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The purpose of this article was to describe the foundational development of a conceptual framework for cultural competence of educational leaders based on an extensive literature review and to develop the CCEL instrument. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) procedures were used on the data (n = 252) to determine the psychometric properties of the CCEL and its validity and reliability. The purposefully selected participants were Master's degree students in educational leadership programs with University Council for Educational Administration institutional membership. EFA of the data revealed three factors of cultural competence: cultural beliefs and motivation, cultural skills, and cultural knowledge.

The underrepresentation of minorities from rural communities in U.S. health professions has resulted in a lack of cultural understanding and inadequate healthcare for people of color and the poor. Described is the Roots to Wings (RTW) program, a partnership between higher education institutions and Native American tribes and schools. The heart of the program is Transformative Co-Mentoring (TCM), a relationship between individuals, with the goal of fostering cultural understanding and creating lasting changes for those involved and their environments. RTW focuses on the implementation of TCM, which is practiced in teams of university medical students, Native Americans, and Latino students living on Native American lands. RTW seeks to increase American Indian/Alaska Natives (AIAN) and Latinos in the health professions, decrease health inequities, reform medical student preparation, and enhance health care professionals' understanding of AIAN and Latino communities. Presented are preliminary findings of program impact from participants' perspective and lessons learned.

The accountability movement in higher education is gaining momentum in the United States and around the world. In recent years, there has been a growing pressure on higher education institutions to demonstrate their value through various accountability measures with a strong focus upon the assessment of student progress and success. In the U.S. this pressure has come from state and federal government, accrediting agencies, parents, and the general public. Additionally, the changing environment within the teaching and learning process is impacting the manner in which students will be assessed and the purposes of this assessment. Thus, there is a growing recognition that higher education leaders will need to be prepared to address this and other complex issues that will inevitably affect higher education institutions. This makes the role of the president in this process more vital and important as administrators must be the ones to provide funding and other types of support. This study sought to gain an understanding of the role that higher education doctoral programs play in developing leaders that are able to address the issues of student assessment and institutional accountability. It examined this issue from the perspective of university presidents of institutions in the United States. (Contains 2 tables.)

Principal preparation programs in colleges throughout the country are being initiated and redesigned using diverse models and approaches. Creating change in any organization requires the involvement and support of supervisory personnel in leadership positions. Thus, although supervisory roles in colleges and universities tend to be less direct than those in K-12 and private enterprise (Gornitzka, 1999), the college deans have a strategic role in program redesign within their colleges. This paper describes research the author conducted to examine an educational leadership redesign process as perceived by the deans involved. It begins with an overview of the redesign process nationally, followed by a description of the Alabama initiative. The next section presents the author's perceptions of this effort at her institution. This is followed by a description of the research questions, the data collection and analysis process, and the findings. The paper concludes with a discussion of the findings and implications for the future.

Calls for changing educational leadership preparation have led many state policy makers to initiate program redesign efforts; the governor of Alabama constituted a working group to examine the situation and develop recommendations. This article details the school leadership preparation program redesign process in Alabama from the perspective of faculty at one university. The article presents an overview of the design process, basic program tenets, and manner in which one set of university faculty engaged in this endeavor. It also presents facilitating and hindering factors, compares redesigned program with previous program, and aligns the redesigned program with best practices. (Contains 1 table.)

This study gathered information regarding professional military educators' perceptions of the concept of critical thinking to determine whether there was a common definition and a shared meaning of the concept among them. Although there did not appear to be a common definition of critical thinking among this group, 10 categories and four themes emerged which captured the essence of their thinking about this concept. The themes were: (1) developmental process activities; (2) dispositions or attitudes; (3) reasons for critical thinking; and (4) contextual elaboration. Further analysis of the data revealed that the definitions expressed were evenly distributed across three levels of complexity. Implications and recommendations for action are presented. (Contains 8 tables.)

Describes Auburn University College of Education educational policy development class and resulting student learning outcomes. (Contains 24 references.) (PKP)

Examines collaborative academic authorship by addressing equity in name ordering and conventions used in crediting authorship. Suggests ways to make equal authorship visible and calls for development of collaborative academic culture and negotiation with scholarly journals and database services for recognition of equal authorship. (SK)

Presents insights gained from collaboratively designing and implementing a comprehensive evaluation system for a coalition of professional development schools. Highlights structural and governance changes and lessons learned about interpersonal processes and curricular reform. Greater understanding among partners occurred, but programmatic decisions are still made by school and university personnel. (Contains 28 footnotes.) (MLH)

Survey of 36 United States educational leadership program efforts to create collaborative communities for part-time students. Finds, for example, that majority of programs use course sequencing and cohort grouping to create collaborative communities for part-time students. (Contains 40 references.) (PKP)

Describes a collaborative mentoring relationship between a graduate student and the director of a university laboratory school, which grew as they became college professors. The mentoring relationship provides opportunities for them to develop dispositions and abilities that are important in strengthening their capacities to grow personally and professionally. This in turn allows them to create and nurture collaborative work cultures. (SM)

Examines effectiveness of an alternative cohort model designed for part-time students in a doctoral educational leadership program. Results from a survey, student evaluations, and focus groups indicated the experience was personally and professionally rewarding and promoted friendships and idea exchanges. However, students did not take risks during seminars. (Contains 60 references.) (MLH)

Evaluated the West Alabama Learning Coalition, a rural, multi-institutional organization, as perceived by member professionals in schools, universities, community colleges, businesses, and social-service agencies. Respondents viewed the coalition as a dynamic, organic, and creative entity fostering synergy, shared leadership, and personal/organizational transformation. (Contains 33 references.) (MLH)

Presents an epilogue to an issue dedicated to generating new visions of education via articles written by Holmes Scholars, examining the invisible culture of academic publishing, hopeful signs for the future regarding Scholars' articles, and problems among the Scholars' manuscripts. Other editors are challenged to consider developing issues or sections within an issue specifically designed for contributions from such writers. (SM)

Introduces a special issue that seeks to generate new visions of education via articles written by Holmes Scholars. These scholars focus on quality professional preparation, continuous renewal, research, diversity, faculty development, and policy initiation. The articles delve into the core of collegial relationships in educational institutions. This issue offers the Holmes Scholars an opportunity to publish and receive feedback. (SM)

Investigated the benefits of Professional Development School (PDS) endeavors as perceived by university faculty participating in the Holmes Group. Data from open-ended surveys identified four themes related to PDS benefits: (1) improved teaching/learning environments; (2) improved collegiality in professional relationships; (3) personal and professional growth; and (4) enhanced research opportunities. (SM)

Strengthening relationships between public schools and higher education through school/university partnerships is one strategy to improve education. This paper describes Auburn University's work with Professional Development Schools, focusing on how they formed the learning coalition, initiated the process of collaboration, and created structural and procedural foundations. Problem areas, major benefits, and guidelines for coalition building are noted. (SM)

Describes the UTAD (Utah Article Delivery) Pilot Project, an innovative resource-sharing service that provides journal articles to the Utah higher education community, developed by the Utah Academic Library Consortium (UALC) in partnership with EBSCO Document Services. Highlights include goals, options considered, challenges, and evaluation. The Web-based order form for UTAD users is included. (PEN)

Presents the Professional Development School (PDS) experiences of a participant who was both a school principal and the director/superintendent of a university laboratory school at the beginning, and who is now an Associate Professor and the director of an institute where she facilitates the creation of PDS relationships. (SM)

Discusses issues related to laboratory schools, including: laboratory schools and school reform; unique characteristics; the university setting; research capability; grade structure; professional staff; autonomy; history and tradition; parental support and involvement; and strengths of laboratory schools. The paper asserts that laboratory schools have an important part in public education. (SM)