In this book, Starratt enters the national conversation among educational administration scholars and practitioners about what constitutes the core of their knowledge and practice. In Part I, he develops three main themes--cultivating meaning, community, and moral responsibility--which he then positions against national themes about the core of educational administration: school improvement, democratic community, and social justice. Rather than focusing on the routine managerial tasks normally associated with school administration (budgeting, personnel and legal problems, time and resource management, etc.), this text asks aspiring school leaders to reflect first on the underlying philosophical and sociological perspectives that constitute the substance of administrative work in education. Centering Educational Administration provides: *A Unique Perspective on Leadership--The author views leadership as organically related to teaching and learning, as concerned with internal capacity building in response to state-imposed accountability pressures, and as an existential process of writing one's autobiography through their day-to-day work. *An Interdisciplinary View of Educational Administration--Centering Educational Administration asks educational administrators to bring contemporary philosophical, ethical, and anthropological issues, as well as learning theory, social theory, and political theory into their thinking about the daily operation of the school. *A Unique Perspective on School Improvement--This text asserts that school improvement narrowly defined as improving results on high-stakes tests can likewise place the nation at risk. An equally important agenda is teaching the young the basic satisfactions, norms, and potential of using their knowledge in the service of the community and of a wider humanity. *Exercises in Reflective Practice--This book challenges the reader to use the ideas of each chapter to analyze the current practices in their school and to propose concrete changes to improve the teaching and learning environment of their school.

Improving education outcomes for Black students begins with resisting racist characterizations of blackness. Chezare A. Warren, a nationally recognized scholar of race and education equity, emphasizes the imperative that possibility drive efforts aimed at transforming education for Black learners. Inspired by the “freedom dreaming” of activists in the Black radical tradition, the book is comprised of nine principles that clarify how centering possibility actively refuses limitations for what Black people can create, accomplish, and achieve. This interdisciplinary volume also features over 30 original images, poems, and lyrics by Black artists from around the United States, each helping to breathe new life into the concept of possibility and its relevance to remaking Black children’s experience of school. Warren draws on research in history, cultural studies, and sociology to cast a vision of Black education futures unencumbered by antiblackness and white supremacy. This justice-oriented text will inspire innovative solutions to eliminating harm and generating education alternatives Black students desire and deserve. Book Features: Describes practical, antideficit approaches to educating Black children, youth, and young adults.Focuses on productively reorienting visions, philosophies, and rationales guiding contemporary Black education transformation work.Includes relatable stories and anecdotes written in a conversational style.Filled with provocative pieces of original art by Black artists, such as paintings, drawings, photographs, mixed media, spoken word, poems, and song lyrics.

Student-Centered Leadership offers a timely and thoughtful resource for school leaders who want to turn their ideals into action. Written by educational leadership expert Viviane Robinson, the book shows leaders how they can make a bigger difference to the quality of teaching and learning in their school and ultimately improve their students' performance. This book is based not on fad or fashion but on the best available evidence about the impact of different types of leadership on student outcomes. The book includes examples of five types of leadership practice as well as rich accounts of the knowledge and skills that leaders need to employ them with confidence. Filled with practical lessons, clear information, and much inspiration, Robinson encourages leaders to experiment with changing how they lead so they can transform their schools for the better. Student-Centered Leadership is part of the Jossey-Bass Leadership Library in Education series. Praise for Student-Centered Leadership "Student-Centered Leadership shines with clarity and practical, powerful ideas. Add this book to your leadership library."—Michael Fullan, author, The Six Secrets of Change and Leading in a Culture of Change "Viviane Robinson's compelling book is both evidence based and profoundly practical."—Steve Munby, chief executive, National College for Leadership of Schools and Children's Services, England "This book will be an equally important resource for individual school leaders, professional developers, and administrator-preparation programs. There will be two copies on my shelf—one to loan and one for my own reference."—Karen Seashore Louis, Regents Professor, University of Minnesota

This timely book advances a new vision for educational justice centered on the leadership activities, organizing efforts, and counternarratives of youth, parents, families, and communities of color and other groups who are seeking to transform local schools and communities across the United States. Bringing together scholars, activists, and leaders, this contributed volume presents cases and first-person narratives for readers to analyze in order to interrogate inequities facing communities and schools. By creating spaces for youth, family, and community leadership within schools and opening decision-making to include their input, leaders can support transformative, justice-oriented school change. This book is a critical teaching tool asking educators and administrators to reflect, learn, and re-imagine their practice and collaborate with other leaders in their communities.

"English successfully challenges the established educational community to rethink the current state of research on school leadership in the social sciences...The inclusion of theory, discourse, and stories of recognized leaders followed by chapter learning extensions that include key concepts, movie recommendations, and prompted reflective journaling makes this book a most valuable resource for the educational leadership community." —H.J. Bultinck, CHOICE "The Art of Educational Leadership provides one of the most complete examinations of leadership that I have encountered. I admire the way it urges students to think and reflect. The format allows individual learners to focus on those materials that best fit their learning style while the numerous presentations of a single topic through the different modalities strengthens the learning. This text is a fresh, new look at leadership..." —Louise L MacKay, East Tennessee State University "Fenwick W. English returns to themes of leadership he explored in more than 20 earlier books and dozens of presentation to educator audiences. He favors "re-centering educational leadership in the humanities," rather than acting on the recommendation of the business literature, and he emphasizes the use of films as a way to humanize leadership concepts." —THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR "Excellent cogent analysis of key concepts of leadership are presented in a reader friendly style." —Saul B. Grossman, Temple University Moves beyond established notions of leadership to recognize that effective leading is about drama and performance—artistry! The Art of Educational Leadership: Balancing Performance and Accountability stresses the human side of leadership. No other text on this topic demonstrates so ably the importance of artistry in leadership in a field that has been lopsidedly dominated by concepts informed by science. Presenting the idea that leadership is an art, this book: Exemplifies a balance between the science and the art of educational leadership: The real improvement of practice is rooted in the art of application, which is about context and represents the key to leadership practice. Connects content material to self-discovery: Exercises at the end of each chapter include creating a personal, reflective journal to engage the reader in and reflect upon theories and practices presented in the book. Films are suggested for viewing to illustrate the interaction between context, culture, decisions, and outcomes. Portrays multicultural leadership in action: Biography boxes throughout the book share how multicultural educational and political leaders who have been recognized as "expert" practitioners learned the art of leadership in the public arena. This is the first book in educational leadership to sketch out a balance between the science and the art of the field. The text illustrates how performance and practice represent the art, while the delineation of the skills and conceptual models represent the science.

Many new approaches to school improvement are being proposed in the current climate of assessment and school accountability. This book explores one of these approaches, a new model of leadership training known as Learner-Centered Leadership (LCL). It is built around the fundamental idea that learning and learning communities are natural processes that, when properly harnessed, can lead to the highest levels of professional engagement and problem solving. Key features of this exciting new approach to school leadership include the following: Broad-based and Generative—The book’s narratives vividly illustrate the extraordinary ability of LCL to generate new approaches to leadership development. For example, encouraging and assisting school leaders to reflect on their own leadership attributes relative to the implementation of the school mission to ensure high teacher efficacy and student learning. In this respect the volume contributes significantly to the field of school leadership and professional development by extending above and beyond a narrow focus on instructional leadership. Practice Oriented—By creating communities that encourage conversation and analysis the new data-driven models of school improvement are more likely to be successfully implemented. Without analytical discourse, the process of interpreting school data and transforming it into practice would be largely lost. Conceptually Appropriate—The realization that everyone within a school (students, teachers, administrators) belongs to the same learning community minimizes status differences and encourages teamwork. The LCL administrator is much less likely to be authoritarian and power-oriented and much more likely to be transformative and student outcome focused. This book is appropriate for master’s level courses and certification seminars, and for inservice workshops dealing with school leadership.