The paper describes two web courses designed for graduate students enrolled in Master's, doct... more The paper describes two web courses designed for graduate students enrolled in Master's, doctoral, and educational certification programs in educational leadership. One specific exercise designed to further student reflection is presented. Students craft stories of experienced education leaders. These stories are shared in a virtual conference center and students' reflections in- and on-practice are analyzed. The stories illustrate some of the explicit rules used by administrators to manage problems and the more tacit assumptions embedded in practice. A single story is presented followed by comments on the meaning of the story. The narrative and comments provide opportunity for further interpretation of data and reflection on how leadership is learned.
Program variation has long been touted as a charter school advantage, so a recent AEI report rate... more Program variation has long been touted as a charter school advantage, so a recent AEI report rates the diversity of charter school programs in 17 major cities. Examining charter school websites, the report finds the schools evenly split between "Specialized" schools (e.g., no excuses, STEM, or Arts) and "General" schools. It finds small to moderate correlations between city demographics and certain types of charter schools but also finds that specialized schools tend to morph into homogenized general schools. The report has several weaknesses. It claims superior diversity for charter schools but doesn't empirically compare charter offerings with those of traditional public schools, which typically include many diverse options. Similarly, the introduction claims charter schools are hamstrung by red tape, but this is not addressed in the report. Also, as acknowledged in the report, coding schools based on website descriptions is an error-prone enterprise, yet no check of the accuracy of the data is provided. As the correlations between charter schools and city demographics are based on only 17 cases (cities are the unit of analysis), this is too weak a base to support the report's conclusions. Fundamentally, the report does not make the case for its major claims, and thus has only minimal utility.
Program variation has long been touted as a charter school advantage, so a recent AEI report rate... more Program variation has long been touted as a charter school advantage, so a recent AEI report rates the diversity of charter school programs in 17 major cities. Examining charter school websites, the report finds the schools evenly split between "Specialized" schools (e.g., no excuses, STEM, or Arts) and "General" schools. It finds small to moderate correlations between city demographics and certain types of charter schools but also finds that specialized schools tend to morph into homogenized general schools. The report has several weaknesses. It claims superior diversity for charter schools but doesn't empirically compare charter offerings with those of traditional public schools, which typically include many diverse options. Similarly, the introduction claims charter schools are hamstrung by red tape, but this is not addressed in the report. Also, as acknowledged in the report, coding schools based on website descriptions is an error-prone enterprise, yet no check of the accuracy of the data is provided. As the correlations between charter schools and city demographics are based on only 17 cases (cities are the unit of analysis), this is too weak a base to support the report's conclusions. Fundamentally, the report does not make the case for its major claims, and thus has only minimal utility.
These two reports focus on the need for more effective principals to improve school quality. Each... more These two reports focus on the need for more effective principals to improve school quality. Each includes a sensible discussion of workplace conditions affecting the principal pipeline and contributing to leadership effectiveness. Great Principals at Scale recommends better school and district alignment of goals and strategies, along with district -provided support structures and greater local autonomy for principals. Lacking Leaders examines the hiring practices in five school districts and identifies ineffective hiring practices as contributing to a pipeline problem; it argues that attracting the best candidates will require additional remuneration, greater autonomy over staffing decisions, and increased district-level collaboration. The headline policy recommendation is to increase salaries $100,000 above current levels to attract more effective principals into the pip eline. No research in the report, however, justifies the size of the salary recommendation or demonstrates salary as the most important factor influencing principal recruitment, selection, or retention. Also, while both reports focus on the principal as the primary source of leadership in schools, neither considers other important sources of leadership. Both reports suggest leadership and management skills found in many organizational settings outside of education are easily or directly transferable to education. This suggestion, however, underestimates the human context of teaching and learning. These and other limitations undermine the usefulness of the reports' resulting recommendations.
The need to recruit, prepare, and develop the next generation of educational leaders challenges s... more The need to recruit, prepare, and develop the next generation of educational leaders challenges states and localities everywhere. The complex demands of current educational reform initiatives have been articulated in national and state reports detailing the changing conditions of schools and provide compelling evidence for the necessity of new abilities and sensibilities at all levels of the profession. This article reports on research which examined four locations along the career continuum of school principals in Minnesota: 1) recruitment and selection, 2) university preparation programs, 3) licensing and certification, and 4) continuing professional development. We also include 18 specific policy recommendations.
These two reports focus on the need for more effective principals to improve school quality. Each... more These two reports focus on the need for more effective principals to improve school quality. Each includes a sensible discussion of workplace conditions affecting the principal pipeline and contributing to leadership effectiveness. Great Principals at Scale recommends better school and district alignment of goals and strategies, along with district -provided support structures and greater local autonomy for principals. Lacking Leaders examines the hiring practices in five school districts and identifies ineffective hiring practices as contributing to a pipeline problem; it argues that attracting the best candidates will require additional remuneration, greater autonomy over staffing decisions, and increased district-level collaboration. The headline policy recommendation is to increase salaries $100,000 above current levels to attract more effective principals into the pip eline. No research in the report, however, justifies the size of the salary recommendation or demonstrates salary as the most important factor influencing principal recruitment, selection, or retention. Also, while both reports focus on the principal as the primary source of leadership in schools, neither considers other important sources of leadership. Both reports suggest leadership and management skills found in many organizational settings outside of education are easily or directly transferable to education. This suggestion, however, underestimates the human context of teaching and learning. These and other limitations undermine the usefulness of the reports' resulting recommendations.
Research across states has consistently shown that African American parents tend to send their ch... more Research across states has consistently shown that African American parents tend to send their children to charter schools with higher concentrations of African American students as compared to the concentrations of the district-assigned schools their children would otherwise attend. However, little research has addressed why these parents choose these schools. The present case study begins to fill this void in the literature by exploring the following research question: Why have African American parents chosen to enroll their children in one predominantly African American (> 95%) charter school. Parents’ choice of this school was not a “color-blind” one. Parents were impressed with the school’s welcoming atmosphere, its small setting and classroom sizes, and its high number of African American faculty members. Parent participants reported feeling comfortable with school staff and feeling assured that their children would be loved, respected, and cared for by school personnel. Th...
The purpose of this exploratory case study is to describe efforts made to encourage reflection, i... more The purpose of this exploratory case study is to describe efforts made to encourage reflection, interaction, and collaboration for educational innovation and professional growth in three contexts where interactive information and communication technology (ICT) was introduced. The study is framed in adult learning theory Merriam, 2001); face-to-face and virtual collaboration theory as conceptualized by Lawson (2003), , and Palloff & Pratt (2005); and team leadership, as reported by Kogler Hill ( ). Observational and archival data were collected and analyzed from a grounded theoretical perspective (Straus & Corbin, 1990). The study derives perspectives on the utilization of ICT to encourage reflection-onpractice, interaction, and collaboration from which cross-institutional, cross-cultural, and binational teams can develop educational innovation and professional growth in higher and adult education.
Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 1996
Acquiring expertise as a school consultant is a complex and multifaceted task. Indeed, effective ... more Acquiring expertise as a school consultant is a complex and multifaceted task. Indeed, effective school consultants not only need to understand children's learning and emotional needs, but also must consider the teacher, the classroom climate, and the larger school and ...
Dickson Mungazi has written an excellent book on southern Africa that applies the Thomas Kuhn mod... more Dickson Mungazi has written an excellent book on southern Africa that applies the Thomas Kuhn model of change in the natural sciences as a way of understanding stability, conflict, and social and educational change in southern Africa. In six concisely written and highly readable chapters, the author presents a history of colonialism in southern Africa and the role of education during this era, concluding with a discussion of the inevita-
International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1999
The paper describes a rationale and method for crafting and analysing stories of leadership and a... more The paper describes a rationale and method for crafting and analysing stories of leadership and administrative practice. Doctoral and administrative licensure students enrolled in a course on leadership development interviewed experienced school administrators and educational ...
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1985
This course provides an overview of gangs as social phenomena. Gangs of particular interest inclu... more This course provides an overview of gangs as social phenomena. Gangs of particular interest include youth gangs, urban/rural gangs, street gangs, prison gangs, military gangs, and outlaw motorcycle gangs. The course additionally analyzes how socially-constructed group characteristics (i.e., race, class, gender and ethnicity) relate to gang membership. U.S. street and prison gangs receive extensive coverage. Social alternatives to gangs are discussed as well.
ED335784 - The Usefulness of State-by-State Comparison and Other Education Indicators to Policyma... more ED335784 - The Usefulness of State-by-State Comparison and Other Education Indicators to Policymaking: An Example from Arizona.
ED356413 - School to Work Transition: Employer Attitudes towards Employees, Jobs, and the Workpla... more ED356413 - School to Work Transition: Employer Attitudes towards Employees, Jobs, and the Workplace in Rural Arizona.
The paper describes two web courses designed for graduate students enrolled in Master's, doct... more The paper describes two web courses designed for graduate students enrolled in Master's, doctoral, and educational certification programs in educational leadership. One specific exercise designed to further student reflection is presented. Students craft stories of experienced education leaders. These stories are shared in a virtual conference center and students' reflections in- and on-practice are analyzed. The stories illustrate some of the explicit rules used by administrators to manage problems and the more tacit assumptions embedded in practice. A single story is presented followed by comments on the meaning of the story. The narrative and comments provide opportunity for further interpretation of data and reflection on how leadership is learned.
Program variation has long been touted as a charter school advantage, so a recent AEI report rate... more Program variation has long been touted as a charter school advantage, so a recent AEI report rates the diversity of charter school programs in 17 major cities. Examining charter school websites, the report finds the schools evenly split between "Specialized" schools (e.g., no excuses, STEM, or Arts) and "General" schools. It finds small to moderate correlations between city demographics and certain types of charter schools but also finds that specialized schools tend to morph into homogenized general schools. The report has several weaknesses. It claims superior diversity for charter schools but doesn't empirically compare charter offerings with those of traditional public schools, which typically include many diverse options. Similarly, the introduction claims charter schools are hamstrung by red tape, but this is not addressed in the report. Also, as acknowledged in the report, coding schools based on website descriptions is an error-prone enterprise, yet no check of the accuracy of the data is provided. As the correlations between charter schools and city demographics are based on only 17 cases (cities are the unit of analysis), this is too weak a base to support the report's conclusions. Fundamentally, the report does not make the case for its major claims, and thus has only minimal utility.
Program variation has long been touted as a charter school advantage, so a recent AEI report rate... more Program variation has long been touted as a charter school advantage, so a recent AEI report rates the diversity of charter school programs in 17 major cities. Examining charter school websites, the report finds the schools evenly split between "Specialized" schools (e.g., no excuses, STEM, or Arts) and "General" schools. It finds small to moderate correlations between city demographics and certain types of charter schools but also finds that specialized schools tend to morph into homogenized general schools. The report has several weaknesses. It claims superior diversity for charter schools but doesn't empirically compare charter offerings with those of traditional public schools, which typically include many diverse options. Similarly, the introduction claims charter schools are hamstrung by red tape, but this is not addressed in the report. Also, as acknowledged in the report, coding schools based on website descriptions is an error-prone enterprise, yet no check of the accuracy of the data is provided. As the correlations between charter schools and city demographics are based on only 17 cases (cities are the unit of analysis), this is too weak a base to support the report's conclusions. Fundamentally, the report does not make the case for its major claims, and thus has only minimal utility.
These two reports focus on the need for more effective principals to improve school quality. Each... more These two reports focus on the need for more effective principals to improve school quality. Each includes a sensible discussion of workplace conditions affecting the principal pipeline and contributing to leadership effectiveness. Great Principals at Scale recommends better school and district alignment of goals and strategies, along with district -provided support structures and greater local autonomy for principals. Lacking Leaders examines the hiring practices in five school districts and identifies ineffective hiring practices as contributing to a pipeline problem; it argues that attracting the best candidates will require additional remuneration, greater autonomy over staffing decisions, and increased district-level collaboration. The headline policy recommendation is to increase salaries $100,000 above current levels to attract more effective principals into the pip eline. No research in the report, however, justifies the size of the salary recommendation or demonstrates salary as the most important factor influencing principal recruitment, selection, or retention. Also, while both reports focus on the principal as the primary source of leadership in schools, neither considers other important sources of leadership. Both reports suggest leadership and management skills found in many organizational settings outside of education are easily or directly transferable to education. This suggestion, however, underestimates the human context of teaching and learning. These and other limitations undermine the usefulness of the reports' resulting recommendations.
The need to recruit, prepare, and develop the next generation of educational leaders challenges s... more The need to recruit, prepare, and develop the next generation of educational leaders challenges states and localities everywhere. The complex demands of current educational reform initiatives have been articulated in national and state reports detailing the changing conditions of schools and provide compelling evidence for the necessity of new abilities and sensibilities at all levels of the profession. This article reports on research which examined four locations along the career continuum of school principals in Minnesota: 1) recruitment and selection, 2) university preparation programs, 3) licensing and certification, and 4) continuing professional development. We also include 18 specific policy recommendations.
These two reports focus on the need for more effective principals to improve school quality. Each... more These two reports focus on the need for more effective principals to improve school quality. Each includes a sensible discussion of workplace conditions affecting the principal pipeline and contributing to leadership effectiveness. Great Principals at Scale recommends better school and district alignment of goals and strategies, along with district -provided support structures and greater local autonomy for principals. Lacking Leaders examines the hiring practices in five school districts and identifies ineffective hiring practices as contributing to a pipeline problem; it argues that attracting the best candidates will require additional remuneration, greater autonomy over staffing decisions, and increased district-level collaboration. The headline policy recommendation is to increase salaries $100,000 above current levels to attract more effective principals into the pip eline. No research in the report, however, justifies the size of the salary recommendation or demonstrates salary as the most important factor influencing principal recruitment, selection, or retention. Also, while both reports focus on the principal as the primary source of leadership in schools, neither considers other important sources of leadership. Both reports suggest leadership and management skills found in many organizational settings outside of education are easily or directly transferable to education. This suggestion, however, underestimates the human context of teaching and learning. These and other limitations undermine the usefulness of the reports' resulting recommendations.
Research across states has consistently shown that African American parents tend to send their ch... more Research across states has consistently shown that African American parents tend to send their children to charter schools with higher concentrations of African American students as compared to the concentrations of the district-assigned schools their children would otherwise attend. However, little research has addressed why these parents choose these schools. The present case study begins to fill this void in the literature by exploring the following research question: Why have African American parents chosen to enroll their children in one predominantly African American (> 95%) charter school. Parents’ choice of this school was not a “color-blind” one. Parents were impressed with the school’s welcoming atmosphere, its small setting and classroom sizes, and its high number of African American faculty members. Parent participants reported feeling comfortable with school staff and feeling assured that their children would be loved, respected, and cared for by school personnel. Th...
The purpose of this exploratory case study is to describe efforts made to encourage reflection, i... more The purpose of this exploratory case study is to describe efforts made to encourage reflection, interaction, and collaboration for educational innovation and professional growth in three contexts where interactive information and communication technology (ICT) was introduced. The study is framed in adult learning theory Merriam, 2001); face-to-face and virtual collaboration theory as conceptualized by Lawson (2003), , and Palloff & Pratt (2005); and team leadership, as reported by Kogler Hill ( ). Observational and archival data were collected and analyzed from a grounded theoretical perspective (Straus & Corbin, 1990). The study derives perspectives on the utilization of ICT to encourage reflection-onpractice, interaction, and collaboration from which cross-institutional, cross-cultural, and binational teams can develop educational innovation and professional growth in higher and adult education.
Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 1996
Acquiring expertise as a school consultant is a complex and multifaceted task. Indeed, effective ... more Acquiring expertise as a school consultant is a complex and multifaceted task. Indeed, effective school consultants not only need to understand children's learning and emotional needs, but also must consider the teacher, the classroom climate, and the larger school and ...
Dickson Mungazi has written an excellent book on southern Africa that applies the Thomas Kuhn mod... more Dickson Mungazi has written an excellent book on southern Africa that applies the Thomas Kuhn model of change in the natural sciences as a way of understanding stability, conflict, and social and educational change in southern Africa. In six concisely written and highly readable chapters, the author presents a history of colonialism in southern Africa and the role of education during this era, concluding with a discussion of the inevita-
International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1999
The paper describes a rationale and method for crafting and analysing stories of leadership and a... more The paper describes a rationale and method for crafting and analysing stories of leadership and administrative practice. Doctoral and administrative licensure students enrolled in a course on leadership development interviewed experienced school administrators and educational ...
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1985
This course provides an overview of gangs as social phenomena. Gangs of particular interest inclu... more This course provides an overview of gangs as social phenomena. Gangs of particular interest include youth gangs, urban/rural gangs, street gangs, prison gangs, military gangs, and outlaw motorcycle gangs. The course additionally analyzes how socially-constructed group characteristics (i.e., race, class, gender and ethnicity) relate to gang membership. U.S. street and prison gangs receive extensive coverage. Social alternatives to gangs are discussed as well.
ED335784 - The Usefulness of State-by-State Comparison and Other Education Indicators to Policyma... more ED335784 - The Usefulness of State-by-State Comparison and Other Education Indicators to Policymaking: An Example from Arizona.
ED356413 - School to Work Transition: Employer Attitudes towards Employees, Jobs, and the Workpla... more ED356413 - School to Work Transition: Employer Attitudes towards Employees, Jobs, and the Workplace in Rural Arizona.
Uploads
Papers by arnold danzig