Lefkowitz

**Article 1 (Problem 4) School Leadership Policy Trends and Developments: Policy Expediency or Policy Excellence?** [|institutional isomorphism.pdf]

Existing principals are aging and retiring, and those who serve as principals cite stress as a major reason for leaving the principalship. Given the concerns with state policy, the distribution of educational leaders, and the growing body of literature linking building-based leaders with student achievement, policy makers have been searching for strategies to develop and sustain school leaders. stakeholders have a symbiotic relationship with governing agencies and this relationship can lead to institutional isomorphism, that is, state policy makers adopting similar policies across states in an effort to create a sense of certainty and legitimacy. Key trend in state administrator regulation is the degree to which the distinct lines among preparation, licensure, induction, and ongoing professional development seem to be blurring into a continuous system.

**Article 2 (Problem 4) Accountability Policies and Teacher Decision Making: Barriers to the Use of Data to Improve Practice.** [|continuous improvement.pdf]

Key beliefs underlying continuous improvement—derived from educational applications of Deming's TQM models—and organizational learning to analyze teachers' responses to district expectations that they would use data to assess their own, their colleagues', and their schools' effectiveness and to make improvements. The findings suggest that most teachers are willing, but they have significant concerns about the kind of information that is available and how it is used to judge their own and colleagues' performance. The analysis reveals some cultural assumptions that are inconsistent with accountability policies and with theories of continuous improvement and organizational learning. The article identify barriers to use of testing and other data that help to account for the limited impacts.

**Article 3 (Problem 6) Public-Private Partnerships, Civic Engagement, and School Reform** [|public-private partnerships.pdf]

Conventionally, a partnership is a formal arrangement involving two or more parties intended to benefit all collaborators. Public-private partnerships specifically include associations between a governmental agency and either a private profit-seeking or private non-profit organization. Though public schools have been engaged in a variety of collaborative efforts with most being in the public-private class, the word, partnership, has not been defined precisely. As a result, it has been used indiscriminately to describe different levels of associations (Kowalski,2008). Because of this indistinctiveness, generalizations about education partnerships have had limited value. Nevertheless, it is advantageous to understand why collaborators have been drawn to these projects, the extent to which the projects have achieved their goals, and the conditionsthat have affected goal achievement

**Article 4 (Problem 6) Perceptions of Principal Leadership Behaviors in Massachusetts in the Era of Education Reform** [|Varying views of leadership.pdf]

Strong school leadership is a recurring variable in virtually every list of attributes of successful schools (Nadeau & Leighton, 1996). Despite the consensus that school leadership is important, there is a multiplicity of perceptions concerning effective school leadership. This investigation examined perceptions held by principals and other school leaders concerning the role of the principal in an era of significant educational reform marked by high-stakes testing that measures adequate yearly progress. The varying and sometimes contradictory visions of leadership in general and the principalship in particular make it worthwhile to learn more about how school leaders believe that the concept of leadership can best be operationalized with respect to carrying out the mandates of educational reform.


 * Article 5 (Problem 6) Necessary Educational Reform for the 21st Century: The Future of Public Schools in our Democracy [|views on reform.pdf] **

The failure of the current school reform agenda, and the impending environmental crisis may provide an opportunity for increased public discussion of the role of schools in our democracy. Until recently educators have been largely ineffectual in combating the onslaught against all levels of public education. If they are to incite positive changes they must plan a more active and influential role in the political arena. This article has a fundamentally different approach to educational reform: calling for a reassessment of the role of public schools in a democracy that recognizes the importance of citizenship preparation, and a ‘‘bottom up’’ reform model that starts in the classroom and can be implemented by individual teachers.