Leadership in Empowered Schools: Themes from Innovative Efforts

The revision of this popular text examines the important issues of educational leadership that relate to today's movement towards restructuring and creating empowering environments for teachers and their students. To better understand how to build empowering environments in schools, it examines two national studies conducted over six years in 26 schools. This body of research provides an empirical framework that is used to draw conclusions about leadership in schools striving to provide an empowering environment.

Paula M. Short is Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs for the University of Missouri System and Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She received the Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Supervision from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has served as a teacher and administrator at the building, district, and state levels of K-12 education and has been in higher education for 16 years. She is the recipient of the 1993 Jack Culbertson Award, given nationally to a junior professor for outstanding contributions in educational administration research, and the 1993 Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Distinguished Service Award for her contributions to the NASSP Assessment Center Project. Paula is Past President of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration, and the Southern Regional Council for Educational Administration.

Paula served five years as editor of the Journal of School Leadership, is series editor of the School Leaders Library published by Technomic Publishing Company, and serves on the editorial board of Educational Administration Quarterly. She served as a member of the American Association of School Administrators National Commission on Standards for the Superintendency and the Council of 55 that developed the publication Preparing Students for the 21st Century and has served two terms as a member of the National Policy Board for Educational Administration. Paula has published five books, four book chapters, and more than 60 scholarly journal articles on leadership, empowerment, collaboration, and organizational change. Her teaching and research interests include empowerment, collaboration in higher education, organizational change, and leadership.

John T. (Jack) Greer was Professor of Educational Policy Studies at Georgia State University. After serving as a teacher and administrator in public schools, he joined the faculties of the University of Arizona and the University of Nebraska. Jack served as the President of the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA), President of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), Chair for the Southern Regional Conference of Professors of Educational Administration, and Chair of the Latin American Committee of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. He served on the editorial board of Educational Administration Quarterly. Jack's untimely death was a tremendous loss to the field of educational administration. His interest in empowerment and the autonomous school had a profound effect on the research reported in this book. He is deeply missed by students, colleagues, and friends.