Students in many at-risk schools are not achieving at the same academic levels as their counterparts in middle-class schools. Many live in poverty, lack background experiences that would help them be successful, have parents who have not completed high school and may not speak English as their first language. The challenge for educators is how to ensure these students are successful despite these obstacles. This is even more critical today due to the rigid standards set by both state and federal legislation with the advent of the Standard of Learning tests in Virginia and the federal No Child Left Behind legislation. Students not meeting these standards will not be eligible to graduate from high school, a prerequisite for social and economic success in our society. A review of the literature indicates that the behaviors and practices of the principal influence and contribute to the success of students and leads to the thesis of this study: Effective leadership contributes to school success. Two key questions are asked: "What are the leadership behaviors and practices of principals in highly successful school with high concentrations of at-risk students?" and "How do principals in these schools influence the learning outcomes to close the achievement gap?" This study answers these questions by examining the behaviors and practices of principals in successful at-risk schools with a study of one successful at-risk school supported by a survey of the teachers in that school and two other successful at-risk schools. The findings led to some of the following conclusions: the vision of the principal is paramount for school success; the culture of the school must be as nurturing to teachers as the students; the teaching of the curriculum is foremost; the principal protects time for teaching and provides programs to address individual students' differences; the culture must embrace families as it does teachers and students; the principal is sometimes a "benign dictator" who makes decisions without the consideration of the teachers, and the primary job of the principal is instructional leader. Some of the recommendations propose that principals in at-risk schools know and articulate a vision for their schools success; create a warm and nurturing environment for all stakeholders; know the curriculum and recognize effective classroom instruction; provide programs that address individual students' needs and time on task for learning; understand when they must be the "benign dictator" instead of a collaborative leader; and use effective managerial skills in order to perform the primary job of principal: instructional leader. / Ph. D.

The problem with which this study is concerned is comparative administrative leadership behavior between municipal and university administrators. The specially designed survey instrument elicited respondents' perceptions of their administrative leadership behavior based on the 12 dimensions of the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire- XII.

The problem of this study was to determine the perceived needs of selected Texas public school administrators in the areas of competence addressed in the PEEL (Performance Evaluation of the Educational Leader) definition of administrative competence. The conclusions included the following: 1. Between levels of administrative activity, differences were indicated in the high indexes of perceived need on the competency statements between the superintendency-level staff members (superintendent and his advisory staff who hold "line" positions) and the building-level administrators (elementary principals, junior high principals, and senior high principals). 2. Superintendency-level staff members tend to exhibit higher perceived needs on the competency statements relating to instruction and student-oriented responsibilities than do building-level administrators. 3. The size of a school district in which an administrator is employed, the number of years that an administrator has in educational administration, and the highest degree earned by an administrator cause no significant differences to appear in the manner in which an administrator assesses his perceived need on a particular competency statement.

Some school divisions find themselves with a limited number of qualified applicants for administration positions. Aspirants require suggestions of and guidance toward effective leadership training programs and supports. A clear understanding of essential leadership skills may create an incentive for classroom teachers to apply for administration positions and potentially decrease the strain on school divisions. Selection and suitability of qualified candidates applying for vacancies will diminish school boards struggles to fill administrative vacancies. <p>The purpose of this case study was to describe what administrative personnel superintendents, principals, and vice principals in one Saskatchewan urban school division consider essential skills for classroom teachers to develop as a means to position themselves as future school administrators. Furthermore, the case study set out to identify appropriate leadership development programs and supports to assist aspiring administrators in leadership development. This study aspired to isolate programs that practicing administrators in the school division posited as most useful in their own skill acquisition and development.<p>A mixed-methods survey questionnaire was administered to 117 administrators of one Saskatchewan urban school division. The administrators insights and expertise as to the essential skills required to be an effective administrator will assist classroom teachers prepare for the potential of becoming formal leaders. Forty percent of this group responded to the survey. Data from this case study were compared to a similar case study conducted by John Daresh (1994) in the United States.<p>Participants believed aspiring administrators must develop self-awareness skills to be effective educational leaders and must be offered appropriate leadership programs and supports through which aspirants could develop essential leadership skills. Even though the majority of respondents suggested self-awareness skills were essential to develop for effective leadership, they posited the importance of also developing technical and social skills. This case study found that while a commonality of skills were identified by participants as essential, it was extremely important for aspiring administrators, with the assistance of their school board, to build on their own personal leadership strengths.

Some school divisions find themselves with a limited number of qualified applicants for administration positions. Aspirants require suggestions of and guidance toward effective leadership training programs and supports. A clear understanding of essential leadership skills may create an incentive for classroom teachers to apply for administration positions and potentially decrease the strain on school divisions. Selection and suitability of qualified candidates applying for vacancies will diminish school boards struggles to fill administrative vacancies. <p>The purpose of this case study was to describe what administrative personnel superintendents, principals, and vice principals in one Saskatchewan urban school division consider essential skills for classroom teachers to develop as a means to position themselves as future school administrators. Furthermore, the case study set out to identify appropriate leadership development programs and supports to assist aspiring administrators in leadership development. This study aspired to isolate programs that practicing administrators in the school division posited as most useful in their own skill acquisition and development.<p>A mixed-methods survey questionnaire was administered to 117 administrators of one Saskatchewan urban school division. The administrators insights and expertise as to the essential skills required to be an effective administrator will assist classroom teachers prepare for the potential of becoming formal leaders. Forty percent of this group responded to the survey. Data from this case study were compared to a similar case study conducted by John Daresh (1994) in the United States.<p>Participants believed aspiring administrators must develop self-awareness skills to be effective educational leaders and must be offered appropriate leadership programs and supports through which aspirants could develop essential leadership skills. Even though the majority of respondents suggested self-awareness skills were essential to develop for effective leadership, they posited the importance of also developing technical and social skills. This case study found that while a commonality of skills were identified by participants as essential, it was extremely important for aspiring administrators, with the assistance of their school board, to build on their own personal leadership strengths.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-113). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-113). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Supervisor: Marilyn Kameen. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI company.

This study provided administrators in a large southern metropolitan public school district an opportunity to participate in a stress-related research study. The questionnaire contained such stress-related probe areas as spiritual beliefs, preferred and imposed (perceived) orders of major-life emphasis areas, professional environment, personal-social environment, and probes into the ethical positions held by the administrators. The professional environment section contained subsets of internal (on-the-job) probes, external (political) probes, as well as personal (incentive) probes.The personal-social environment section was sub-divided into five Maslow hierarchy-of-need related probes such as physiological needs, safety-security needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-fulfillment needs. The final section of the instrument sampled the administrators' responses to probes concerning their concepts of God, their concepts of the Bible arid their positions on eight ethical statements.

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