Design thinking is a human-centered problem-solving process that organizations can use to address wicked and complex problems of practice. Within the PK-12 space, design thinking has been employed to engage educators in an innovative approach to address challenges like curriculum redesign, instructional engagement, and designing physical spaces. The use of design thinking in the PK-12 space is a result of the evolution of an organizational improvement process that puts people at the center of problem-solving initiatives. Design thinking is seen as both a process and a mindset that enables people to look at problems in new ways and address these problems through creative approaches. In this book we share case studies of PK-12 schools and other educational organizations that have used design thinking, as well as research studies that have studied aspects of design thinking in the PK-12 space. We have brought together a variety of research-based and illustrative case studies around design thinking in PK-12 education that explore the development and implementation of design thinking in practice.

The 1995 NCPEA Yearbook is organized into five major sections. The first, The Landscapes of Change: Challenges for Professors of Educational Administration, contains four chapters that frame the major themes and issues of the 1994 conference. In Section 2, Educational Leadership and Development Program: Theoretical Perspectives, the authors explore theoretical lenses for examining the preparation of educational leaders and the development of educational administration programs. Section 3, Responding to New Realities: Program Development in Educational Administration, contains detailed descriptions of emerging educational realities that have begun to trigger program changes and innovations in departments of educational leadership at six institutions. Rethinking and Revisioning Teaching and Learning to prepared Educational Leaders, Section 4, offers five excellent vignettes of changes and challenges for professors in creating new teaching and learning environments for themselves and their students. In the final section, Policies, Programs, and Practices: Investigations in Educational Administration, six chapters relate the finds of researchers using very different research designs and methods. The implications for professors of educational administration and for all educational stakeholders are discussed.

Design thinking is a human-centered problem-solving process that organizations can use to address wicked and complex problems of practice. Within the PK-12 space, design thinking has been employed to engage educators in an innovative approach to address challenges like curriculum redesign, instructional engagement, and designing physical spaces. The use of design thinking in the PK-12 space is a result of the evolution of an organizational improvement process that puts people at the center of problem-solving initiatives. Design thinking is seen as both a process and a mindset that enables people to look at problems in new ways and address these problems through creative approaches. In this book we share case studies of PK-12 schools and other educational organizations that have used design thinking, as well as research studies that have studied aspects of design thinking in the PK-12 space. We have brought together a variety of research-based and illustrative case studies around design thinking in PK-12 education that explore the development and implementation of design thinking in practice.

Preparing school administrators for the challenges they will face requires materials well-informed about the nuts and bolts of education in real life. Only a richly detailed case study book like Short and Scribner's will provide them with the opportunity to analyze current issues. Each narrative chapter concludes with application questions and a list of references. The authors, some of the most respected American scholars on the superintendency have compiled cases grounded in research and reality. They explore topics such as the politics of education, the debate over merit pay, women in the superintendency, and the role of the superintendent as an instructor.