Karen S. Crum

Facilitating High Achievement: High School Principals' Reflections on Their Successful Leadership Practices.

Purpose – The burden for school improvement in a time of accountability falls squarely on the shoulders of principals as new requirements demand that they act as instructional leaders. The purpose of this study is to discover the common themes of school leadership and instructional practices of high school principals at successful schools in Virginia.Design/methodology/approach – An inductive exploratory study was designed to provide insight into how successful high school principals facilitate high levels of student achievement. The research was grounded by allowing principals to talk about their actual practices as leaders.Findings – The principals provided valuable insights into their daily practices that foster an environment which is supportive of high‐student achievement. These practices are categorized in the following themes: developing personnel and facilitating leadership, responsible delegation and empowering the team, recognizing ultimate accountability, communicating and rapport, facilitating...

Best Practices of Successful Elementary School Leaders.

Purpose – This study is one in a series which aims to examine the theories of actions developed and internalized by school principals that help them serve as successful leaders in the tumultuous accountability climate. The dearth of recent empirical research focusing on best practices of successful school principals in a post‐NCLB nation sets the tone for and drives the study.Design/methodology/approach – An inductive exploratory study was designed to provide insight into how successful elementary school principals facilitate high levels of student achievement. The research was grounded by allowing principals to talk about what their actual practices as leaders.Findings – The principals provided a wealth of information that helped to identify common themes of practice across all 12 participants. The following categories represent the central themes: leadership with data; honesty and relationships; fostering ownership and collaboration; recognizing and developing leadership; and instructional awareness and...

Perspectives on Distance Technology in Leadership Education: Transfer, Meaning, and Change

While the use of distance technology has been touted as having the potential to reform leadership preparation, there is little to no research on students’ experiences or outcomes in educational leadership. The authors sought to understand, through a descriptive survey design, whether or not distance technology is a viable competitor to face-to-face instruction. The purpose of the study was to gain perspectives from students in leadership preparation programs as consumers of instructional distance technology and to understand perceptions of the impact of distance technology on transfer of knowledge to practice. Findings provide readers with insider knowledge from consumers who utilize distance technology and indicate that while students feel online course experiences have been equally successful as compared to face-to-face instruction, they do not find that online courses have an advantage over face-to-face instruction.

Unwritten: Young Women Faculty in Educational Leadership.

Purpose – As women professors of educational leadership who are involved with feminist research and the preparation of k‐12 women leaders, the authors came to the realization that while they have dedicated their professional lives to advancing women leaders in the k‐12 environment, they have neglected women like themselves, particularly young women, in the academy.Design/methodology/approach – The authors utilized biographical narrative inquiry to allow readers a window into their lives as young women faculty in departments of educational leadership and extended this to advocate for changes in university climates for women.Findings – The authors analyzed their narrative data to develop strategies for young women faculty in educational leadership that include: action‐oriented mentoring; the valuing of home and person; living within gender, age, and skin; and celebration of youth and womanhood.Originality/value – This paper is an emergent approach to understanding and facilitating social justice and diversi...