Explore the vast range of titles available.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the findings from research on the relationship between leadership theory and policy reform in Malaysia. Distributed leadership is normatively preferred in the Malaysia Education Blueprint (MEB), the country's major policy reform document. The research was conducted in two dissimilar Malaysian states (Selangor and Sarawak). Design/methodology/approach: The research was a multiple case-study design, with 14 schools (seven in each state). Sampling was purposive, with schools selected from the different bands used to categorise school performance in Malaysia. Within each school, interviews were conducted with principals (secondary schools), headteachers (primary schools) and a range of teachers, middle leaders and senior leaders, to achieve respondent triangulation. Findings: The findings confirm that the MEB prescribes distributed leadership as part of a strategy to move principals and head teachers away from their traditional administrative leadership styles. While there were some variations, most schools adopted a modified distributed leadership approach. Instead of the emergent model discussed and advocated in the literature, these schools embraced an allocative model, with principals sharing responsibilities with senior leaders in a manner that was often indistinguishable from delegation. Research limitations/implications: A significant implication of the research is that policy prescriptions in major reform initiatives can lead to unintended consequences when applied in different cultural contexts. While distributed leadership is presented as \"emergent\" in the international (mostly western) literature, it has been captured and adapted for use in this highly centralised context, where structures and culture assume a top-down model of leadership. As a result, distributed leadership has taken on a different meaning, to fit the dominant culture. Practical implications: The main practical implication is that principals and head teachers are more likely to enact leadership in ways which are congruent with their cultural backgrounds and assumptions than to embrace policy prescriptions, even when unproblematic adoption of policy might be expected, as in this centralised context. Social implications: The main social implications are that policy change is dependent on socio-cultural considerations and that reform will not be whole-hearted and secure if it is not congruent with the values of institutions such as schools, and the wider society which they serve. Originality/value: The paper is significant in exploring a popular leadership model in an unfamiliar context. Beyond its importance in Malaysia, it has wider resonance for other centralised systems which have also shown interest in distributed leadership but have been unable and/or unwilling to embrace it in the ways assumed in the literature. This leads to theoretical significance because it adds to the limited body of literature which shows that allocative distributed leadership has emerged as a device for accommodating this model within centralised contexts.

Ohio’s Columbus City Schools developed a new urban grow-your-own principal pipeline. This pipeline emphasizes the cultivation of equity-centered principals who can address educational and social disparities in transformative and sustainable ways. Drawing from research and professional literature and from district and stakeholder engagements, author James C. Eslinger outlines six interrelated critical dispositions that need to be nurtured within school leaders. He demonstrates how these dispositions are integrated in the recruitment, preparation, and induction of aspiring and novice school leaders in the district. These dispositions are key drivers for leaders’ beliefs and practices to advance equity in schools and beyond.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors associated with occupational stress and job satisfaction among Irish primary school principals. A principal’s job has become increasingly demanding and complex in recent decades. However, there is little current research into their levels of stress and job satisfaction, particularly based on nationally representative data. In order to understand how principals perceive their job and how best to support them, new insights into factors contributing to job satisfaction and stress of school principals are warranted. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on an analysis of Growing up in Ireland data, a national representative study of nine-year-old children in Ireland. In order to explore the simultaneous impact of individual and school factors on stress and job satisfaction of principals in Irish primary schools, multivariate analysis was used. Analyses in this paper are based on responses from principals in 898 schools. Findings – The results of the study indicate that a significant number of primary school principals in Ireland are not very satisfied and feel stressed about their job. Regression analysis revealed that job satisfaction and occupational stress were related to a complex set of personal characteristics, working conditions, school context and teacher climate. Research limitations/implications – The data are limited to primary school principals. However, this is in itself an advantage since it allows for greater insights into variation across principals in job satisfaction and stress, holding the effect of school level constant. Originality/value – This is the first study of its kind in the Irish context that explores the simultaneous effect of a number of factors on school principals’ stress and job satisfaction.

PurposeImproving the management efficiency of new principals in low-performing schools has important practical value and theoretical significance. Based on organizational socialization theory, this study adopts a single case study method to analyze in-depth the organizational socialization process of a new principal after taking over a low-performing school.Design/methodology/approachThrough three years of longitudinal data analysis in a Chinese school, the study establishes four stages that the new principal experienced after taking office. Then, it analyzes the interaction between the new principal and school members (vice-principals, department heads and teachers) in each stage.FindingsThree main determinants can be perceived to affect the effectiveness of the new principal: the former principal’s imprint, school members’ internal contagion and school members’ demand contradiction. The study further shows that the new principal needed to pay attention to school members’ attitudes toward himself and the former principal as well as focus on building relationships with management.Originality/valueThis study expanded the analysis from teachers to school members (including vice-principals and department heads) to comprehensively analyze the organizational socialization of a new principal.

PurposeThis study examines principal rotation in China to gain empirical insights from the policy analysis and succession strategies that principals employ to gain internal and external support in their new schools.Design/methodology/approachWe employed document analysis and a case study approach. Interviews were conducted with officials in 5 local educational agencies and 40 principals from 5 different regions who were undergoing rotation. Thematic analysis was used to identify common patterns and themes in the interview responses.FindingsWe explored how the principal-rotation policy was implemented, including the goals, standards, targeted principals, tools and other aspects of the policy in China. The study revealed the challenges faced by the rotated principals and their succession strategies.Originality/valueOur study contributes to the field of educational leadership by shedding light on the implementation and impact of principal rotation in mainland China.

Without proper training, the realities of leading a school can overwhelm principals. Specifically, the challenges of leading a school will test principals’ abilities to manage operations and implement effective initiatives. Despite knowledge of these demands, author Craig Hochbein writes that aspiring principals often engage in training experiences that do not align with principals’ work. By focusing on how principals spend their time, aspiring principals, school district administrators, and principal training faculty can improve their contributions to principal training.

A student identified for gifted services thanks to new research and wider nets cast who otherwise may have been missed. A student grade skipped into a more appropriate educational environment thanks to advocacy and the proven track record of those who were skipped before him. A teacher who recognizes that the student asking probing questions about the content being taught may just be gifted and in need of additional opportunities outside the curriculum. Because each is an opportunity to widen the net of understanding around giftedness.

PurposeThis paper explores the school leadership career outcomes, timing and educator evaluation of those who complete the Massachusetts Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL) in comparison with others who did not. It also compares outcomes for those with different PAL score completion requirements.Design/methodology/approachUsing PAL assessment results and state employment data for years 2015 through 2019, the authors examined trends and timing in PAL completers' career advancement into an initial school leader position (assistant principal or principal), by assessment cohort (based on assessment year and passing (cut) score requirements) and with who never had to complete the assessment for licensure (non-PAL completers). Using regression analysis, the authors evaluated potential race/ethnicity and gender differences in advancement. Using chi-square tests of association, the authors compared non-PAL and PAL completers on their demographic attributes and on retention and promotion from assistant principal and on their educator evaluation scores. The authors also examined differences in advancement based on the cut score requirements and preparation pathways.FindingsPAL completers made steady career advances over time and at faster rates than non-PAL completers. Further, PAL completers subject to higher cut score requirements advanced more quickly than those with lower or no score requirements. PAL completers' gender and race/ethnicity seemed to matter less in career advancement than was found in other studies. In 2019, almost half who advanced were employed in the same districts as they had been in 2014 and were more likely to be new leaders in urban districts. When compared with other career-related measures, PAL completers outperformed non-PAL completers who first became school leaders since 2014: they were more likely to be rated as exemplary on educator evaluation and more likely to be retained or promoted after two years in their first school leader position.Originality/valueUntil now little research has existed on the career effects of licensure assessments. Because it requires candidates to demonstrate proficiency in core areas of school leadership work, the PAL assessment appears to be a superior means of screening initial school leaders (based on rate of hiring) and of signaling future performance (based on subsequent educator evaluation ratings) than other assessment forms (such as the School Leader Licensure Assessment [SLLA] exam).

PurposeThis paper aims to highlight how a group of novice principals in Connecticut and New York used relational, dispositional and situational factors to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The study aims to support new principals and educational leaders.Design/methodology/approachUsing Mutch's (2015) dispositional, relational and situational framework to guide the inquiry, this paper uses qualitative methods and interviewing in particular to explore the questions of interest. Six novice principals were each interviewed over the 2020–2021 school year, each interview lasting approximately forty-five minutes. Data were analyzed thematically using both deductive coding techniques and cross comparative analysis.FindingsFindings show that novice principals tended to rely on dispositional factors to respond to the crisis. Additionally, novice principals reported limited responses to the situational factors of the crisis due to restricted access and guidance from the district leadership.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the small sample size and methodological approach, it may be inappropriate to generalize the findings across all novice principals in all settings. Further research in additional settings and larger samples are encouraged to support the proposed findings.Practical implicationsThis paper has several implications for districts and leadership preparation programs. Among these is the need for leadership preparation programs to adjust their curricula to train new principals properly.Originality/valueThis work fills a gap in the research regarding how new principals respond to a crisis. It also provides insights into practice and possible means to enhance the growing population of new principals entering the educational leadership workforce.