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Globalization provides rich opportunities to educational administration professors for teach and learn. This position paper explores globalization realities and role options for educational leadership professors: (1) to understand globalization implications for education, (2) collaborate at multiple levels with like minded educational experts, and (3) to engage in international program offerings. Educational leadership is an agent of reform on a global rather than national scale. Preparation and career-long development of school leaders throughout the world are integral to the well being of societies everywhere (English, Papa, Mullen, & Creighton, 2012). The American knowledge base on educational leadership is valued worldwide and American educational leadership scholars have rich opportunities to engage in processes of creating future school leaders capable of addressing challenges of globalization.

This assessment is designed as part of a graduate level principal preparation program in the area of supervision and evaluation of teachers. The assessment has been approved by NCATE as meeting all of the stipulated ELCC standards for which it is designed (ELCC 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 3.3, 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3). The purpose of the assessment is for students to demonstrate understanding of alternatives (from clinical supervision) methods of professional growth for teachers. The assessment is in two parts; the first part is completed in a small group setting where each group presents a proposed (district level) Professional Growth Plan that they develop to the graduate class. The second part of the assessment is an individual implementation plan to apply leadership knowledge and skills to a district they know well. Students are required to make connections between the Professional Growth Plan and the development of a learning community, to identify potential resistance to the plan, proactive measures to reduce resistance, and personal reflection upon professional skills necessary in order to successfully implement the plan.

This manuscript reports results from two open-ended questions from a larger descriptive study that sought to gather perceptions from practicing Illinois superintendents on coursework and other program characteristics in superintendent preparation programs. The study surveyed all Illinois superintendents (873 districts) using an online survey. We asked superintendents two open-ended questions about the knowledge and skills that should be included in superintendent preparation programs and what advice they might offer professors of educational administration to improve superintendent preparation programs. Responses to the first question essentially aligned with national standards for school leadership preparation. When asked to provide advice to superintendent preparation programs, practicing superintendents stated the importance of program relevancy to rapidly changing and challenging school district environments. Respondents provided important insights into moral leadership, political acumen, university faculty credibility, and characteristics of learning experiences. The most often mentioned learning experience was the internship. No respondent reported his or her internship experience had been too rigorous. (Contains 1 table.)

The purpose of this study was to analyze changes made to the design of a principal preparation internship. The study is based in part upon findings of a previous study on internship practices in Illinois administrator preparation programs (Tripses, Philhower, Halverson, Noe, & Morford, 2005) which found discrepancies in the design of internship programs based upon the state standards for principal preparation programs. Revisions were based upon a review of the current literature and faculty analysis of student performance under the previous internship design. Revisions involved clarification of expectations for students through the design of the internship, creation of effective assessments connected to these expectations, and finally employing sound instructional pedagogies to create the kind of leaders American society deserves.

This article describes the authors' journey as three educational leadership professors implementing a program to improve teaching for social justice. The social change agents they seek to nurture in their graduate program are individuals who are keenly aware of inequities in society and possess the knowledge, skills, and will to make a difference in the lives of others. They expect graduates of their program to be motivated by the moral purpose of their work and to regard the policies and rules of organizations to exist to serve the needs of students and families. Graduates become credible school leaders through multiple opportunities in the programs to develop congruence between values and behavior and to have the interpersonal, managerial, and leadership skills that result in efficient schools that are also responsive learning communities. Early in the graduate program, students are required to take a course entitled Legal and Social Change. The culminating assignment in the course, the Social Change Agent paper, requires students to apply what they have learned about poverty and equity to their personal and professional practice. Revisions described in this article are based on a study that analyzed student papers to understand the processes by which students develop their capacities as social change agents. (Contains 1 table.)

Female administrators in comprehensive research universities were surveyed to gain their perceptions on their mentoring experiences. The females affirmed they had informal mentors in roles of sponsor, counselor, coach, and teacher, and they are also mentoring others. The findings both confirmed and contradicted former studies on females in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]