The Principal: Creative Leadership for Excellence in Schools

Using the seven Educational Leadership Constituent Council (ELCC) Standards as an organizational tool, the revised seventh edition of The Principal: Creative Leadership For Excellence in Schools continues to provide future school administrators with both the necessary theory and the necessary practical skills to become effective educational leaders. At the same time, the newly updated text incorporates fresh material on modern legal issues, expanded coverage on the topic of cultural and ethnic diversity in schools, and all of the most recent research.

With a focus on practical problem solving for school principals and other educational leaders, this text retains its focus on research linking educational leadership and productive schools, especially in terms of outcomes for children. Treating the principalship as a complicated and constantly evolving position that requires a constant focus on learning, instruction, and school improvement, this seventh edition text teaches readers to be moral agents, social advocates, community leaders, and caring individuals.

New to this Edition:

· New readings and new activities have been added to keep the book up-to-date and current.

· New and revised case studies have been added to give students further real-life examples of creative leadership in education.

· New material at the beginning of each chapter introduces the students to each new topic and helps to assist in analysis.

· A revised and up-dated chapter on legal issues including expanded discussions about dress codes, religion and prayer, single sex schools and classes, and censorship of reading materials, assists students in learning about current legal topics in principalship.

· Expanded material on cultural and ethnic diversity of school populations influences the text’s discussion of law, curriculum, public relations and leadership issues.

This text is organized around the ELCC Standards and provides a bridge from the theory of school administration to the practical problem solving in which school principals and other leaders engage. The Principal is organized into four parts centered on the seven Educational Leadership Constituent Council (ELCC) Standards developed specifically for school leaders. Each of the four major parts of the book is framed with one or two of the Standards as its major theme. Now in its sixth edition, this text continues to be based on the research indicating linkages between educational leadership and productive schools, especially in terms of outcomes for children. It supports the understanding that formal leadership in schools is a complex, multi-faceted task that requires continual learning and that effective school leaders must be strong educators focused on the central issues of learning, teaching, and school improvement.