todd Ream, Skip Trudeau

Koinonia

Themed Housing
Theme Houses: Getting to the Foundations of Community, Jim McCormick

A Year in the Little Yellow House, Lisa Burch

Conference Spotlight
Building Cross Cultural Community, Stuart C. Lord

Articles
Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission, Jenny Collins

"Follow Me": Intimacy with God Through Spiritual Direction, Tracy Balzer

Faith, Wisdom and Grace: Walt Campbell Interviews, Steve Austin

Features
The President's Corner

Editor's Disk

Thinking Theologically: Learning Communities, Todd Ream

A Vision For Administrating Iowa Secondary Schools : A Reflective Essay, Mark Scott

Graduate Research Papers

The role of secondary principals is always changing. The days of the secondary principal being the master of discipline no longer exists. Discipline is now only a minute part of a principal's role. A principal's role is moving more towards a team player and leader. Teamwork is needed to ensure all students receive the very best educational opportunities. The principal must play an active role in developing all the components necessary for students to succeed in the secondary schools.

A Preferred Vision For Administering Elementary Schools : A Reflective Essay, Maurice D. Betzel

Graduate Research Papers

Today's aspiring principals may have a lot to worry about, but they also have a lot to celebrate. Not only do today's principals have to worry about the mental and physical challenges of the principalship, but they also are living in a time of tremendous possibility for systemic change. The possibility for raising the level of student performance is not only unprecedented, it is to be celebrated.

Principals must have a tremendous desire to lead in today's world. They must believe every child can learn and help that child discover his/her particular way of learning. They must have a commitment …

Architectural Registration And It's Diversity Vortex., Shannon Chance

Articles

Architects: take a serious look at your demographics. While other professions are making strides to represent the diversity of America's population, yours lags markedly behind. Most U.S. architecture schools began admitting women and minorities between 1965 and 1972, but many who completed architecture degrees in the interim haven't yet received professional licensure. The ranks of licensed architects remain mainly white and mainly male, which denies society fair representation in shaping the built environment. Consider that African-American females comprise roughly 7% of the U.S. population but less than 0.2% of licensed architects; they've achieved proportionally higher success in law, medicine, and …

A Preferred Vision For Administering High Schools : A Reflective Essay, Jason A. Knittel

Graduate Research Papers

If a person wants to succeed on becoming a principal, a leader, that person has to understand what people want and need. A principal needs to learn how to listen and talk with people. He also needs to understand different cultures, because not everyone is the same. There is an important relationship between the law and protection of the students as well as the staff.

A principal needs to have a sense of humor. Laugh with the students and the staff. Others will understand him as a human. He needs to be strong. People like to mock policies or complain …

A Preferred Vision For Leading Secondary Schools : A Reflective Essay, Brian E. Duwe

Graduate Research Papers

I see the role of the Administrator as the commander and leader of the school's vision. Concern, compassion and consideration are strong virtues a leader must have. I think Administrators have the capability to have an impact on all areas of the school community. A true leader possesses the ability to get individuals to work together for the common good and the best possible results for all.

A Preferred Vision For Leading Secondary Schools : A Reflective Essay, Paul Flynn

Graduate Research Papers

I believe leadership is a tenuous position. Exemplary educational leaders need to be honest, forthright, consistent, fair, and caring. A failure in any of these traits often results in the loss of faith in the leader. People will not follow a leader they no longer have faith in. In addition to these traits, a good leader must be a tireless worker. Keeping the vision alive and -functioning must be a continual process, and if the principal is not willing to work at it, neither will others. Leadership involves creating an atmosphere and an environment where people are willing to adapt …

My Vision For Administering Elementary Schools : A Reflective Essay, Angela J. Fowler

Graduate Research Papers

I believe the most profound experiences have been watching my mentor in her administrative style and comparing that to the style of my current and past administrators. Somewhere along the way I have taken elements from each one of their administrative styles, and shaped it into a style of my own. I believe I will be an excellent leader, largely due to the tremendous experiences along the way. I am excited to think about the successes and challenges I will encounter as I guide leadership capacity, and shape the culture of the people I lead.

This paper will be a …

A Preferred Vision For Leading The Secondary School : A Reflective Essay, Cory Williams

Graduate Research Papers

Why do I want to be a principal? When I started the UNI Educational Leadership program, I had no idea. I do now. I want every child to feel safe in my school. I want them to know they can come to school and learn without having to worry about being picked on. I want each student to be challenged and stimulated to learn with great teachers. I want the students to be healthy. I want to make a significant change in the lives of students. Teachers are not the only professionals who impact student's lives. Administrators can make an …

A Preferred Vision For Leading The Secondary School : A Reflective Essay, Chad David Wolf

Graduate Research Papers

As I reflected on past experiences in my life, I found myself in a position of leadership. Interestingly, one ofmy earliest leadership experiences happened around the age of ten. The neighborhood I grew up in had several families with children. It was natural back then for us to play outside most of our free time. As children, it was not unusual for us to have times when no one could make a decision on what we would do that day. On many occasions, I found myself being selected to make the decision for the group. My childhood years were the …

What I Believe About Educational Leadership: A Reflective Essay, Janet Young

Graduate Research Papers

Education, in my opinion, is one of the most honorable professions a person can experience. Each teacher or principal involved with educating children is someone that makes a difference in the lives of children and influences them as they become adults. It is amazing to think about the profound impact each educator has on others. No other occupation has such a responsibility. I believe that all children can learn, and I have had a passion for making that a reality since my childhood. I know that I can help children reach their potential. Parents must know that we cherish their …

Successful Online Course Retention At Marylhurst University Constructing A Model For Online Course Retention Using Grounded Theory, Vincent Schreck

Dissertations and Theses

Over the past 6 years, the course retention rate for Marylhurst University's (MU) online courses was 91%, which is within four percentage points of its on-campus course retention rate (Schreck, 2002). This appears to contradict a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education that stated, "Although there is significant variation among institutions with some reporting course-completion rates of more than 80% and others finding that fewer than 50% of distance-education students finish their courses, several administrators concur that course-completion rates are often 10-20 percentage points higher in traditional courses than in distance offerings" (Carr, 2000). Recent studies (Beatty-Gunter 2001; …

A Case Study Of The Student Academic Support System: State University, Helen Hill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 1985, the Florida Legislature mandated the development of a computer assisted academic advisement program for the State University System. This study of the Student Academic Support System (SASS) explored the administrator and advisor viewpoints, rather than traditional student perception assessments, in order to add to the understanding of computer assisted advising as it now stands in the State of Florida. The goal of this research was to determine the best practices of computer assisted advising throughout the State University System. Individuals who use or have responsibility for the advising system were identified in each institution in the State University …

An Analysis Of The Aspiring Principal Preparation Programs Provided By, Deborah Juusela

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to identify the basis of the aspiring principal preparation program (appp) components florida school districts provide to their aspiring principals and their relationship, if any, to the state and isllc standards. A total of 50 school districts in florida participated in this study. The research was guided by the following questions: to what extent do the florida school districts provide a formal appp to their current assistant principals? (b) upon what are the formal appps for current assistant principals based: the florida principal competencies (fpcs), the interstate school leaders licensure consortium (isllc) standards, or …

Instructional Perspectives Of Nurse Educators Engaged In Teaching Via Distance Education, John A. Henschke Edd

IACE Hall of Fame Repository

The purpose of this study was to contribute to knowledge regarding instructional perspectives of 35 University of Missouri-St. Louis nurse faculty, who were teaching via distance education formats. The study was designed to identify differences of respondents rating the seven factors of the Instructional Perspectives Inventory (IPI), which include: teacher empathy with learners; teacher trust of learners; planning and delivery of instruction; accommodating learner uniqueness; teacher insensitivity toward learners; learner-centered learning processes; and teacher-centered learning processes (Henschke, 1994). This study also identified differences between the seven factors and specific demographic data (age, number of years teaching nursing, number of semesters …

Instructional Perspectives Of Nurse Educators Engaged In Teaching Via Distance Education, John Henschke, Gretchen Drinkard

Adult Education Faculty Works

The purpose of this study was to contribute to knowledge regarding instructional perspectives of 35 University of Missouri-St. Louis nurse faculty, who were teaching via distance education formats. The study was designed to identify differences of respondents rating the seven factors of the Instructional Perspectives Inventory (IPI), which include: teacher empathy with learners; teacher trust of learners; planning and delivery of instruction; accommodating learner uniqueness; teacher insensitivity toward learners; learner-centered learning processes; and teacher-centered learning processes (Henschke, 1994). This study also identified differences between the seven factors and specific demographic data (age, number of years teaching nursing, number of semesters …

What I Believe About Leadership And Education : A Reflective Essay, Todd M. Coulter

Graduate Research Papers

The key to leadership is confidence: not only in yourself, but those around you to get the job done to your satisfaction. Good leaders surround themselves with good people to whom they can delegate responsibility to and trust that it will be done satisfactorily. Leaders must not only bask in the glow of success, but also bathe in the spotlight of failure, readily admitting fault when necessary.

A quality leader possesses good motivational skills and is adept at "handling" people. In my experiences, good leaders remain calm under pressure and are constantly striving to improve not only themselves, but also …

A Vision Of Elementary School Leadership : A Reflective Essay, Julia Lynne Zastrow

Graduate Research Papers

The smell of coffee and crayons has always warmed my heart. Coming home from kindergarten, I couldn't wait to join my mother and her perennial cup of coffee at our dining room table for a ritual of coloring and catching up. While I labored away with my Crayolas, my mother would ask me about my day at school, and we would talk together about the sound that a cardinal makes, or the color of our oak tree in the front yard. Through these conversations my mother fostered a joy of learning and sharing that would grow with me into adulthood, …

A Vision Of Leadership For Secondary School : A Reflective Essay, Bret A. Jones

Graduate Research Papers

Leadership requires a vision. A clear picture of what you want to accomplish. It's teaching those around you how they can better themselves as well as the people they are working with. It's developing, organizing, and monitoring a plan so the vision can be carried out. It's knowing that you cannot reach the vision alone and drawing from the people around you. Using all the resources your school and community have to offer. Leadership is modeling desired behaviors and showing others you care. Leadership is making tough decisions , and leading change when needed. Leadership is not what you think, …