An authoritarian and bureaucratic ethos adopted by South African Schools prior to 1994 continues to be adopted in many schools. It may be assumed that with the advent of the new South African democratic government in 1994 there would be more freedom given to schools to adopt different leadership styles that were relevant to their school context. Given the top-down culture and authoritarian leadership structures of schools that were designed and developed during the apartheid era, secondary school principals and school management teams have struggled to adopt a more democratic approach to running a school since 1994. In the previous dispensation, school decision making was mostly not a collective effort, and involved a minimum of consultation and sharing of ideas, with staff not being seen as having the role or potential to positively influence significant school decisions. The national Department of Education (2003) refers to this as “… the entrenched bureaucratic and hierarchical management practices inherited from apartheid traditions.” However, greater choice and autonomy of thought are part and parcel of the democratic paradigm. A comprehensive literature review on the Community of Enquiry (CoE) methodology, a resource developed by Matthew Lipman, revealed a more open and inclusive approach to thinking together and embraces the principals of choice and autonomy. It is proposed that this methodology could be used to help school management teams (SMTs) become more collaborative and democratic in their approach to decision-making. Particular attention will be paid to the democratic values that underpin a CoE, in particular the values of equality, justice and freedom will be discussed with specific reference to the South African context. Bureaucratic, autocratic and democratic leadership styles may be adopted by the SMTs in various schools and each leadership style could influence the decision making process as well as the culture within a school. The CoE methodology could work in conjunction with a democratic leadership style to allow SMTs to be more collaborative and inclusive in the decision making process.

Thesis advisor: Robert J. Starratt / Recent federal and state mandates have tasked school systems to move beyond principal evaluation as a bureaucratic function and to re-imagine it as a critical component to improve principal performance and compel school renewal. This qualitative study investigated the district leaders' and principals' perceptions of the performance evaluation process and criteria by which the effectiveness of principals was judged in a small, urban, New England school district. In an effort to assist the New England School District to create a more authentic principal evaluation process, district document analysis, literature review, interview transcripts and survey data were used to make recommendations to district leaders regarding four major themes including fairness, feedback, process and critical aspects. The themes were discussed in the context of schools as complex systems, where trust and distributive leadership drive school renewal. Emerging from the study of principal and superintendent perceptions of the process and criteria for evaluation, recommendations include: make principal evaluation an ongoing process; schedule time in each building; clearly identify criteria and supportive evidence; standardize rubrics and evaluation instrument; use evaluation instrument and feedback mechanisms that recognizes complexity of the principalship; provide meaningful feedback; and base summative evaluation on goals for personal-professional improvement and growth. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education.

Classroom teacher leadership is a very broad concept that evolved over years and includes various concepts in the paradigm of education leadership (York-Barr & Duke, 2004: 255). Two concepts in the education leadership paradigm, which are closely related to and interlinked with classroom teacher leadership, are instructional leadership and distributive leadership. A new school of thought emphasises the importance of the classroom teacher as an instructional leader (Horgn & Loeb, 2010: 66). The only way that the classroom teacher can assume this required role as instructional leader is within a distributive leadership environment and therefore, distributive leadership is at the core of instructional leadership (Hoadley, Christie & Ward, 2009: 377). We can therefore conclude that classroom teacher leadership refers to classroom teachers who teach and lead (York-Barr & Duke, 2004: 267). Classroom teacher leadership is the type of quality leadership required to create effective schools. In recent studies done in South African schools it was, however, clear that although research proposes that the classroom teacher should assume leadership roles within a distributive leadership environment, classroom teacher leadership has not yet realised in the schools studied. The gap in the literature is that it shows what should happen, it indicates that it is not happening in some South African schools but it does not indicate how it should happen. This study aimed through a qualitative, case study design to investigate classroom teacher leadership in effective top-performing schools in the Pretoria area in the Gauteng province. Through semi-structured interviews the experiences of classroom teachers and their principals on classroom teacher leadership revealed that classroom teacher leadership is evident in these top-performing, secondary schools. Through their experiences various classroom teacher leadership practices could also be identified shedding light on how classroom teacher leadership can be implemented and promoted in order to create the quality leadership required for an effective school. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Education Management and Policy Studies / MEd / Unrestricted

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there is a difference in how leadership is distributed in Title I and Non-Title I schools and to examine the relationship between distributive leadership and student achievement in Title I and Non- Title I schools. Additionally, the study investigated the relationship between distributive leadership and school culture in Title I and Non-Title I schools. Finally, this study determined if the relationship between distributed leadership, school culture, and student achievement is moderated by Title I status. This study was significant in the realm of education as it explored distributive leadership, its working definition, and possible relationship to increased student achievement and positive school culture. A quantitative method, including three statistical analyses, was implemented to answer each of the five proposed research questions and five corresponding null hypotheses. A bivariate correlation analysis revealed there was not a relationship between distributive leadership and school culture; distributive leadership and student achievement in a middle school setting. Further, a moderation analysis determined that distributive leadership and school culture, distributive leadership and student achievement were not moderated by Title I status. Additionally, a t-test showed there was not a difference in how leadership was distributed within Title I and Non-Title I schools. A discussion of the findings, conclusions, and recommendations for K-12 were explained in detail, followed by suggestions for future research. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013.

African American students are disproportionately underachieving in public elementary schools (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). School staff and school leaders need to understand why an achievement gap still exists between the White and the African American students on their campuses (Kafele, 2009; Noguera, 2003; Denbo, 2002; Ferguson, 2001). A few schools have made a significant difference in school achievement for students of color and researchers and educators need to identify what these schools are doing differently to promote student success, especially for African American students (Chenoweth, 2009; Carter, 2000; Reyes, Scribner, & Scribner, 1999). The purpose of this study was to identify the practices that are in place at a diverse school where African American students have increased achievement. The study took a holistic look at one diverse elementary school in order to highlight the practices that assisted in the school’s success with African American students and their achievement. The research questions for this study are: 1. What practices are in place at a diverse school where African American students have increased achievement? 2. What policies are in place at a diverse school where African American students have increased achievement? The framework for the study is based on Samuel Casey Carter’s Study of 21 High-Performing, High-Poverty Schools. The methodology for this study used qualitative research guidelines, was ethnographic in nature, and used a single-case study approach. The data was gathered through observations, interviews, focus groups, and analysis of documental data. The findings for effective practices include: Supportive Leadership, Implementing Change, Staff Development, Distributive Leadership, Departmentalization, School-Wide Programs, Student Resources, Teacher Resources, Communication, and Planning and Teaming. The findings for effective policies include: Open Door Policy, Student Placement, Site-Based Decision Making Committee, Parent-Teacher Organization, and Grading. The conclusions are that policies and practices must be in place for schools to run effectively and increase achievement. The specific practices and policies that appear to support African American students may be beneficial to campuses with similar backgrounds or demographics. Schools that embrace practices and policies, such as these are in a better position to enhance the achievement for all African American students. / text

Temos aktualumas. Šiuolaikinės švietimo organizacijos, siekiančios prisitaikyti prie nuolatinės kaitos procesų, kintančių vartotojų poreikių, privalo pačios inicijuoti pokyčius, skatinti inovacijas ir naujoves. Lyderystės, kaip inovatyvios švietimo strategijos vystymas, didina švietimo organizacijų konkurencingumą, veiklos efektyvumą, veiksmingumą, yra aukštos ugdymo kokybės bei organizacinės kultūros kaitos prielaida, užtikrina atsakomybės pasidalijimą. Magistro darbe analizuota lyderystės samprata, tipologijos pavyzdžiai, aptartas lyderystės reikšmingumas, atskleistas inovatyvių strategijų vystymo švietime reikšmingumas bei pasidalytosios lyderystės vystymo švietimo organizacijose prielaidos. Tyrimo objektas: lyderystės kaip inovatyvios strategijos įgyvendinimo švietimo organizacijose vertinimas skirtingose švietimo subjektų grupėse. Tyrimo tikslas: teoriškai pagrįsti lyderystės kaip inovatyvios strategijos įgyvendinimo švietimo organizacijose reikšmingumą ir atskleisti šios strategijos vertinimus švietimo organizacijų vadovų bei pedagogų grupėse. Taikyti šie tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros šaltinių analizė, anketinė apklausa (su atvirais ir uždarais klausimais), aprašomoji statistika. Tyrime dalyvavo Šiaulių miesto švietimo įstaigų pedagogai ir vadovai. Remiantis tyrimo rezultatais daromos išvados, kad inovatyvios strategijos, susijusios su lyderyste, yra vertinamos palankiai, respondentai supranta jų įgyvendinimo reikšmę, tačiau jos įgyvendinamos ne itin aktyviai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Relevance of the theme. As modern educational organizations seek to adapt to constantly changing processes and consumer needs, they have to initiate changes and stimulate innovations their selves. Leadership, as development of strategy of innovative education, increases competitiveness, efficiency and effectiveness. It is also an assumption for high quality of education and changes in culture of organization as well as assured sharing of responsibilities. Concept of leadership and examples of its typology are analyzed in the Master‘s thesis. Importance of leadership is discussed and relevance of development of innovative strategies in education as well as assumptions of development of distributed leadership in educational organizations is revealed. Object of the research: Evaluation of leadership as innovative strategy implementation in educational organizations in different groups of educational subjects. Purpose of the research: To theoretically motivate importance of leadership as implementation of innovative strategy in educational organizations and reveal evaluation of this strategy in groups of educators and managers of educational organizations. The following research methods have been applied: analysis of scientific literature, questionnaires (including both open and closed questions) and descriptive statistics. Participants of the research were educators and managers of Šiauliai educational organizations. According to the results of the research the following... [to full text]

This qualitative case study examined how Madison High School's governance model generated youth-adult collaborations around school problems. This seven-month intensive study collected data through numerous site observations, semi-structured one-on-one interviews with 27 adults and students, focus group interview with 11 students, and document collection. This data collection answered the following research questions: To what extent does Madison High School include students and faculty into the policy decision-making, implementation, and review process? If so, how? Why is it done this way? How do faculty, students, administration, and staff perceive its impact on improving the school policy creation and implementation process? Student voice scholars are still investigating the ways in which student leadership around school reform can be facilitated (Dempster & Lizzio, 2007; Fielding, 2004; Mitra, 2005; Mitra & Gross, 2009; O'Donoghue, Kirshner & McLaughlin, 2002; Zeldin, McDaniel, Topitzes, & Calvert, 2000; Zeldin, 2004a). And scholars are interested in investigating how participants enact leadership when it is distributed to them (Hallinger & Heck, 1996; Spillane, 2001, 2004). This study found that not only does the school's governance model include students in the policy making, implementation, and review processes, it distributed leadership across the school and aided in organizational learning by designing its structures and processes around constitutional principles. / Educational Leadership

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