NASSP Bulletin

The purpose of this study is to identify different types of school leadership as perceived by teachers and to test the extent that these types predict teacher retention. School leadership varies by perception, context, and may influence a teacher’s decision to leave their current school or the profession. Four statistically different types of leadership were found using teachers’ perceptions of principal and shared leadership behaviors. Teachers who perceived less principal leadership were more likely to leave their school. Teachers who reported more frequent principal and shared leadership were more likely to stay in their current school the following year.

School-based management (SBM) remains a “hot topic” in educational circles. This article explores the reality of SBM internationally. It focusses on the perceptions of selected Australian public secondary principals who reflect on the drivers and impediments affecting their capacity to lead school-based innovation. While broadly supportive of SBM, the participants indicated that authority to make effective local decisions was ambiguous and inhibiting in the face of the managing system’s policies, procedures, and supervisory processes.

To examine the relationships between principal time use, race, and teacher perceptions of their school and principal, this study analyzes data from the 2015-2016 NCES National Teacher and Principal Surveys. Data from 31,950 teachers and 5,710 principals were analyzed using ordinal logistic regressions while controlling for principal time use in curricular tasks, student interactions, administrative tasks, parent interactions as well as principal and student population race. Significant findings include that teacher perceptions of their school and principal were significantly related to the racial composition of their school’s student body and/or the principal’s race, but not to principal time use. Implications and recommendations for researchers and school leaders are offered.

Despite increasing animal prevalence in public spaces, few districts have proactively developed policies to integrate assistance, therapy, service, and emotional support animals that are both legally sound and support the needs of individual students. Federal legislation defines a variety of animals that could accompany students, but only those trained to perform a specific disability-related task are considered service animals. Policy development to address the increasing prevalence of service animals on school campuses has not been widely examined. This article uses standard legal analysis to gather data from court rulings in the United States; uses secondary sources such as peer-reviewed journals, special education journals, and professional organizations; and provides recommendations on how to develop a sound service animal policy and procedures.