With increasing demand for school accountability following the NCLB Act of 2001, school leaders have a greater responsibility to students with disabilities than ever tinclude special education leadership due to the leadership imperative to meet the needs of all students (Lashley, 2007; Yell, 2012). Little attention, however, has been paid to special education and special education law in leadership preparation programs (Cusson, 2010; Pazey & Cole, 2013), leaving school leaders inadequately prepared to serve all students. The purpose of this study was to explore how six current school leaders who are graduates of a university-based “high-quality” principalship program created an inclusive school culture. Guided by the theoretical framework of sensemaking (Weick, 1995) and a phenomenological approach (Creswell, 2007; Patton, 1990), this study examined the ways in which six school leaders used what they know about special education and special education law to develop their understanding of such policy and sought to gain insight into why they made sense of and constructed their interpretations of the policy in a particular way. Of particular interest was their perceived roles in working with special education staff, and the effects their construction and application of inclusive education policy had on students with disabilities. The findings of this study suggest that these six school leaders’ sensemaking of inclusive education policy was influenced by three factors: knowledge, experiences, and personal contexts. Each of these three factors were situated within the context of the school leaders’ constructed identities. If the school leader perceived his or her role as a leader for special education, he or she was more inclined to seek special education and special education law content knowledge, ensure their campus staff attained and maintained the capacity to meet the needs of all students, and continuously searched for specific experiences and opportunities that they could make available to themselves and others that required them to grapple with difficult issues related to special education. In doing so, they were able to effect deeper-level change on their school campuses. / text

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Ethics was identified by the Ethiopian government as one of the areas requiring attention and was made an integral part of the ongoing Civil Service Reform Program since 1996. Despite the reform efforts that have been going on for about two decades, no rigorous academic and empirical research has been conducted to understand the nature and depth of the problems. Moreover, the theoretical discourses in the general literature and the national efforts made by the government and its development partners also emphasize on the structural and procedural issues of ethics, giving little focus to the behavioural components or dimensions of ethics of civil servants. The purpose of this study was to investigate and critically analyse the nature and dynamics of work ethics in the Ethiopian civil service; and to assess the ethical environment within which the public sector operates in the country. Mixed research method was applied. Questionnaires were used to collect primary quantitative data from two groups of research participants – civil servants and the service users; whereas primary qualitative data were collected employing in-depth interviews from managers and key experts in the field. Data from secondary sources were also used. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive analysis. The qualitative ones were analysed using the qualitative data analysis technique with the emphasis on the phenomenological approach. The study showed that there is clearly growing awareness of ethical challenges within the civil service, though a fundamental change in the ethical conduct of the employees is not yet realized. It is also found out that there is no problem of legislation and policy frameworks; rather the problem lies in the weak implementation and enforcement of them. Leadership behaviour, absence of strong institutions, poor accountability system, poor remuneration and politicization of the civil service were identified as the biggest challenges to foster ethical conduct. Accordingly, it is suggested that the government play a key role in addressing the problems that hamper the effective implementation of the reform efforts. Other stakeholders such as the civic society organizations, religious institutions, the private sector, schools and the general public should also work closely with the government. Ensuring ethical conduct requires synergy of all actors, ranging from ordinary citizens to high-level decision-making bodies. / Business Management / D.B.L.

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Advocacy and leadership style are essential concepts in education. This qualitative case study was undertaken to demonstrate how Robert K. Greenleaf’s servant-leadership framework could be a useful framework to adopt by educational leaders and child advocates. Servant-leadership identifies the needs of others as a primary goal of leadership. The study contributes to understanding the value of exemplary servant-leadership and advocacy in public education as demonstrated by David Lawrence Jr. The researcher addressed questions regarding how Lawrence embodies servant-leadership traits and explored how a servant-leader has been positively influencing early childhood public educational policy in Florida to benefit all children. There were 16 interviews conducted with individuals from four interest groups in Florida: business leaders, political leaders, local South Florida leaders and educational leaders. In addition, data were gathered by observing and interviewing Lawrence. His speeches and other archival documents were also analyzed. The findings illustrated the ten traits of the servant-leadership framework and identified five additional traits modeled by Lawrence that have contributed to his influence on public educational policy. A paradigm shift from authoritarian leadership to an authentic servant-leadership style that advocates for young children and promotes the importance of early childhood educational policy. The dichotomy examined throughout this research focused on servant-leadership and advocacy that is instrumental to make a difference in education as an educational leader navigates through political agendas. Lawrence leads a “Children’s Movement” in Florida that includes an ongoing bi-partisan individuals movement that has changed early childhood education in Florida. The findings of this investigation validate that servant-leadership framework could influence the transformation of public education.