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To Saran's mama, Maggie Shaw, and Richard's loving wife, Margo; we are very grateful for your sacrifice and dedication. We greatly appreciate your unwavering support and encouragement.

Today, the public schools are in crisis with various sectors of society questioning their performance and ability to provide the quality of education needed to maintain our nation's pre-eminence in the world economy. We organized the book into three sections, which examine the complex issue of public education and suggest that increasing the role teachers and others play in delivering public education will enhance and improve schools. The first section focuses on the academic processes prospective school leaders must go through before entering an administrative position. Chapters in this section discuss issues such as those who train, hire, and aspire to become school leaders. The second section examines issues affecting administrators while serving in the role of school leader. Topics discussed include using community cultural values to create a positive school climate and environment, various issues affecting teacher leadership, and the politics of school administration. The final section of the book encourages both active and potential school leaders to re-examine themselves as leaders and encourages practitioners to consider their perspective on school administration and their rise to the position.

Issued in 2005, the Levine report challenges the current way that colleges and universities prepare pre-service administrators to lead elementary and secondary schools. The reforms recommended by the report include shifting attention away from educational research in favor of a more practical focus. Although we support the idea of making school leadership programs more practice-oriented, we disagree with the suggestion that students receive little or no research training. This chapter discusses how learning and conducting educational research can benefit those preparing to lead schools in the educational environment of the 21st century.

College is a time of transition and growth for students and their families. Often, college serves as the first foray into adulthood for young adults who leave home and make decisions on their own for the first time. As part of this process, many students encounter new experiences that can either challenge or strengthen their spiritual and other beliefs. Faced with such events, some students turn to churches near their colleges and universities for guidance in this area.

Sadegül Akbaba-Altun, PhD, EdD, is currently an associate professor of Educational Administration at Baskent University, Faculty of Education in Turkey. Dr. Akbaba-Altun's educational background includes a BSc in Guidance and Counseling and an MSc in Educational Administration and Supervision, both from METU; a PhD in Institute of Social Sciences with an emphasis on Educational Administration and Supervision from Ankara University; and an EdD in Curriculum and Instruction with the emphasis on Elementary Education from the University of Cincinnati. Her research areas include Chaos Theory, Leadership, Integrating Computer Technologies Into Education, and Supervision.

Under increasing pressure to reform low performing schools and improve the test scores of all students, many states have turned to school takeovers as way of bringing about radical reform. Although it has been more than a decade since the first state sponsored school takeover occurred, this reform strategy has yet to be proven effective. This article begins with a brief description of school takeovers. This is followed by a critical analysis of how school takeovers were constructed by, carried out in and the lasting impact on school districts in Logan County, West Virginia; Newark, New Jersey and Compton, California.

To benefit from reflective and reflexive actions there is a need to contrast these terms to understand each one. Each term is linked to self-development. For instance, to be reflexive is to self-examine, to consider your internal conversation, and use this voice to guide, support, and enhance your work. Reflexivity is linked to introspection and the moment of action. Reflection is the act of looking upon the action after it has passed. The term reflexivity is less common yet there are several forms of reflexivity. Becoming aware helps all of us to make sense of their own reflexivity and reflections.

The rise of managerialism in the 1990s entrenched bureaucratic practices as core education and training for educational administrators. As the educational divide between those who achieve and those who fall short continues to problematize the success of educational reforms, the work of administrators becomes critical to review. The current challenge for educational administration is to provide an environment that genuinely serves the interests of complex diversity and social justice in education systems by building the frameworks that respects differences, protects the weak, and regulates the strong. By taking a more prosocial stance with issues relating to cultural diversity, equity, and democracy, educational administration can transform society, the school, and the classroom, through humanistic and interpretive management practices, and influencing pedagogy, curriculum, educator training, and the socio-political system.

This chapter is on teacher leadership and how principals can improve schools by increasing the role teacher's play in school operations. The author maintains that principals and teachers must work together if schools are to achieve higher levels of student performance, especially those who serve high concentrations of minority students. Various leadership theories are presented, as well as recommendations of how principals and teachers can work together to enhance the leadership abilities of both.