A collection of case studies for prospective school administrators that emphasizes problem solving, decision-making, and effective management.
Based on the conviction that effective practice in school administration requires both leadership and management, this text provides a mix of problems that require administrative decisions as presented in 24 open-ended case studies. In today’s reform-minded, information-based society, practitioners must be able to frame problems correctly and then make effective decisions to ameliorate them. As leaders, district and school-level administrators are expected to focus on what should be done to improve schools; as managers, they are expected to focus on how to do things successfully. The cases in this book are designed to make students think about common problems of practice by encouraging them to bridge theory and practice. Each case provides an active form of learning, allowing students to demonstrate their ability to apply knowledge to common problem situations.
Table of Contents:
Preface
Matrix
Introduction
1 Who Needs Lesson Plans?
2 Who Should Create the School’s Vision?
3 A Bully’s Threat
4 Lounge Talk
5 The Career Center’s Revolving Door
6 Let the Committee Decide
7 Old School Culture and a New Principal
8 School Improvement through Better Grading Practices
9 Sally’s Socialization
10 A Matter of Honor
11 Individualizing Staff Development
12 Break the Rules and Pay the Price
13 An Ambitious Assistant Principal
14 Let’s Get Strategic
15 Even on Saturdays
16 Appropriate Punishment versus Political Expediency
17 The Passive Principal
18 A Disillusioned Assistant Principal
19 Who Needs Career-Technical Education?
20 Illegal Drugs, In-School Suspension, and the Novice Principal
21 Let’s Not Rap
22 Is the Devil Teaching Spelling?
23 The Dark Side of Decentralization
24 The Maverick School Board Member
