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Standards provide a foundation for thinking about leadership development and practice. This article explores three sets of standards that impact educational leadership preparation: (a) the recently revised Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards, which are now known as the Practice Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL); (b) the Educational Leadership Constituent Council (ELCC) standards, which are currently under revision; and (c) the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) standards. In addition to reviewing each set, how they are used, and how they differ, we share findings from a survey of preparation program directors focused on how influential and beneficial these standards are in promoting leadership preparation program improvement.

This article identifies four elements of complexity that influence how university educational leadership programs can leverage program change: faculty reward systems, faculty governance, institutional resources, and state-level influence on leadership preparation. Following the discussion of the elements of complexity, the article provides a vignette of a university program change in educational leadership to further highlight the complexity and to provide examples of the opportunities for program change. The article ends with a discussion of implications for change.

When selected as a pilot redesign site, we decided to both refocus the underlying assumptions guiding our program and to engage in processes allowing us to model best practices while creating a new program. This article summarizes key aspects of our redesign work and offers reflections on the processes used and challenges faced. Murphy's (2006) guiding principles for “fostering the reculturing of preparation programs” serves as our point of reference for conducting this programmatic critique, examining where we were, where we are now, and where we are headed.

Many states are mandating reforms in university-sponsored principal preparation programs, but faculty and school system personnel often have concerns about the prescriptive nature of state mandates related to these reforms. Auburn University served as one of four pilot principal preparation program redesigns in Alabama, a process that took over two years. Redesign efforts involved negotiating state requirements, faculty needs and research interests, school district needs and interests, best practices, and common sense. The re-design was developed and is being implemented in partnership with seven school districts. In this article we interrogate the issues, challenges, and successes faced throughout one university's principal preparation program redesign process, offering reflections, insights, and lessons learned for others currently engaged or soon to be negotiating competing agendas for how they should prepare principals.

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.

To succeed academically, college students must actively construct course information, synthesize this information with information from texts and other resources, understand this information so tha...

This paper examines the influence of personal histories on the formation of early role identity as inquiry-oriented science teachers. Two cases selected from a multicase study of 12 secondary science student teachers are used to illustrate the development of inquiry orientation. These cases represent two extremes in a continuum ranging from didactic practice to successful use of structured inquiry. The role of learners' personal histories on their teaching identity development and implications for preparing inquiry-based science teachers are discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed86:401–416, 2002; Published online in Wiley Interscience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/sce.10020

Our society has changed drasti cally in the past thirty years, and the demands upon schools and consequently the role of school leaders have become more complex (Fullan 1998). Educational leaders must learn to collaborate with others, negotiate while advocating for specific changes, establish shared visions for the organization, think inclusively about all constituents, and apply theory to practice (Smith 1999). This redesigned administrative role has prompted adaptations in the ways that future administrators are educated. In this article we describe a tool for

Schools and education in general face intense scrutiny, particularly as states enact high stakes accountability legislation that measures and judges performance. This has led to increased stress for school administrators who have typically had little voice in framing these policies but who are responsible for meeting state mandated standards. This article describes the steps taken in a university educational leadership program to foster the proactive engagement of educational leaders in the policy arena.

(2000). What's Happening in Our Schools?: Conveying an Accurate Picture of School Performance. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas: Vol. 73, No. 5, pp. 291-294.

School restructuring often calls for modifying the roles and responsi bilities of teachers, students, and administrators, yet most efforts to restructure schools involve educators, rather than students. Changes are made for students, but without the involvement of students. If stu dents are expected to change as a result of school restructuring efforts, they must be involved in determining the changes to be made.