Preparing Principals in Educational Leadership Programs

This chapter explores educational leadership graduate programs and the complex process of preparing the next generation of principals and building administrators. The authors emphasize the role of self-directed learning in educational leadership graduate programs, as pre-service principals will ultimately encounter problems of practice in school settings that challenge them to seek, analyze, and utilize information effectively and the skills necessary for making informed decisions and applying theory to practice. This chapter explores the ways in which some educational leadership graduate programs shaped their programs as settings that foster scholar-practitioners through the integration of new standards and frameworks that encourage the development of practice-related research skills. Also, the authors examine problems of practice and the ways educational leadership programs prepare pre-service principals to grapple with these complex issues. Lastly, a problem of practice project is outlined for use in the classroom.

Perspectives on the Initial Adoption of Multitiered Systems of Support for Behavior

Although the number of schools implementing multitiered systems of support for behavior (MTSS-B) continues to grow, most schools have still not adopted these evidence-based frameworks. We examined the views of educators ( N = 561) at the outset of adopting MTSS-B in their schools or districts. Our survey addressed the (a) reasons schools and districts decided to adopt MTSS-B, (b) challenges they anticipated with respect to implementation, and (c) expected outcomes of MTSS-B. We also compared views across three groups of stakeholders: local school team members, building administrators, and district representatives. Although most participants reported multiple motivations for adopting MTSS-B, concerns about student behavior and the need for staff support in this area were among the primary reasons. Anticipated challenges varied by group, with district representatives affirming those challenges most strongly. Responses also suggest these stakeholders have high expectations regarding the impact of MTSS-B in their school or district. We discuss implications for technical assistance providers related to supporting a more widespread adoption of MTSS-B.

The self-care practices of school principals

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explore the well-being of school principals and the job-embedded demands responsible for challenging their adoption of healthy self-care practices.Design/methodology/approachDrawing upon a multidisciplinary theoretical framework that included contributions from the fields of neurobiology and psychology, three tiers of self-care needs were established to inform the study: basic physiological needs such as sleep, hydration, and nutrition; active self-care practices such as exercise, relaxation, and stress relief; and higher order needs such as belongingness and love addressed through work-life balance, volunteerism, and relational belonging. A 45-question survey containing Likert scale items and open-ended questions was returned from 473 practicing building administrators (a 24.4% response rate).FindingsFindings from this study, compared to estimates from the literature, indicate that school leaders work longer hours, are more sleep deprived, more dehydrated, have poorer diet practices, exercise less regularly, and spend less time with their friends and family than the general population. Administrators struggled to find ways within their control to improve their self-care behavior and offered suggestions regarding how the structure of the job itself might be changed to facilitate improving the health of school leaders.Originality/valueThis work offers insight into the current well-being of school principals, and by better understanding administrators’ self-care practices, this study can inform the field in developing supports, practices, and expectations, which promote the health and well-being of building-level leaders. Unhealthy self-care practices may influence their effectiveness, happiness, and possibly their longevity within the profession. Data collected through this study informed ideas about policies and procedures that could promote greater opportunities for healthier, more effective leaders within schools.

High-rise social failures

This article focuses on the “social failure” of the relocation of the residents from informal historical settlements—military dependents’ villages (juancun)—to high-rise blocks in Taiwan. How does the relocation impact the community and restructure social relationships? I argue social failure is the product of new regulative regimes deriving from the new governance of the high-rise, rather than of the built form of the complexes in itself. New home technologies such as intercoms, elevators, and electronic keys contribute to arguments over safety and convenience, while new regulations, implemented by new forms of authority, including condominium meetings and building administrators, foster the disappearance of household informal economies. Finally, the high-rise dictates new aesthetic norms, which prevent established practices and routines, while promoting what I call aesthetic of assimilation.

Construction project stakeholders’ perceptions and expectations of their roles in BIM-based collaboration

The article presents the results of the survey aimed to analyze the attitude and perceptions regarding the use of BIM for data handling and analysis. Two target groups were researched, according to the role they play in building processes, namely public administrations (including tenants, owners, and building administrators) and Professionals (engineers / architects). The study conducted during the Net-UBIEP (Network for Using BIM to Increase the Energy Performance) project. The purpose of this study was to assess the implementation of building information modeling (BIM) as a tool and a process among key stakeholders in order to understand the current use of BIM, benefits of using BIM, obstacles of using BIM as well as possible future use. This study can be used as a pre-analysis of feedback from building users and construction professionals and can contribute to the co-adaptation process between BIM knowledge providers and BIM users.

An application of BIM technologies in typical dwelling building projects

The modern technologies are widely implemented in construction market including building information modeling (BIM) whitch is rapidly developing in many management segments related to design, construction, and building operation. BIM technologies are being used more and more by architects, engineers, surveyors, builders, contractors, subcontractors, construction manufacturers and building administrators who need to work together to simplify workflow and ensure that all design, construction and building operations are effective. BIM is already in use in Lithuania, but many construction market participants and mostly the customer still think that BIM is too expensive for Lithuanian construction market. The aim of this study is to analyze the benefits, opportunities, limitations, chalanges and obticles of using the BIM methodology for typical dwelling building projects. The results of resreach are based on detail payback assessment of BIM methodology use in small-scale projects and small business companies is delivered in the conclusions

What If Only What Can be Counted Will Count? A Critical Examination of Making Educational Practice “Scientific”

Background/Context In recent decades, federal policymakers have pushed for education to be a more “scientific” endeavor. While scholars have considered the implications of this orientation for educational researchers, less attention has been given to its impact on educational practitioners. Purpose/Focus of the Study By focusing on the local interpretation and implementation of a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) model in one Midwestern school district, this study documents the translation of a comprehensive reform initiative meant to make educational practice more data-driven and scientific. With particular attention to interactions between district and building administrators, classroom teachers, and a group of outside consultants, we also consider the consequential effects of principal–agent relations in determining how learners (should) learn and teachers (should) teach. Research Design Using ethnographic methods over a period of five months, this study emerged from a larger project examining the work of educators in a rural district that includes 18 schools and serves approximately 7,600 students from racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse backgrounds. With MTSS as the unifying agenda across multiple interactions that involved a cross-section of the district's staff, administrative leaders, and outside consultants, we analyzed fieldnotes generated from participant observation during MTSS-specific meetings and semi-structured, individual interviews conducted with key implementation principals and agents. Other fieldnotes and interviews provided confirmation of our primary analysis, as well as supplementary perspectives from building and classroom contexts. Findings Through our analysis, we found that implementation leaders presumed the infallibility of the MTSS model; relied exclusively on certain forms of quantitative data; standardized the individual needs of learners, processes of learning, and roles of teachers; and insisted on fidelity of intervention as an end in itself. Conclusions/Recommendations Implementation leaders invoking research to inform practice can sometimes silence practitioners rather than foster their substantive involvement and understanding. This marginalizes certain types of knowledge that can contribute to understanding students’ needs, and it forces practitioners to be data-deferent rather than data-driven. The concept of implementation fidelity also needs to be reconsidered—not as an absolute good but with the necessary flexibility afforded to practitioners who are (1) educated in the essential components of available interventions, (2) able to become fluent through practice, and (3) allowed to exercise their professional expertise and judgment as appropriate.

A middle school co-teaching program evaluation in one suburban midwestern school district : perceptions from regular education co-teachers, special education co-teachers, and building administrators

Middle school co-teachers and administrators offered information during focus groups, interviews, and surveys pertaining to co-teaching. Co-teaching in this study is defined as a special education teacher and a regular education teacher collaboratively providing instruction to a group of student with diverse learning needs. This qualitative program evaluation, conducted in a Midwestern suburban area, provides an analysis of middle school co-teaching with a focus on collaboration and professional development. The purpose of this study was to discover perceptions of middle school co-teaching from those at the front lines, including special education co-teachers, regular education co-teachers, and building administrators. The conceptual framework for this study was collaboration as defined by Friend and Cook (2013). Open and axial coding were used in the data analysis process. Findings indicated a lack of consistent and ongoing professional development, concerns with collaboration between co-teachers, and confusion with roles in co-teaching.

Principal Leadership and Reading Specialist Role Understanding In the Era of Test-Based Accountability Policies

This study investigates how the role of the reading specialist (RS) is defined and communicated by principals, and examines to what degree a common understanding of this role exists among teachers, building administrators and reading specialists. The principal’s responsibility in defining and communicating role, and the effect these efforts have on job satisfaction and specialists’ perceived effectiveness is also studied. Eight elementary schools in the western part of New York State (USA) are studied. Based on interviews with principals and reading specialists and surveys completed by principals, reading specialists, and teachers, the following themes emerge: (a.) Principal leadership was essential in defining the RS role; (b.) A clearly defined RS role was associated with greater RS satisfaction and perceptions of effectiveness as well as greater teacher compliance; (c.) Greater teacher compliance with a school’s literacy program did not affect beliefs about the proper role of RSs; (d.) Lack of a clearly defined role in a school was associated with role conflict and role ambiguity for reading specialists; (e.) Reading specialists, even without coaching responsibilities, served as a resource to teachers, although no time was allocated in their schedule to do so; (f.) Reading specialists faced challenges due to increased accountability and assessment demands affected by policy, demographics, and accountability requirements. It is concluded that principals must assume responsibility for defining and communicating the reading specialist role within their schools to strengthen literacy programming.