Almost a decade ago, a national commission formally announced a time of crisis in American education. Since then, Americans have been engaged in a debate about the purpose and organization of tomorroW's schools. While the early reform reports were silent on the preparation of school administrators, recent reports have focused on the failure to turn out well-prepared administrators. The National Commission on Excellence in Educational Administration (1987) and the National Policy Board for Educational Administration (1989) called for sweeping changes in the recruitment, preparation, regulation, and evaluation of school administrators. It was argued that raising standards for admission to educational administration programs, more courses, adding more rigor to existing courses, tighter certification requirements, competency-based licensing, and supervised school-site internships would address the concerns raised by practitioners and numerous other critics. Educational reforms directed toward raising the quality of our schools require administrators who are collaborative, dynamic, and innovative problem solvers; administrators who can guide the educational enterprise to higher achievement, provide individuals with aspirations and dreams, and critically inculturate the young into a political democracy.

An updated edition of the most comprehensive, complete handbook for the superintendency! The original book grew out of extensive funding and professional development from the highly-respected Danforth Foundation, and examines the role of the superintendent through field-based research with over 150 superintendents over ten years. Intended for urban, rural, and suburban superintendents, the book is designed to help these dirtrict leaders improve their effectiveness, learn from best practices, and fully understand the tenets of NCLB and other critical legislation. As a fieldbook, the book reflects stories, anecdotes, vignettes from practicing superintendents and is truly a practioner-friendly resource for school leaders. In updating The Superintendent's Fieldbook, the authors draw on their five-year experience with some 100 members of the National Superintendents Roundtable. Internationally, this experience involves extensive attention to education in China and Europe, including four site visits to China, plans to send a delegation of Roundtable superintendents to Finland later this year, and a month spent in England and Israel by one of our colleagues examining principal development.

A NEW EDITION OF THE GROUNDBREAKING BOOK A new edition - revised and updated with over 100 pages of new material - of the groundbreaking book that brings the principles of organizational learning to today s schools and classrooms. A unique collaboration between the celebrated management thinker and Fifth Discipline author Peter Senge , and a team of renowned educators and organizational change leaders, the revised edition of Schools The Learn addresses the new and unique pressures on our educational system that have emerged since the book's initial publication in 2000. In a fast-changing world where school populations are increasingly diverse, children live in ever-more-complex social and media environments, standardized tests are applied as overly simplistic "quick fixes," and advances in science and technology continue to accelerate, the pressures on our educational system are inescapable. Schools That Learn offers a much-needed way to open dialogue about these problems and provides pragmatic opportunities to transform school systems into learning organizations. Drawing on observations and advice from more than 70 writers and experts on schools and education, this book features: * methods for implementing organizational learning and explanations of why they work * compelling stories and anecdotes from the field - classrooms, schools, and communities * charts, tables and diagrams to illustrate systems thinking and other practices * guiding principles for how to apply innovative practices in all types of school systems Schools That Learn is the essential guide for anyone who cares about the future of education and keeping our nation s schools competitive in our fast-changing world.