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School Leadership News, Fall 2008 1

School Leadership NewsThe Newsletter of AERA Division A: Administration, Organization, & Leadership

Issue 22 Fall 2008

The American EducationalResearch Association (AERA),

a professional membershiporganization, strives to

improve the educationalprocess by encouraging

scholarly inquiry related to

education. AERA offers acomprehensive program of

scholarly publications,training, fellowships, and

meetings to advance

educational research, todisseminate knowledge, andto improve the capacity ofthe profession to enhance

the public good. Division A ofAERA is devoted to furthering

the aims of the organizationthrough scholarly contributionin the areas of educational

administration, organization,and leadership.

In this Issue:

Vice Presidents

Column.............................1

Special Feature: Interview

with Thomas

Sergiovanni...............3

AERA Division A

Outstanding Dissertation

Award......7

Listening to Leaders:

Interview with Gerald

Zahorchak.................8

Graduate Students at

UCEA.................11

AERA Division A Graduate

Student Scholarship12

Knock Down Old Walls byJohn Hoyle13

Announcements.15

IJLE Emerging Scholar

Competition.17

Globalization and

Leadership18

From the Editorial

Team...............................26

Division A Officers..........27

Vice Presidents Column

Linda C. Tillman, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream

and the hope of the slave.

Convention in Orlando, FL very soon. The conference will

feature many informative sessions including a graduate

student poster session and several town hall meetings.

As I mentioned in the last newsletter, Division A will collaborate

with the UCEA Diversity Committee to hold an Early CareerMentoring workshop for pre-tenure faculty of color at this

years meeting. Pre-tenure scholars of color interested in

attending this workshop should bookmark the followingsession:

*Scholars of Color: Early Career Mentoring Seminar, Session

#35, Friday October 30, 8 a.m.- 9:20 a.m., Ireland B.

Division A Graduate Students

I would like to take this opportunity highlight the work of our

Division A graduate student leaders. As you know, graduate

students make up a significant segment of the membership of

AERA and Division A and have full voting privileges. Division A

graduate students are making significant leadershipcontributions to the organization and to the Division.

John Oliver (Michigan State University) is chair of the AERA

Graduate Student Council and is also a member of the AERA

Council. In his dual roles John coordinates the policies and

procedures of the Graduate Student Council, works with the

Graduate Student Representatives in all twelve of the AERAdivisions, represents these students on the AERA Council, and

Greetings and I hope that you are all arehaving a productive fall semester!

UCEA Annual Meeting

It hardly seems possible, but many of us willbe attending the University Council for

Educational Administration Annual

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Vice Presidents Column (continued)

participates in the governance of AERA. John has been an effective leader in

representing the interests of all graduate students. I am especially proud that he is

member of Division A!

Danielle Hayes (University of Texas-Austin) is the Division A Senior Graduate StudentCouncil Representative. Danielle attends the AERA Coordinated Committee

Meeting, sits on the AERA Graduate Student Council, and confers with other Council

representatives about graduate student programming. Danielle also plans the

Division A graduate student activities. She is assisted by the Division A Junior

Graduate Student Representative, Tirza White (Emory University). Tirza is responsible

for coordinating the Division A graduate student scholarship selection process andassists with the planning of the AERA Division A Fireside Chat. She will become the

Senior Representative at the end of the 2009 AERA Annual Meeting. Danielle and

Tirza have been very instrumental in planning Division A activities at the UCEA Annual

Meeting. I especially proud that Danielle and Tirza are also members of Division A!

I would also like to acknowledge the leadership of the Division L Graduate Student

Representatives Maria Mendiburo (Senior Representative, Vanderbilt University) and

Bradley Carpenter (Junior Representative, University of Texas-Austin). Maria and

Bradley have worked collaboratively with Danielle and Tirza to make sure that

graduate students in Divisions A and L feel welcome at the UCEA and AERA

meetings, and to plan graduate student activities at the UCEA conference. Each of

these students, as well as other graduate students in Division A who serve on

standing and ad hoc committees, have exhibited the kind of leadership that we

hope will help to shape the leadership skills they will need as professors and

practitioners.

The leadership efforts and enthusiasm of our graduate students reminds us that wemust continue to nurture and encourage them during their graduate work. We must

be sure to provide graduate students with quality and consistent advising, provide

them with opportunities for collaboration (research and writing, conference

presentations) and networking, assist them with career preparation, and be

committed to their success regardless of their race, class, gender, sexual orientation,disability, or theoretical or methodological orientations. Our graduate students are

the future of educational leadership. Please encourage your graduate students to

become active in Division A.

Closing notes.

Please be sure to consult the AERA website and Educational Researcherfor newsand updates on policies, procedures, and happenings in the organization. If you

have any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to email me.

Finally, please let us know what is happening with you and about any innovative

programs or research projects. You can always post your announcement on the

Division A listserve at aera.net.

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Thomas Sergiovanni

An Interview with an Exceptional Scholar in Education: Part 4

Carol A. Mullen, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

[email protected]

The subject of this leadership portrait is Thomas Sergiovanni of Trinity University, SanAntonio, Texas. Sergiovanni is the Lillian Radford Distinguished Professor of Education

and Administration at Trinity; senior fellow, Center for Educational Leadership; and

founding director, Trinity Principals Center. His educational and supervisory focus is

theories of schooling, moral leadership, and the learning community. He earned an

EdD in educational administration from the University of Rochester in 1966 and has

been at Trinity University since 1984. During the 1960s he also taught elementary

school. Notable awards include the Distinguished Research Award in Instructional

Supervision, AERA, 1993, and the Outstanding Leadership Award, 19752000, Council

of Professors of Instructional Supervision. Since 1969 he has published numerous

scholarly books.

His scholarly work and life habits, direction and aspirations, assessment of

trends in the profession, and advice for aspiring leaders and academics are the

structural elements of this report. Democratic concepts and agendas for education

emerged from the interview. Verbatim quotes reflect the words of Sergiovanni in the

first section and of his referral colleagues in the one that follows. In spring 2005 I

interviewed Sergiovanni and his colleagues who corroborated the accounts, without

knowledge of the scholars reactions. This interview is part of a biographical

portraiture study of exceptional scholars in education. Past issues of this newsletter

have featured interviews with other top scholars.1 Specifics regarding issues of

research design, protocols, procedures, and analysis can be found in the formative

(Mullen, 2004) and summative (Mullen, in press2) publications.

Thomas SergiovanniShepherd

Sergiovanni, described as a shepherd by educational leadership professors

nationwide, exercises spiritual care over a community.3 His concepts of school

community, moral leadership, and school improvement have been adopted

worldwide.

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Work as Play: Habits and Routines

For years, Sergiovannis workweek has had a fluid, even unpredictable

quality. Although he would like to write mornings, he has had to make time when he

can. He has less free time now, as his work responsibilities have increased. Hence, his

writing schedule is somewhat scattered. Nonetheless, he was busy completing the

eighth edition of Supervision: A Redefinition (Sergiovanni & Starratt, 2006) and other

more recent projects.School Community: Energy and Purpose

Sergiovanni detailed several life-changing experiences that occurred years

ago. One resulted from his talk given in the Philippines, where someones question

about what he meant by effectiveness touched him emotionally. The de facto

definition of effectiveness (and effective schools) that he held until then erupted as

a sore spot. New thinking about the life world of leadership started to form. Usingas a compass what successful leaders deem important in their work, he came to

distinguish effective from good schools. Effective schools get the right rating based

on the states accountability tests, whereas good schools provide a distinctive

normative structure that supports teaching and learning (Sergiovanni, 2000, pp. 94

95).

After the overseas episode, Sergiovanni turned to principals and

superintendents for help with exploring the gap between what I thought

educational administration was about and what those who work in and around

schools every day think its about. A breakthrough occurred upon realizing that

school leaders were morally oriented, connected to a sense of purpose and feeling

of responsibility. Grasping these new ideas put him on the paththat experience,

that trip to the Philippines, andMoral Leadership [1992] changed my life.

Another transformational experience occurred during Sergiovannis work with

a group of aspiring leaders. An impromptu exercise revealed that not all

organizations are formal and that even families are social organizations. He

recognized the richness of this insight for the field wherein the use of formal

organization as a guide for leadership theory and practice misdirected educatorsand their democratic impulses, causing them to lead with the wrong assumptions.

Moral Leadership: Sources of Contribution

Moral leadership was not previously safe to explore. When Sergiovanni

began writing about this area, it was not yet acceptable to say moral. The

leadership culture of the past was simply not a world wherein sacred things ormoral obligation and other fuzzy concepts that have religious overtones were

discussed. The goal then was to develop a scientific field but Sergiovanni followed

his own path, seeing the value of schools as social organizations.

Inspired by Etzionis (1988) The Moral Dimension, Sergiovanni (1992) infused

the concept of social organization with the new language of morality. Writing about

the value of purposes as covenant, not contract, he applied this idea within

schools. In one exercise he devised, adults and children created posters listingpromises to one another. A group that functions according to its own covenants can

transcend the authoritarianism of rule enforcers. Hence, collective promises

become a source of authority, binding people in moral ways.

Processes involved in site-based capacity-building fascinate Sergiovanni.

Educators have yet to emphasize the smart school and recognize that smarter

teachers are more effective. Building on Elmores (2004) distinction between learning

as a private and public good, he argued that the extent to which teachers share

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their new knowledge is unknown. Teachers in smart schools develop a community

of practice and share what they know.Strengthening the Field: Major Trends

Sergiovanni characterized the educational leadership field as having several

generative trends that are changing our practices for the better. He feels that

theres hopesome people are expanding themselves and hooking onto

important ideas. Regarding trends in school leadership, he encourages those whotake his classes to work in the area of social organization.

This scholar urges us to identify what is individually and collectively important,

advising that we become more deliberate by knowing what were about and what

we believe in, and by selecting more carefully from among ideas. About the

attacks on educational administration from Arthur Levine and others, he thinks we

need to learn from these pin cushions.Students as Inquirers: Advice for Budding Academics

All doctoral students should be introduced to the notion of lines of inquiry: If

you want to have a research career, your work needs to be coherent. Academics

shift from one topic to another, making it hard to build a profession. In order to

build piece on piece all the way through, faculty will need to work differently. One

idea is to replace the traditional supervisory relationship with a multiteam,

collaborative approach wherein faculty join forces to mentor.

Committing to Commitment: Aspiring Leaders and Academics

Sergiovanni believes that while the job of principal is worthwhile, certain

conditions must be met for success. Exemplary leaders share the principals role

with everyone in the school, understanding that the collective has a responsibility

for making the principalship work. A goal for principals, then, is to figure out how to

develop collective responsibility.

For the sake of promotion, junior faculty must develop a rather narrow

agenda. Impact, Sergiovanni reflected, is covert; it is difficult to know the extent to

which our efforts change anything. Budding academics will need to know whats

important to them and to successful leaders, so they should share their work withthem to see if it passes the practitioner test.

Highlights From Sergiovannis Referrals

Sergiovannis referrals are distinguished professors, both former school

administrators interested in site-based change who worked with him for about 7

years.4 In fact, the retired superintendent found Sergiovanni to be such an inspirationthat he made a career change.

In contrast with Sergiovannis portrayal of his scholarly regimen as

unpredictable and sporadic, he was appreciated for modeling just the opposite:

Tom has a laser-like focus and is protective of his time. Not surprisingly, he keeps

regenerating as teacher and writer.

Sergiovanni has established a good balance between his work and life.

With an engaging, relaxed style, Tom develops a personal relationship withstudents, finding mentoring enormously rewarding. The belief that social

organizations are a type of family through which moral leadership is expressed

shapes his teaching: Toms the high priest of education, it was concluded, with a

lifetime commitment to education and a personal touch. His students become

Sergiovannied, in that he changes their perspectives, making a genuine

impact.

These professors have themselves internalized Sergiovannis teachings: He

walks his talk, practicing the personal leadership he writes about. The one who left

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the superintendency pursued, under his wing, new learning; the other strove to

capture moral dimensions of school leadership in ways that engaged students.

Central to the scholars vision of moral leadership is the notion that people,

relationships, and community are at the center of democratic practice.

While we do not know for sure if Sergiovanni would in fact define himself as a

teacher first, he did associate significance with high-quality, lasting contributions

to teaching.Scholarly Ideas and Productivity Tips

Based on the stories narrated by Thomas Sergiovanni and his referral

colleagues, in addition to the other top leadersJohn Goodlad, John Hoyle, and

Joseph Murphy and their colleagues about the driving forces behind exceptional

leadershipthe following tenets might serve junior faculty in their work.

Focus on schools and school improvement, and integrate your practical andtheoretical learning in your research, teaching, and service.

Develop a focused agenda, write routinely, and work hard for a sustainedperiodselect issues for which you have a passion.

Collaborate with scholars, practitioners, and students on coauthored worksand shared research programs, and develop your capacity for working

alone. Be active in professional associations and on the national and local scene,

but find a way to compensate for the time you spend away from your desk.

Endnotes1Each of the four interview reports is an adaptation of the larger study (see Mullen, 2006; in press).2NCPEA Connexions (www.cnx.org) is an online clearinghouse for educational leadership

materials/modules; submitted manuscripts are externally reviewed even though this is not a

journal, meaning that published articles can be submitted elsewhere for review and publication.3The source of the definitions (i.e., shepherd) provided is http://dictionary.reference.com.4Non-identifiers are used for the referral colleagues.

References

Mullen, C. A. (in press). Exceptional scholarship and democratic agendas: Interviews

with John Goodlad, John Hoyle, Joseph Murphy, and Thomas Sergiovanni.Interchange: A Quarterly Review of Education.

Mullen, C. A. (2004). Perceptions within the discipline: Exceptional scholarship in

educational leadership and administration. NCPEA Education Leadership

Review, 5(1), 8-15. [Republished/refereed again. (2006, June). NCPEAConnexions. Connexions module (m13677) (available atwww.cnx.org; search

term Mullen).

Sergiovanni, T. J. (1992).Moral leadership: Getting to the heart of school

improvement. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Sergiovanni, T. J. (2000). The lifeworld of leadership: Creating culture, community,

and personal meaning in our schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Sergiovanni, T. J., & Starratt, R. J. (2006). Supervision: A redefinition (8th ed.). New

York: McGraw-Hill.

Editors note: This interview with Thomas Sergiovanni is the forth (and final) in a series

of interviews with acclaimed educational leaders conducted by Carol Mullen, The

University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Past issues of School Leadership News

have featured the other three interviews.

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AERA Division A

2009 Outstanding Dissertation Competition

Nominations are invited for the annual American Educational Research Association

(AERA) Division A competition for the best doctoral dissertation in the field of educational

administration. This award is intended to recognize outstanding dissertation research

appropriate to the field, including the organization and administration of schools and the

work and preparation of school leaders. Studies embracing both traditional and

alternative conceptualizations and methodologies are welcomed. The Committee will

consider work completed and accepted by the entrants dissertation committee

between Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2008.

This year, a $200 honorarium will be given to the recipient of this award in addition to

formal recognition at the 2009 AERA Division A Business Meeting. In the event that two (or

more) recipients are selected for this award, the honorarium will be divided equally.

Evaluation Criteria

1. Significance and clarity of problem and/or investigation.2. Effective conceptualization and development of research questions.3. Quality of review pertaining to relevant theoretical and research literatures.4. Appropriateness and rigor of research design and methodology.5. Clarity of findings/results.6. Appropriate explanation of research impact for theory, policy, practice, and further

research.

7. Quality and clarity of writing.Submission and Selection Procedures

All submissions must be made by active, dues-paying, members of AERA. In addition,

nominees must also be members of AERAboth at the time of nomination and when the

award is announced at the 2009 Division A Business meeting (please visit the AERA

website, www.aera.net, for membership information). All submissions must be sent via e-

mail by 8pm (EST) on December 1, 2008. Incomplete or late submissions will not be

reviewed. No faxes or paper submissions will be accepted.

The following information should be in separatebut attachedfiles:

1. A copy of the complete dissertation, in Word or PDF format, using 12 point font. Thismust be double spaced.

2. A seven-page double-spaced abstract (in MS Word or PDF format, 12-point font) thatprovides a concise overview of the problem, design, findings, and interpretations.

Abstracts longer than seven pages will not be reviewed.

3. Complete mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone number of author.4. A letter from the dissertation chair confirming the date of the authors successful

defense.

5. An endorsement letter from a Division A member (this can be but does not have tobe the dissertation chair) familiar with the entrants work.

After reviewing and scoring the abstracts and supporting materials, the Committee will

select no more than four finalists. The dissertations that accompany these abstracts then

will be forwarded to the Committee for full review. The Committee expects to completeits selection of one award and two honorable mentions by the end of January 2009. The

Committee reserves the right to award to more than one recipient, and conversely, not

to select a recipient for this award.

Send submissions to:

George Theoharis, AERA Division A Awards Committee Chair

[email protected]

Phone: 315-443-5271

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Listening to Leaders:

Gerald L. Zahorchak on Research-Proven Educational Programs

Interviewed by Theresa C. Norton, Beth Buckheit, Johns Hopkins University, School of

Education, Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education

[email protected]

Dr. Gerald L. Zahorchak has served as Secretary of

Education for the State of Pennsylvania since 2006. Prior

to his nomination, Dr. Zahorchak served as Deputy

Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education

where he was responsible for the education of more

than 1.8 million school children in the Commonwealth.

The Best Evidence Encyclopedia (BEE)

(www.bestevidence.org) (developed by Johns Hopkins

University) interviewed Dr. Zahorchak about his

experience with using research-proven approaches to

improving student achievement. Following is an

excerpt from that interview. The full interview transcriptcan be found on the BEE website.

Certainly educators are always trying to improve student achievement. Would you

talk about some examples where there have been activities to improve efforts in

your state using real evidence?

What were doing falls into three categories: were investing, were building, and

were supporting those people who are building. First of all, were investing. We now

have in this years legislative under the school code, a law that includes the targets

per district. We have the unique dollar amounts per student, per district. We know

how much of the money is due from the state for that district to get to its full

capacity. For us, capacity is defined simply as having enough personnel (especially

teachers), having enough resources and materials, and having enough funds toemploy research-proven programs that are sustainable and based on proven

practices through good, professional development.

In addition to investing, what building are you doing to increase student

achievement?

To get the student results, were building a standards aligned system. From the state

level on down, we want our standards to be clearly and vertically aligned from pre-

kindergarten to 12th grade. We want to identify the standards and the vital fewthings that should make up the curriculum framework. So, standards are aligned to

a curriculum framework, aligned to assessment systems, aligned to best teaching

practices pedagogy and emotional support practices, aligned to proven research

materials and resources, aligned to best interventions for accommodations forchildren who struggle. Those are the six component parts.

One statewide practice thats research proven for mathematics, that is also in the

Presidents Advisory Panel and the National Council of Teachers, is cooperative

learning. Cooperative learning teaching strategies lead to best results when theyre

done with great fidelity. In mathematics, were systematically rolling out some of the

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macro teaching strategies for formative assessment as part of what were callingPennsylvanias Power Math approach. Weve developed the Power Math approach

in partnership with the Johns Hopkins University School of Education based on the

Best Evidence Encyclopedias best evidence on what yields effective math results.

Would you talk more about your approach to assessments?

Were doing assessments at three levels. First, were doing assessments at the

formative level. For example, I may have five hinge questions that make sure I knowthat every kid is getting the competency or concept that were dwelling on in

todays lesson. Ive engineered the questions against the states framework.

Above that is a second layer. The school needs to have teacher, diagnostic, and

benchmark assessments (benchmarked against the summit of assessments from the

state). We use something that again came out of our partnership with Johns Hopkins

University. We use the 4Sight Assessments that are congruently valid here in

Pennsylvania against our Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA). Three

hundred and ten districts collect data and compare their end results with these

benchmarks.

To help us analyze the data, were partnering with Johns Hopkins University School of

Educations Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education, the Pennsylvania Value-

Added Assessment System (PVAAS), and a Tennessee value-added model

organization.

Were using those partners with our regional service providers intermediate units.

Were teaching principals, teachers, intermediate units, and each other to use the

data. There are ways to really analyze this data to find a systems weaknesses or

individual student problems. For example, we can use the data to perform root

cause analysis to really find out if its a system problem with one of those six

component parts at the three levels (school, classroom, or state) or if its a problem

just unique to that individual child.

Would you talk about what this all means at the classroom level?

All parts of a standards aligned system are important and equal, but the biggest

part, in my view, is what goes on at the classroom level. For instance, whatpedagogical tools, emotional support tools, and formative assessment tools does the

teacher have? Rolling that out in a very coherent way is what were trying to do.

We want to pick the vital few strategies for helping kids know how to think positively

(emotional support), how to have responsive classrooms and routines in the building

(emotional social context), and how to do the motivation of engagement with thepower teaching cooperative learning kind of work (the pedagogy). When we do

those kinds of things, were giving teachers the capacity inside their classrooms for

every child to win.

As you have implemented your research-proven approach, where have you seen

real improvement in student achievement?

Weve seen it across the board. When we started, we had somewhere around 50%

of the kids reach proficiency in all third grades. Were about to announce in August

that this year [2008], 80% of our third grades are proficient. In the eighth grade, we

have proficiency in the mid-to-high 70s in math.

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Where we see individual successes, we can pull out schools that started to employthe effective strategies. I can pull out a school in western Pennsylvania that had 9%

of their children with disabilities make proficiency and now theyre at 45%. The Power

Teaching experience for Furness High School is a story all unto itself. They have Power

Teaching as a math experience and are having success. Its really a project that

was designed for middle school, but as were testing it, were finding that high

schools need to understand more pedagogy and emotional support strategies, as

well as engagement strategies, for kids. We went with Furness High School inPhiladelphia and the environmental turnaround was incredible. There are pockets of

schools all over PA that are doing Power Teaching, and theyre all showing evidence

of turnaround.

If you look at our progress in closing the achievement gap, weve tripled the number

of kids with disabilities in PA who are making proficient scores and weve doubled

just about every other group. That number grows every year.

Do you have any advice for other states that would want to take a similar approach

with blueprinting new architecture and creating a standards aligned system?

First of all, understand it. It may take multiple repetitions before you have an aha

moment. Understand the thinking of a standards-based system and understand that

it is an antithesis of a bell curve world. Once you have that value, you can embrace

the idea that all kids can get to a level of proficiency. Were not talking about

everybody slam dunking or bowling 300 games, were talking about levels ofproficiency in math, science, social studies, and communicative skills across the 21 st

century dimensions.

When we understand that all kids can get to a level that we would say is

competitive, a level that can take them to high cognitive skills jobs or even expert

jobs, weve placed our values first. If any, I think my advice would be to those

around the country, if you find someone without those values, think about whos

driving your bus.

Announcing publication of the

SAGE Handbook of African American Education

Edited by Dr. Linda C. Tillman, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

The Handbook of African American Education reflects historical and current perspectives

on African Americans in secondary and post-secondary education. Its content promotes

inquiry and development of questions, ideas and dialogue about critical practice,

theory, and research about African Americans in the United States educational system.

The Handbookserves as a comprehensive collection of scholarship that presentstheoretical and empirical work on historical perspectives, teaching and learning,

secondary school leadership, higher education, current issues, and education policy. This

comprehensive body of work will also make significant contributions to the scholarship

on African Americans in the broad context of United States education and society.

Learn more about this title at:

http://www.sagepub.co.uk/refbooksProdDesc.nav?level1=300&currTree=Subjects&prodI

d=Book229131

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Graduate Student events at UCEA

Graduate Student Orientation- Thursday, October 30th at 1:00pmGraduate Student Job Search Seminar Thursday, October 30th at

3:00 pm. Both sessions will be held in Scotland suite B.

Graduate Student Reception: An Evening with the Scholars- Friday,

October 31st at 6:30pm in Scotland B/C. Co-sponsored by UCEA,and AERA Divisions A and L. This event will afford graduate students

an opportunity to hear from outstanding scholars in educationalleadership.

Saturday morningsAERA Division A and L Graduate Breakfast is inits third year and continues to serve as a networking event for

graduate students interested in learning about the American

Educational Research Association (AERA), the largest, mostrecognized association in the field of education research. At over15,000 in annual attendance, graduate students will learn aboutvarious leadership and research affiliated positions in addition to

receiving useful strategies for making the most out of attending theconference. We thank the University of Texas Department of

Educational Administration, chaired by Dr. Walter Bumphus for co-sponsorship of this event.

For more detailed information on these and other graduate related

event at UCEA, please see the convention program online at:

http://www.ucea.org/convention/convention2008/program.html

AERA Division A member on the move!

Recent moves for members during the 2007-2008 academic year include:

Pauline Stonehouse, Ph.D., joins the Department of Educational

Leadership at the University of North Dakota. Prior to completing herdoctorate and making the career shift to higher education, Dr.Stonehouse served as an Assistant Head-Teacher at The Priory School in

Dorking, Surrey. Her research interests and teaching responsibilities are inthe area of teacher evaluation and curriculum.

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AERA Division A Graduate Student Scholarship

All applications must be received electronically by January 30, 2009.

Email completed applications to Tirza Wilbon White at [email protected].

Purpose

The purpose of this scholarship is to recognize and promote scholarly excellence in

aspiring doctoral students who are members of Division A and who are enrolled in aneducational administration/school leadership program.

Award

Awardees will receive $300 to assist with expenses related to attending the AERA

annual meeting in April 2009 in San Diego, CA.

Criteria for Eligibility Applicants must be members of AERA Division A at the time of submission. Applicants must be current graduate students. Annual dues for membership to AERA and Division A must be current. Paper must be single authorship and accepted for presentation in any

section of Division A at the AERA annual meeting in April 2009 (San Diego,CA).

Awardees are expected to attend the Division A Business Meeting to receivethe award.

Application should include:

A letter of support from your graduate advisor (this can be signed with anelectronic signature or submitted as a PDF)

Completed application form Electronic copy of accepted proposal (not to exceed 6 pages) Electronic copy of notification of acceptance from AERANOTE: No incomplete application packages will be reviewed.

Evaluation Criteria

Contribution to the Field - Importance of the problem studied to the field ofeducational administration/school leadership

Theoretical Framework - How well the theoretical framework is supported andexplained in the paper

Research Design How appropriate and sound are the design and itsexecution in the paper

Quality of Literature Review- How well the paper is grounded in relevantliterature

Originality of the Topic of InvestigationScholarship Review Process

A panel of individuals on the Division A Graduate Student Committee willreview the scholarship applications.

Applicants will be notified of the award recipients via email by February 27,2009.

Questions? Contact Tirza Wilbon White, Division A Junior Graduate Student

Representative

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It is Time Knock down Old Walls and Create a Single Education System

John R. Hoyle

Professor of Educational Administration and Future StudiesTexas A&M University

Our education system has been the foundation for Americas greatness, but in 2008it is failing to educate millions of our children and youth. Patchwork reforms without

financial backing including No Child Left Behind (NCLB), have constructed walls that

confine over one-half of our urban youth who become dropouts.

According to the Wall Street Journal The profound failure of inner-city public schools

to teach children may be the nations greatest scandal. Presidential candidates

John McCain and Barack Obama offer widely differing solutions to the urban school

problems. Senator McCain wants more alternatives for the failing system, while

Barack Obama calls for more money to help the kids at the bottom in the public

schools. Both positions are short sighted to solve this urban school scandal.

America is far beyond the time when band-aid or patchwork solutions of the pastappeared feasible. Thus, the problem requires a radical solutionunify the American

education system! Unless radical solutions are initiated the future of the public school

system may implode within 20 years under the weight of its layers of patching.

While greater numbers of students are graduating from high schools in middle to

high income neighborhoods, the numbers surviving urban schools has been 50%

since 1970 and is likely to increase through 2020. Urban dropouts make up more than

50% of prison population; they earn thousands less per year than high schoolgraduates and one million less than college graduates over a lifetime. The

implications for this growing loss of human capital loom large when China, India, and

other nations are vying for global economic supremacy. In addition, approximately

one-half of urban high school graduates who enter higher education require costly

remedial education to compete with classmates from upper income, second

generation degree holding parents.

Well-intentioned credit-based programs such as Advanced Placement, Dual Credit,and International Baccalaureate are designed to help close the gap between high

school and higher education curriculum. Education policy makers are attempting to

increase student financial aid and create bridges between high schools and

colleges to close the achievement gaps between economic and ethnic groups. In

addition most states are requiring more rigorous high school standards in English,

mathematics, science, and social studies. However, under our outdated, walled and

disjointed school system less than one-half of urban students will survive these more

demanding steps. The greatest hurdle for students living in poverty is progressing

beyond the 9th grade. They lack the skills in math, and language to pass the high

stakes examinations for promotion to the 10 th grade. Thus, they become part of the

growing bulge of 9th grade failure. Less than one-half of this bulge will eventually

graduate. Thus, this exodus of school failures will increase the numbers of Americanswho endure grinding poverty, turn to crime and lose hope for the future. Dropouts

rarely vote, participate in community projects, and become economic burdens. The

United States cannot remain competitive or egalitarian by perpetuating disjointed

patchwork reforms that leave behind one-half of our urban and poor children.

It is time for radical changes in Americas education system to focus on the well-

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being of all American children and stop their fall into a downward spiral of failure.The walls must be removed that separate the pre-schools, elementary,

intermediate, middle, junior high, high school, community college and the university.

A new unified system would provide the necessary basic skills and a learning

community for all students to find success.

The Unified System

It is time to stop the urban school scandal and create a single unified systembeginning at age three and continuing through graduate and adult education.

Rather than legislators, educators and the public blaming each other for the failures

at lower levels, education and other leaders would share visions of success for every

child and engage business and community members in supporting an egalitarian

system for all students.

Unifying the system would go far beyond current well intentioned collaborations

between higher education and school districts to capture the talents of educators,

university researchers, developers and policy makers. All students would be prepared

to become successful in higher education or to enter a more technologically

advanced job market or a military career. The unified system would begin with

clusters of 150 students beginning at age three (with parental consent) through

seven. Each cluster would consist of five fully qualified teachers, one university or

community college professor advisor, three student teachers/tutors, retired teacher

volunteers, and a part-time health care professional. This team would work together

in a family environment for five years. After five years, five new teachers withdifferent levels of expertise would be responsible for moving the 150 students aged 8

through 12 toward more advanced learning. The final cluster would include ages 13

through 17. At this point, other scholars and specialists, including those from the

community college and university would assist the teaching staff of five in teaching a

wider and more challenging range of classes that rely on the internet for globalresearch data. This final cluster would prepare students for more advanced

technical and professional degree programs since approximately 50 hours of degree

course work would have been accumulated since the last year of cluster two. Theunified system curriculum is a seamless upward spiral based on knowledge that is

age and experience appropriate as the student progresses to the highest level of

the system. Dropouts would become minimal with a few years in the unified system.

The governance of the unified system would include an elected K-20 State Board ofEducation and a K-20 Education Department responsible for coordinating the new

curriculum, instructional systems, quality assessments and funding mechanisms. This

coordination would include numerous Education Centers in the state that wouldorganize and administer the clusters discussed above. Each Education Center would

include a state university, one or two community colleges, and several public schools

systems within a contiguous area.

A child entering school at age three would not be left behind due to poverty orother social realities. Let us remove the walls and unify the system. American Poet

Robert Frost expressed the importance of removing unnecessary walls between

people this way; Something there is about a wall that wants it down.

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Two Announcements!

Karen Crum and Steve Myran, both assistant professors of

educational leadership at Old Dominion University, have been

awarded a United States School Leadership Program grant. The five-

year grant is a collaborative project between ODU and Northampton

Public Schools which is located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The

award will support a new generation of school leaders who will obtain

their master's degrees in educational leadership and are prepared for

school administrator certification and the unique demands of rural

school leadership. Crum (PI) and Myran's (Co-PI) initiative features

specially designed courses that meet Interstate School Leaders

Licensure Consortium standards and Virginia accrediting standards,

as well as address the identified needs of the school division. The

project also includes a strong mentoring component, plus a three-semester internship that provides in-depth, authentic experiences.

This grant is one of twenty-two awarded nationally in 2008. Other

grant recipients are highly encouraged to send in details about their

projects to share with Division A.

Editorial Planning, a refeered journal and the official journal of the

International Society for Educational Planning (ISEP), invites

submission of original manuscripts for publication consideration.

Linda Lemasters, associate professor at The George WashingtonUniversity,is editor. The journal serves as a meeting place for both

the scholar-researcher and the practitioner-educator through the

presentation of articles that have practical relevance to current issues

revolving around educational planning. ISEP was founded in 1970and holds an annual conference that brings together researchers and

practitioners interested in issues surrounding educational planning on

an annual basis. This year's Annual Conference took place in

October 2008 in Istanbul, Turkey. Next year's conference will be held

in Savannah, Georgia. Individuals who are interested in submitting amanuscript for review to Educational Planning or who would like to

learn more about ISEP should visit http://www.isep.info/for more

information.

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Announcing a New Information Age Publishing Book Series:

Educational Leadership for Social Justice

Series Editor: Jeffrey S. Brooks, Auburn University. Series Editorial Team: DeniseArmstrong, Brock University; Ira Bogotch, Florida Atlantic University; Sandra Harris,Lamar University; Whitney Sherman, Virginia Commonwealth University; GeorgeTheoharis, Syracuse University

Contact Jeffrey S. Brooks at: [email protected] for more information aboutthis series.

The purpose of this book series is to promote research on educational leadership forsocial justice. Specifically, we seek edited volumes, textbooks, and full-length studiesfocused on research that explores the ways educational leadership preparation andpractice can be a means of addressing equity concerns throughout P-20 education.Possible topics include, but are not restricted to the following issues:

Race and educational leadership Class and educational leadership Gender and educational leadership Ethics and educational leadership Ethnicityand educational leadership Culture and educational leadership LGBTQ issues and educational leadership Equityand educational leadership Access to educational leadership International and Comparative perspectives on leadership for social

justice Research methodologies and educational leadership for social justice

And many, many others...please contact us with your ideas and questions!

Proposal and Manuscript Submission Process

We invite you and your colleagues to submit a book proposal of approximately 5-8pages. All proposals will undergo editorial team and/or blind peer review. Proposalsshould include the following sections:

1. Introduction and overview: Explain the scope of the book project anddescribe how it is grounded in and extends the extant educational leadershipfor social justice research base, broadly conceived. Proposals should be alignedwith the purpose of theInformation Age Publishing Educational Leadership forSocial Justice Book Series.

2. Summary of contents: Provide a proposed table of contents, brief synopsisof each chapter, and an approximate page count for each chapter, includingany references and appendices.

3. Timeline:The timeline should include initial phases of the publicationprocess that will lead to initial submission of chapters. From that point,accepted manuscripts will undergo editorial and blind peer review.

Please note that while we encourage many kinds of proposals, including textbooks,edited volumes, and full-length studies, we expect all proposals to be grounded inrelevant and appropriate inquiry and perspectives. We look forward to hearingfrom you!

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Globalization and Educational Leadership: International Perspectives

In order to offer a more nuanced international perspective, this Point/Counterpoint

feature includes responses to questions from educators in three countries. Dr.

Esmeralda Cunanan is Executive Director of the Philippine-American Educational

Foundation (PAEF), based in Manila. Dr. Francis Cimene is Dean of the Graduate

School at Capitol University in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. Michael F. Watts isan Associate at the Centre for Educational Research and Development in the Von

Hgel Institute, St. Edmund's College, Cambridge, England and Co-convenor of the

Social Justice Special Interest Group of the British Educational Research Association

(BERA). Dr. Anthony H. Normore is an Associate Professor in the Educational

Administration/Leadership Program in the College of Education, California State

University-Dominguez Hills, United States. Each of these scholars responded to these

questions separately. Questions were posed and answers compiled by Dr. Jeffrey S.

Brooks, Auburn University. An abbreviated version of this interview was previously

published in the UCEA Review (Volume XLIX Number 2, Summer 2008 available at:

www.ucea.org).

From your perspective, what are some of the most pressing educational issues in

your country?

Michael F. Watts: Perhaps the most pressing educational issue in the UK is that there

are pressing educational issues. After all, we have one of the world's richest

economies and, whilst simply throwing money at a problem is unlikely to resolve it,

money nonetheless removes many of the constraints other countries have to

contend with. The economy, though, does frame some of the concerns I have as

someone who researches higher education policy and practiceparticularly the on-

going drive to widen participation beyond the historic middle class base of higher

education.

There has always been an economic imperative in making higher educationmore accessible to more people. This can be seen at the global level as more and

more countries, including those in the Global South invest more and more money in

their higher education sectors (which, of course, also involves sending increasing

numbers of students to study in countries such as the UK and paying full internationalfees to do so). The argument, at its simplest, runs something like this: the greater

earnings potential of university graduates enhances the economy so more university

graduates will enhance the economy further still. Running alongside this argument in

the UK is the government's desire to boost the newer knowledge-based industries to

counter the decline of the old manufacturing industries as jobs are shipped overseaswhere production costs are lower. These newer industries supposedly demand the

higher levels of skills and knowledge supposedly provided by a higher education,

which thereby fuels the drive to increase participation. There is a small but increasingbody of research indicating the falsity of the economic argument (after all, whilst it

holds true to an extent, it cannot just run and run until the country is full of graduates

all of whom are busy boosting the economy) and there is not much more evidence

supporting the industry concern for more graduates (although there are now more

graduates trying to pay off their student debts whilst working in non-graduate-level

employment).

There is a second policy imperative for widening participation: to tackle the

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social injustices that are sustained and reproduced by access and non-access tohigher education. Howeverand at the risk of skipping too lightly over a vast

sociological literaturesocially-embedded attitudes towards education, and

particularly here higher education, are not always easy to overcome. Moreover, the

rapid expansion of higher education over the past few decades has done little to

open up graduate-level opportunities: those who get 'good' degrees from 'good'

universities are more likely to get 'good' jobs than those do not get to go to the

'good' universities. In short, the same problems of a stratified society exist but a fewmore people have been given a higher education fig leaf to cover that

embarrassment. And, as students are required to pay more and more for their higher

education in both direct and indirect costs, those fig leaves are becoming more and

more expensive.

This is certainly not to deny the potential benefits of higher education (and it

certainly is not an argument against widening participation). From my perspective,

though, there are three significant problems here. The first is that those who are least

able to recognise the shortcomings of current higher education policies may well be

those who are least likely to benefit from them: lured into higher education on the

promise of better employment prospects, they may well find themselves paying offtheir debts in non-graduate employment. Secondly, partly in order to prime the

higher education pump, government policy is causing schools to become like Fordist

production lines squeezing out teacher initiatives and, with an alarming

predictability, further disengaging far too many of the very students these policies

are intended to help. Yet, having been put off their compulsory education, thesestudents are expected to aspire towards a higher education. Thirdly, higher

education can provide many benefits (such as second opportunities to engage with

learning, acquire greater literacy and numeracy skills and so on) but it is a very

expensive means of doing so and the resources being pumped into it could,

perhaps, be better spent in other wayssuch as providing greater resources for

students to return to part-time study when, older and wiser, they can more readily

appreciate its benefits.

Anthony H. Normore: In broad terms the most pressing educational issues in the U.S

are directly linked to the economy, politics, literacy, health and welfare, social and

cultural understanding, moral responsibilities as global citizens, and issues of social

justice. From my perspective, public education is the government activity with the

most profound and far-reaching effect on the national character. It seems thatattempts to improve American schools and the educational system have garnered

much attention at the national level with far fewer answers than questions and more

conflict than consensus about teaching, learning, schooling and education. In more

specific terms the issues begin with early childhood education to K-12 to

postsecondary education and exist in rural and urban settings. These range fromissues of literacy, social skill development, health and nutritional assets, homelessness,

affordable housing, poverty, accessible and affordable postsecondary education,

preventions and interventions for struggling students, inadequate resources andfunding, overcrowded classrooms, unsafe schools, and schools in need of extensive

repair. Other issues are equally as pressing. For example, throughout the education

system our students have limited understanding of the world, our global role, and

place insufficient importance on basic geographic skills that might enhance their

knowledge. In my opinion many lack relevant and action-oriented learning

experiences that require action and commitment at the individual and collective

levels to everyday life and local and global issues. If this trend continues, surely our

students will be unprepared for the increasingly global future. The same applies to

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education for sustainability for balancing todays needs with future consequences,environmental degradation, and issues of social justice.

Esmeralda Cunanan: The Philippines needs an educational system that not only

meets the national priorities but are sustainable with the available national

resources, and that lead towards the international objectives of quality education

for all which should start at basic education. The continuing erosion of achievement

in the system, including the dismal performance of Filipino students in the regional

tests in math and sciences, brought about by other problems of a contributingnature such as population increase, lack of resources, poor management of schools,

lack of proper preparation of teachers in content and teaching methodologies

illumine the downbeat impact of basic education on student performance or

today's problem of underachievement.

Francis Cimene: Themost pressing educational issues: (a) many in-coming students

especially in the basic education (due to an ever increasing population) but not

enough teachers, school buildings, and books; (b) Poverty hinders children to go to

school (and the number is increasing every year): they dont have money for fare,

tuition, school supplies; they have to work to augment the family income to meet the

basic needs; (c) The educational system is faulty. Students perform poorly in national

achievement tests. One reason is pedagogy. Higher order thinking skills are notmastered.

What are educational leaders (administrators, teachers, community leaders,

researchers, etc.) doing to address these issues, and what more could they do?

Watts: Educational leaders in schools in publicly-funded schools are extremely

constrained in what they can do by the heavy hand of government regulating what

goes on in the classroom - even down to the minute details of lesson planning.Greater freedom is given to the new academies which are (very) partly-funded by

private individuals in some awful experiment to encourage philanthropy but that

freedom is typically given to the would-be-philanthropist rather than to the

professional educators. In the higher education sector, government funding is partly

determined by institutional efforts to increase participation. Within these constraints,

educational and community leaders continue to protest against such authoritarian

policies but they are rarely listened to by the highly centralised government we

currently have.

More positively, educational and community leaders continue to lead by

example, encouraging young people to engage with and benefit from the

educational opportunities (including higher education opportunities) available to

them. As is so often the case, though, there is a fine line to tread between raising

people's aspirations and holding out unrealistic expectations. Nonetheless, there is

evidence to show the benefits of such role-modelling and, in much of my own work,for example, it has been encouraging to see many young people aspiring to higher

education for non-financial reasons.

As for educational researchers, I often find myself at loggerheads with

colleagues in this field. All too often, it seems, many researchers (as well as other

educationalists) are too intent on working towards widening participation withoutpausing to query why they should be doing this. There is a lot of good research being

done but not enough of it, to my mind, asks the fundamental question: What are the

real benefits of widening participation in higher education?

Normore: In the U.S. state-level policy and the market force are generally the

linchpins that reinforce university control in the area of teacher education and

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leadership development, training and licensure programs. Earlier widespreadcomplacency about these programs among educational leaders is being

challenged as veteran members of the professoriate retire and new faculty

members begin to assume the reins of the profession. In my opinion, educational

and community leaders continue to battle with top-down policies in efforts to garner

resources and funding to support effective education programs. From my personal

experience as a former public school teacher and administrator I do believe that the

larger majority of educators want children to leave school prepared to contribute totheir communities in a positive and meaningful way. Ive seen school leaders

engaged in active partnerships with community-based organizations and outreach

services on how to best address the needs of their service areas. On the other hand,

as a professor of educational leadership Ive witnessed widespread resistance of

partnerships and mini turf wars created between school districts and universities.

Cunanan: The Philippine government through congressional allocation has allocated

a higher budget for the Dept of Education. The thrust of the Department of

Education is capacity-building. However, there is no system in place to achieve this.

Cimene: Administrators are trying their best to make use of the limited resources;

teachers give their share of personally helping the students through they are

underpaid; with limited learning materials, teachers try to innovate. Sad to sayinnovations are not fast and sufficient enough to create an impact on the kind of

education the Philippines need to move forward. The government is putting in new

secretaries (Deped and CHED) from time to time (say less than 2 years) to

troubleshoot the problems. We are expecting two new secretaries this year. What

more could they do? The constitution spells out clearly that every Filipino should have

access to quality education that will result in improved quality of life for all citizens. If

all stakeholders from government, educational sectors, church, business sectors,

families, and individuals will think critically at this point and think about the value of

education to obtain the quality of life, there is hope in solving these problems. The

government should increase the budget for education; the education sector should

make education relevant to what we really need to obtain that quality of life we areaiming for; at least someone has to start/initiate and others have to cooperate.

Do you have any particular thoughts about educational administrators' roles, as they

relate to these issues?

Watts: The real problem for educational administrators is that they are hampered by

government constraints. Moreover, given the social justice aspects of widening

participation, it can be all too easy to fall victim to accusations of seeking to

perpetuate social injustice if the bases of widening participation policies are

questioned. It should be remembered, too, that the social justice argument is very

seductive. After all, who does not want to promote greater opportunities for those

who are disadvantaged? Yet this, to me at least, seems to be the real issue: Who are

we (and I take the liberty here of assuming that the audience is educationally

privileged) to determine what opportunities should be promoted for those we may

consider to be disadvantaged? This is a highly complex social arena to enter but I

cannot help feeling that those very people we may consider to be disadvantaged

may have greater opportunities to benefit from their education if we could spend

more time listening to them and their aspirations and a little less time being told bygovernment what is best for them. But the government seems reluctant to allow

anyone else to have much of a say.

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Normore: As teachers of prospective educational leaders we must get involved,spend time in schools, learning to understand and appreciate the daily routines of

our students,and work as genuine partners to help secure adequate funding to

support effective programs for our students. In my opinion, we need to continue

searching for ways to consistently support increased funding for programs that are

targeted to disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, and other programs

that benefit our children. Adequate funding for education is very important to ensure

that young people have access to effective programs. Its reasonable to assumethat our programs can only be effective for our students if they are prepared for an

increasingly global future. As educators, policymakers, and members of the local,

national and global community it's only fitting to embrace opportunities and

experiences that provide skill sets to our young people for understanding the

relationships among people and places that provide critical contexts for world

events. Im sure wed all agree that none of us is as smart as all of us.

Cunanan: Educational administrators must possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities

with respect to effective teaching/pedagogies to successfully empower and support

their teachers. The integrity of educational administrators must be unquestionable.

Administrators at all levels should not allow themselves to be "corrupt," which is awidespread issue in the Philippines.

Cimene: Educational administrators roles are to influence policy-makers to make the

policies that would address the issues raised. We have many sound laws and they

are even copied by other countries. Administrators should be innovative and

creative in the implementation of these educational laws such as the empowermentact of the school administrators. Administrators see to it that objectives of the school

have corresponding plan of action, but these should be monitored and evaluated

periodically to check whether we are achieving our objectives. The low

performance of our students should be a wake up call for the school administrators.

Should educators have a local, national, global perspective on their work, or some

combination of these?

Watts: It is something of a commonplace to note that technology and travel are

making the world smaller and that hitherto faraway places are now easier to reach.

Higher education, whether through distance learning programmes or the diasporas

of international students, has a potentially important part to play in this global

phenomenon and in the general sense that intercultural contacts can be beneficial,this would seem to be a good thing (although see, for example, Rebekah Nathan's

My Freshman Year: what a professor learned by becoming a student for an

anthropological critique of some of the more optimistic claims held out in the name

of international studenthood).

What, though, of those responsible for designing and implementing highereducation programmes? As I suggested above, there is a growing impetus to adapt

higher education to the dynamics of globalisation so that it can prepare students to

take their places in the interconnected local-national-international economies. Inresponse to the never-ending complaints of industry that students are graduating

from their universities ill-equipped for work, there is a growing trend to develop

courses specifically tailored to certain professions. This, of course, brings us back to

the vocational origins of the university: in medieval times it was a place to train the

doctors, lawyers and priests of the future; at the beginning of the 21st Century it is

now also training people for many more professions. With increasing importance

being attached to workplace learning, many of these courses will have been

designed with at least some consideration of the local economy. Furthermore, as

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higher education seeks to engage a wider cross section of society, it must respondto the needs of students who, for a wide range of reasons, do not wish to study away

from home as young middle class students have historically done. There is, then, a

growing demand for the educational services of the 'local' university in the UK

(similar, say, to the community colleges in the US). Thus, the economic and social

drivers for widening participation demand that higher education have a local

perspective.

This local perspective, though, is just one amongst several: higher educationhas to respond to national demands (whether they be from students or government)

and needs to remain located on the global stage. We should not overlook the

economic arguments of widening participation (providing that we do not make

fiscal fetishes of them) because increasing the individual's earning potential not only

satisfies these economic arguments but also the social justice arguments. If the social

justice argument for widening participation is to have any real meaning, those

students who may otherwise drift towards their local universities should be

encouraged to look further afield (after all, excellence - however that may be

defined - cannot always be located locally) even if they eventually conclude that

their local universities offer them their best opportunities. Educators therefore need tohave appropriate perspectives of higher education's various purposes if they are to

negotiate the potential conflicts between the economic and social justice

arguments for widening participation.

Normore: Absolutelya combination! I cannot stress enough the power of global

knowledge and appreciation. We need to increase global learning in our schools, atour homes and in our communities. I recently read a study conducted by Roper

Public Affairs in 2007. One statement in particular struck me with great force. It read

Americans are far from alone in the world, but from the perspective of many young

Americans, we might as well be. From interviews conducted among a nationwide

representative sample of 510 adults age 18-24 in continental U.S. the results revealed

the following: only 37% of young Americans can find Iraq on a map even though

the U.S. troops have been there since 2003; 6 in 10 young Americans do not speak a

foreign language fluently; 20% of young Americans think Sudan is in Asia (Its the

largest country in Africa); 48% of young Americans believe the majority population in

India is Muslim (Its Hindu by a landslide); half of young Americans cannot find New

York on a map. In a 2005 speech given in Seattle for the National Association for

Independent Schools, Fareed Zakaria, Editor of Newsweek, garnered much attentionwhen he stated that the most important thing that schools can do in America is to

make people aware that understanding the world is very much part of the

requirement of being an educated person. He went on to say that if we look at

what's happening in India, China and Brazil, we are seeing the rise of a new world,

where these countries see themselves as equalsBut we're a country where very fewpeopleknow much about the world. In my opinion, as educators, public servants

and human beings we all have a responsibility to our students, to our profession, to

our communities, to our nation and to our world. Our schools have a responsibility toequip students to live in the global community to teach students global awareness

about the social, political, and cultural issues facing people. Whether identifying

geographic locations, discussing political ideology, culture, or day-to-day life, most

American students do not know how people in other countries live. This is a critical

disadvantage to students who will be joining a job market heavily influenced by

international economics and politics.

Cunanan: To avoid parochial thinking, there should be a combination of local,

international and global perspectives. A contextualized set up with a combination of

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these perspectives would be progressive response to the changing times.

Cimene: Although global framework should be appreciated, what we need now is

the local perspective. Once we have stabilized our own issues, thats the time we

can explore global perspectives. Educators should see to it that students learn how

to think. The best way to teach them how to think is to give them problems to solve.

The process of coming up with the right solutions should be the gauge whether

students learn how to think. This is the kind of perspective we need so that we can

solve our own problems.

Is there any tension between these perspectives or do they co-exist harmoniously?

Watts: Cooperation and competition are often the two sides of the same coin.

Higher education institutions in the UK broadly have local, national and international

significance - although there is some inevitable jostling around these distinctions. The

problem (or, rather, one of many problems) is that the competition for students and

for funding is all too often overshadowed by status. This is, in part, a historical

problem as the newer universities with a greater remit to serve local needs are all too

often seen as the poor cousins of the older universities. Nor is this merely a figure ofspeech: the older universities are more likely to be more research intensive and are

therefore considered to be more prestigious and also attract more of the

government funding that is allocated on the basis of research output. In short, until

such time as greater recognition is given to those institutions meeting more local

needs, the stratification of higher education will continue.

Normore: This is certainly a very thought-provoking question. I think we'd all agree

that it's difficult to make sense of what's happening around us unless we are aware

of the impact of the global context on daily events and actions. I can only reiterate

the importance for educators in America - and around the world - to understand

their own situation in a wider context and to appreciate what each other has to

contribute. We all benefit greatly when we can make connections between local

and global events and understand causes of global inequality, justice and solidarity.

If there are indeed tensions among perspective one way to work through these

tensions is to focus on our own personal development by identifying common

interests, and develop solidarity with diverse communities throughout the world. In

this way, we can avoid "myopic" or "hyperopic" views of ourselves and learn to

appreciate that the world is much larger than our immediate context.

Cunanan: for most Filipinos (especially those with no international perspective),

tension could exist amongst these perspectives (especially by nature, humans resist

change). Could they co-exist harmoniously? I believe they could.

Cimene: There are circumstances when these perspectives clashed and there are

circumstances that they co-exist harmoniously.

How can educators, educational communities, researchers and more importantly

students benefit from international collaborations?

Watts: It is fairly easy to address this question with the fairly hackneyed statement that

international collaborations not only enable a greater sharing of knowledge but also

promote greater understanding of other countries and cultures. Hackneyed as it

may be, the importance of this point should not be dismissed lightly and higher

education can play an important role in addressing it. However, there is another

aspect that should be considered here: along with understanding more about other

countries and cultures, international collaborations - where they work well - can also

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initiate the sort of reflexivity that enables a greater understanding of our owncountries and cultures.

Whether the university student is an eighteen year old leaving home for the

first time, an older student carving out the chance to study part-time at her local

university or an international student travelling to a distant country, engaging with

higher education typically involves leaving behind at least some old certainties and

comforts. The opportunity to enter a new social environment holds out the

opportunity to take stock of who we really are and what we really want to be - totake a good look at ourselves (even if that can only be done in between all the

rushing around this new environment). At the same time, it typically demands a

different and deeper approach to learning that involves more than the simple

acquisition of knowledge.

Taken together, these aspects of higher education - the opportunity to enter a new

environment and the requirement to engage with new forms of learning - can

combine to form a reflexive catalyst from which a new understanding of our own

selves may emerge. It can be a very unsettling experience but such reflexivity is an

important element of the higher education experience.

Normore: Id like to respond to this question from the perspective of educationalleadership. It seems reasonable for these research communities to engage in

comparative research studies of leadership preparation and training programs in

diverse countries outside the United State. While several international scholars are

engaged in the international research on leadership programs in other countries I do

not often see the research published in American journals. Instead most of thisresearch appears in prestigious international journals such as Educational

Management, Administration and Leadership; Canadian Journal of Educational

Administration and Policy; Journal of Educational Administration; European Journal

of Education; International Studies in Educational Administration. I believe that in

order to fully capture the impact of international collaborations, we could benefit

from seeing more of the global research appear in American journals. Our sense of

ourselves, as well as what others think of us, often rests on the extent to which we live

up to our virtues. By engaging our educational communities and our students in

international research, they can harness understanding of responsible leadership

and learn the reflective practices that can filter throughout school system and

connect to local, national, and global awareness. As professional educators, I

believe it is our duty to engage students in meaningful and critical discourse thatfocuses on ecological, political, economic, cultural and social issues. In doing this we

harness the energies and imaginations of our students in the reconstruction of life in

our neighborhoods, our communities, and our larger society.

Cunanan: All stakeholders must be open to intenationalization efforts. In general,

Filipinos welcome international collaboration.

Cimene: International collaborations can help us see the big picture. We will be

learning from their best practices. For instance, I believe the Philippines can learn so

much from the Singaporians in terms of how education created an impact on theirpolitical climate, we can also learn entrepreneurship from the Chinese, innovations

from the US, Japan, etc.

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From the Editorial Team

Hello all! It is with some regret that I announce this as the final issue of School

Leadership News that I will contribute to as editor. First and foremost I thank

Linda Tillman for her tremendous support of the newsletter. I also thank the

editorial team that has made these last several issues happen: Gaetane Jean-Marie and Curt Adams of the University of Oklahoma; Whitney Sherman, VirginiaCommonwealth University; Karen Crum, Old Dominion University, and; Danna

Beatty, Tarleton State University. If you have any comments, ideas or

announcements, please contact me at:[email protected] until a new

editor is named.

Thank you for your support!

Jeffrey S. Brooks, Auburn University

Call for Support

Our goal continues to be expanding the content and distribution of the

Division A Newsletter. To make our Newsletter a must read for our entiremembership, we are seeking:commentaries that focus on topical issuesperspectives that provide readers with insights about Division A concernscritiques and recommendations to improve the newsletter content and

format information and announcements to include in future issuesvolunteers to serve as reporters, historians, and so forthcalls for proposals and papers relevant to Division A members

Submissions or suggestions for improving the newsletter should be sent to Linda

Tillman [email protected] or to Jeffrey S. [email protected] help us keep each other well informed about Division A and our fields of

interest.

Submission Guidelines and Deadlines

In addition to the sections included in this issue,School Leadership News

periodically considers publication of brief articles on issues that are trenchant

and of interest to Division A members. Restrictions for publication will apply

(preferably no more than 1,000 words or 5 to 7 pages of double-spaced text) in

order to meet newsletter page limitations (2-3 pages). The editors reserve the

right to edit for style and length. Suggestions for articles will be accepted from

Division A officers, committee chairs and members, and members of Division Aand related Divisions or SIGs. Please contact Jeffrey S. Brooks at

[email protected] for specific information about specific details and

deadline.

We invite you to browse both the AERA Division A Web Site and the Archives of

the Division A Newsletter, both available at www.aera.net.

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Vice President

Linda C. Tillman

University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Immediate Past President

Rodney T. Ogawa

University of California-Santa Cruz

Secretary (2006-2008)

Michelle D. Young

University Council for Educational

Administration

Division A 2009 Program Chair

Len Foster, Washington State University

Section I (Leadership)

Pamela Salazar, University of Nevada,

Las Vegas and Kathleen Jorissen,

Western Carolina University

Section 2 (School Organization & Effects)

Curt Adams, University of Oklahoma

Section 3 (School Improvement)

Rosusan Bartee, University of Mississippi

Section 4 (Leadership Development)Paul Pitre, Washington State University

Section 5 (Leadership Development)

Mark Gooden, University of Cincinnati

Affirmative Action Chair

Grayson Noley, University of Oklahoma

Membership Committee

Rosemary Papa, Northern Arizona

University

Nominating Committee

James Earl Davis, Temple University,

Chair

Arnold Danzig, Arizona State University

Betty Merchant, University of Texas-San

Antonio

Dissertation Awards Committee

George Theoharis, Syracuse University

Newsletter Editorial TeamJeffrey Brooks, Auburn University

Gaetane Jean-Marie and Curt Adams,

University of Oklahoma; Whitney

Sherman, Virginia Commonwealth

University; Karen Crum, Old DominionUniversity; Danna Beatty, Tarleton State

University

Ad Hoc International Committee

Paula Cordeiro, University of San Diego

Graduate Student Planning CommitteeAndrea Evans, Northern Illinois University

Graduate Student Representatives

Danielle Hayes, University of Texas-Austin

Tirza White, Emory University

Division A Webmaster

Scott McLeod

Iowa State University

Practitioner Committee

Margaret Terry Orr, Bank Street College

Division A Officers and Committee Chairs

Div a Fall2008

Documents

Transcript of Div a Fall2008