The academy's zeitgeist -- standards of scientific investigation -- has recently come to the fore in the national arena as the dominant moral and intellectual framework for educational research. In this article, we explore the re-emergence of standards of scientific investigation as a significant shaping force in education and the scholarly culture, particularly in regard to the fields of leadership and administration. With the recent advent of politically based decrees of quality defined exclusively by traditional standards, alternative approaches to exploring human issues, however rigorous they might be in the qualitative realm, tend to be marginalized. Traditional, experimental studies that involve large-scale statistical research design and randomization have been authorized, making single-subject research, naturalistic inquiry, self-study, and other qualitative research practices unlikely candidates for federal funding. For this discussion on "authorized" and "unauthorized" perspectives of research, we explore the impact of regulatory practices within the academy.

Educational administrator preparation programs have been under attack for inadequate program quality. Despite these charges, there are embedded critical skills numbering thirteen, or a baker's dozen. These skills throughout each the principal preparation programs establish a foundation for the effective preparing of effective administrators. In addition, the bakers dozen drive programmatic decisions providing future educational leaders with opportunities to connect their knowledge base through carefully designed experiences woven into the academic program.

This study investigated one school district's transition from a junior high model to a middle school philosophy. Numerous documents were examined and individual interviews and focus group discussions were analyzed to reconstruct the process and strategies used to facilitate the institutionalization of this complex change effort. Participant voices helped weave a rich fabric of events and provided further insights into organizational change. An understanding of change theories, the process of change, and what facilitates and hinders reform are essential components in the knowledge base of educational administration. By providing practical experiences of change, the abstract process of implementing reform can become more concrete for educators who want to significantly alter the outcome of schooling.

As educators in higher education, we face many challenges, but probably none like that of teaching online. While institutions of higher education have enjoyed a long history of traditional teaching and learning, the realities of providing an environment tailored to the needs and interests of today's adult learners is a very real and timely issue. Many institutions have pursued online instruction as a means of competing in today's marketplace, while addressing the unique needs of the current generation of degree-seeking adults who have family, community, and work commitments -- in other words, whose time is highly structured and virtually controlled by a wide variety of factors. Thus, Web-supported instruction is becoming much more commonplace in colleges and universities (Lindner, Dooley & Murphy, 2001). Web-based courses are being used increasingly by instructors to optimize the delivery of instruction and instructional materials. These include: Web pages, chat rooms, discussion groups, e-mail, animation, streaming video, etc.

This case study covers a wide variety of challenges facing administrators as they make an effort to improve the learning environments of impoverished communities. It may be used in an introductory course for aspiring school leaders and practitioners in th

The NCPEA Handbook of Doctoral Programs in Educational Leadership: Issues and Challenges, Chapter 1, authored by Frederick L. Dembowski.

David Boeri reports that the Massachusetts Advocacy Center released statistics indicating that the student failure rate in the Boston Public Schools has increased by 24 percent. Boeri notes that school officials have raised promotion standards but that students are unprepared. Boeri interviews Anne Wheelock (Massachusetts Advocacy Center) and Robert Schwartz (Director, Boston Compact) about the failure rate in the schools. Wheelock says that the schools must create a climate which allows all students to succeed. Wheelock says that non-promotion will cause an increase in the drop-out rate. She adds that schools must provide remedial services for at-risk students. Schwartz says that a high school diploma must signify a minimum amount of achievement on the part of students. He adds that students should not be promoted unless they meet achievement standards. Schwartz admits that schools need to do more to help at-risk students. Boeri analyzes that failure statistics for African American and Latino students. Boeri's report is accompanied by footage of students exiting a school and by footage of students in a classroom.

Leadership is both objective and subjective. Some of our critics have suggested that we overemphasize the objective aspect of leadership: facts, data, and test scores. Others state we spend too much time addressing leadership at the expense of the actual

Gail Harris reports on the ground-breaking ceremony for Roxbury Community College. The report includes footage of Bruce Bolling (Boston City Council) speaking at the ceremony. Harris interviews in-studio guest Brunetta Wolfman (President, Roxbury Community College) about the college. Wolfman talks about the new campus and the need to provide education and training to urban populations. Wolfman talks about a divide between the educated and uneducated populations in Massachusetts.

With heightened accountability on student learning, 21st century educational leaders? roles and responsibilities as instructional leaders have grown to unprecedented levels and expectations. Among the latest expectations is direction and guidance in instructional technology or instruction supported by powerful teaching tools. This paper outlines specific actions that should be taken in order to foster and encourage the use of these learning tools to increase the achievement of all students.

Expectations for productivity in published scholarship have certainly increased in recent years for university faculty seeking tenure and promotion in colleges of education and other colleges (Brown, 2006; Tierney, 2001). In response, more and more leaders at research universities sponsor formal mentoring programs organized to promote the development and success of tenure-earning faculty.1 However, many administrators and faculty are trying to figure out how to get started and what to do. They are seeking proven strategies for developing, implementing, and assessing formalized faculty mentoring initiatives (Mullen, Kennedy, & Keller, 2006). Because of this need to share ideas and tips, we present our own attempts at best practice. We include preliminary results derived from our piloted program.

A glance inside a classroom reveals the students, aspiring superintendents, requesting that their professor present to them the realities of school district leadership. The professor, a past superintendent, responds to the call by integrating conventional wisdom based upon his thirty years of educational leadership into theory. In the following class, the professor presents job survival skills that future superintendents ought to know. From accepting the challenge, raising the achievement bar, building teams, and sharing and learning, the job survival skills of the superintendency are instilled. The professor concludes his presentation of job survival skills with a passionate plea or promise that the future school district leaders need to commit, the same promise the professor as a superintendent embraced for over three decades.

A commemorative church service held in honor of Martin Luther King. Jr. is addressed Reverend John Bryant, who uses the occasion to criticize the Boston School Committee for what he sees as a lack of commitment to the education of African American children.

Increasingly, education schools are being blamed for intractable social problems they did not create and cannot solve. They have been faulted for the quality of the people who choose to become teachers and administrators. They have been blamed for the woes of low-performing schools and school systems. They have been criticized for their inability to close the achievement gap between the most advantaged and most disadvantaged children in America. No other professional school is held similarly responsible.

Christy George reports that the Boston School Committee held an executive session to make a decision on the renewal of the contract of Laval Wilson (Superintendent, Boston Public Schools). George notes that several audience members addressed the Boston School Committee about Wilson's performance before they made their decision. George's report includes footage of Jim Hobby (South Boston resident), Minister Don Muhammad (Roxbury community leader), and Pedro Posado (Latino activist) addressing the members of the School Committee at a meeting. George reports that the Boston School Committee has offered Wilson a two-year contract with constant performance reviews and no perquisites. George adds that the contract does not allow Wilson much freedom to operate. George's report includes footage of Thomas O'Reilly (President, Boston School Committee) and Robert Cappucci (Boston School Committee) announcing the contract at a School Committee meeting. O'Reilly talks about the details of the contract. Cappucci expresses his non-support of Wilson. The report also features footage of School Committee members and Wilson at the meeting. Wilson speaks to the media about his new contract. This edition of the Ten O'Clock News also included the following item:Marcus Jones reports on the Ninth Annual Black-Jewish Seder held in Roxbury. Black / Jewish Seder

This course is designed for masters and doctoral programs in educational administration. Though reviewed and sanctioned by the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration, it is available for all in the world to use in any way appropriate for students in school leadership preparation programs.

Dorothy Jones, of Model Cities of Boston, discusses plans for the forthcoming restructuring of the Boston School committee.

The Handbook of Doctoral Programs in Educational Leadership: Issues and Challenges came into being following a session at the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) conference in August 2006, which was held in Lexington, Kent

Joseph Murphy argues in this essay that much of university preparation of educational leaders is, at best, of questionable value and, at worst, harmful. Let me start with a few points to ground my claims.