Administrator Preparation
- LAST REVIEWED: 29 July 2020
- LAST MODIFIED: 15 December 2011
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0019
- LAST REVIEWED: 29 July 2020
- LAST MODIFIED: 15 December 2011
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0019
Introduction
Administrator preparation refers to leadership education graduate programs in universities, granting master’s and doctoral degrees in educational administration or educational leadership. These programs usually include completing requirements for state licensure to serve as school principals, superintendents, and other central office administrators. Students’ degree programs include a plethora of courses including educational finance, organizational theory, leadership processes, education law, education policy, instructional management, research methods, program evaluation and data management, systems planning and analysis, and human resource management. The two most prominent professional associations for individuals engaged in administrator preparation and related research efforts are the National Council for Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) and the University Council of Professors of Educational Administration. Researchers for NCPEA reveal that more than 370 graduate programs in educational administration include approximately 3,000 professors and nearly all programs offer the master’s degree and courses leading to administrative licensure, many with an online option. The terminal degree—PhD or EdD—is viewed as a necessity for candidates competing for central office jobs or principalships in many school districts. The historical context and evolution of theory within the field has been important in generating research and change in administrator preparation programs. The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) and the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC), now called ISLLC 2008 Leadership Education Policy Standards, are the primary standards in place for administrator preparation programs. This standardization has raised significant criticism within the field, spurring best-practice research and efforts to reform existing programs. “Interdisciplinary” administrator preparation is a newer movement promoted by growing criticism of traditional administrator preparation. These new degree programs blend graduate-level courses in financial, entrepreneurial, and innovation skills in business administration, public administration, and public affairs with courses in departments of educational administration. In addition to new courses, the popularity of online courses and degrees increases each year. This new program content and the new mode of delivery require research to be conducted to compare the quality of credentials awarded online and through the traditional model.
General Overviews
Beginning in the early 1900s, courses in administrator preparation were taught in universities by pioneers in the field. Strayer 1923 is the first report on the practice of preparing administrators and the role of the superintendency in the United States. The report was written for the National Education Council in the 1920s. The rapid growth in population and social changes were important forces that called for school administrators who possessed additional skills in human relations and organizational management. Thus, the complexities faced by school administrators and the professors who prepared them led to the “theory movement,” which remains today as a vital component of administrator preparation. For a descriptive overview, see Culbertson 1983. National standards for the preparation and professional development identify the most necessary skills for administrators and were first established in the early 1980s (American Association of School Administrators 1983). By the end of the decade, Pitner 1988 generated work that prompted broad-based change in administrator preparation. More recent research and reforms have incorporated and built upon many of these changes, seeking to identify the knowledge and skills necessary for successful school leaders (see Guthrie and Schuermann 2010, Marshall and Oliva 2010, and Wong and Nicotera 2007). Hoyle and Torres 2010 provides the user the most complete analysis of current educational administration preparation programs available and offers further policy recommendations for improving these programs. These programs are successful if their graduates successfully impact student achievement. An investigation of research and the roles of administrators can be found in Waters and Marzano 2006.
American Association of School Administrators. 1983. Guidelines for the preparation of school administrators. Arlington, VA: American Association of School Administrators.
Developed by the AASA Committee for the Advancement of School Administration (CASA) and authored by Cooperative Professor of the Year John Hoyle, Professor, Texas A&M University. This was the initial national effort that involved more than one hundred practitioners, legislators, business leaders, and scholars in seeking to identity the most important skills for school administrators at the campus and district levels. They became the first “standards” to guide NCATE in the accreditation of preparation programs.
Culbertson, Jack. 1983. Theory in educational administration: Echoes for critical thinkers. Educational Researcher 12.10: 15–22.
This article by a famed theorist in the discipline remains a must read for professors and aspiring school administrators. Culbertson, an NCPEA Legend, set the intellectual stage for others who seek wisdom on the subject. His writing is deeply insightful and yet very readable for both the beginner and the veteran school leader.
Guthrie, James W., and Patrick J. Schuermann. 2010. Successful school leadership. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Guthrie and Schuermann have produced a complete overview of primary topics and skills that aspiring school leaders need to administer for higher student performance. The authors blend cutting edge leadership theory, policy, and practice with the basic Educational Leadership Constituent Consortium (ELCC) standards together with suggestions for best practices in leading successful schools. This book should be read by future and current school administrators.
Hoyle, John, and Mario Torres. 2010. Six steps to preparing exemplary principals and superintendents: Leadership education at its best. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
Currently the only attempt at a complete analysis of today’s educational administration preparation programs, the work provides users with model degree plans, admissions criteria, a dissertation quality assessment instrument, model questions to assess student applicants, perceptions about the program, and recommendations for improvement. The book is a valuable resource for considering program standards, program delivery models, and program outcomes.
Marshall, Catherine, and Maricela Oliva. 2010. Leadership for social justice. 2d ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
The work is an excellent source to assist school leaders in assuring equitable practices for students and faculty. The authors are recognized authorities on this vital leadership issue. Professors will gain valuable ideas on preparing students who model social justice.
Pitner, N. J. 1988. School administrator preparation. The state of the art. In Leaders for America’s schools. Edited by Daniel Griffiths, Robert T. Stout, and Patrick B. Forsyth, 367–402. Berkeley, CA: McCutchan.
Pitner’s work was a catalyst in bringing change to administrator preparation. She described the weaknesses and made suggestions for improvement by recommending new skills, more rigorous curriculum, and greater focus on hands-on internship.
Strayer, George. 1923. Status of the superintendency. Washington, DC: National Education Association.
A first report on the preparation and job role of the superintendency in America in the 1920s.
Waters, J. Timothy, and Robert J. Marzano. 2006. School district leadership that works. The effect of superintendent leadership on student achievement. Aurora, CO: McREL.
This working paper is based on meta-analyses of research studies attempting to link superintendent leadership functions with student achievement. The authors site five district responsibilities: goal-setting processes, goals for achievement and instruction, board agreement with the goals, monitoring goals, and proper use of resources to support goals. Even though the findings are based on small correlations, they are important to stress in preparation programs.
Wong, Kenneth, and Anna Nicotera. 2007. Successful schools and educational accountability. Boston: Pearson.
This book is perhaps the best guide to assist professors in preparing future and current administrators with the knowledge and skills needed in accountability. The authors present very readable chapters on testing, disaggregating data, and applying the data for improvement in teaching and student learning.
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- Academic Achievement
- Academic Audit for Universities
- Academic Freedom and Tenure in the United States
- Action Research in Education
- Adjuncts in Higher Education in the United States
- Administrator Preparation
- Adolescence
- Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Courses
- Advocacy and Activism in Early Childhood
- African American Racial Identity and Learning
- Alaska Native Education
- Alternative Certification Programs for Educators
- Alternative Schools
- American Indian Education
- Art Education
- Artificial Intelligence and Learning
- Assessing School Leader Effectiveness
- Assessment, Behavioral
- Assessment, Educational
- Assessment in Early Childhood Education
- Assistive Technology
- Augmented Reality in Education
- Beginning-Teacher Induction
- Bilingual Education and Bilingualism
- Blended Learning
- Bullying
- Case Study in Education Research
- Changing Professional and Academic Identities
- Character Education
- Children’s and Young Adult Literature
- Children's Beliefs about Intelligence
- Children's Rights in Early Childhood Education
- Citizenship Education
- Civic and Social Engagement of Higher Education
- Classroom Learning Environments: Assessing and Investigati...
- Classroom Management
- Coherent Instructional Systems at the School and School Sy...
- College Admissions in the United States
- College Athletics in the United States
- Community Relations
- Comparative Education
- Computer-Based Testing
- Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Evaluating Improvement Net...
- Continuous Improvement and "High Leverage" Educational Pro...
- Counseling in Schools
- Creativity
- Critical Perspectives on Educational Innovation and Improv...
- Critical Race Theory
- Crossborder and Transnational Higher Education
- Cross-National Research on Continuous Improvement
- Cross-Sector Research on Continuous Learning and Improveme...
- Cultural Diversity in Early Childhood Education
- Culturally Responsive Leadership
- Culturally Responsive Pedagogies
- Culturally Responsive Teacher Education in the United Stat...
- Curriculum Design
- Data Collection in Educational Research
- Data-driven Decision Making in the United States
- Deaf Education
- Desegregation and Integration
- Design Thinking and the Learning Sciences: Theoretical, Pr...
- Development, Moral
- Dialogic Pedagogy
- Digital Age Teacher, The
- Digital Citizenship
- Digital Divides
- Disabilities
- Distance Learning
- Distributed Leadership
- Doctoral Education and Training
- Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in Denmark
- Early Childhood Education and Development in Mexico
- Early Childhood Education in Aotearoa New Zealand
- Early Childhood Education in Australia
- Early Childhood Education in China
- Early Childhood Education in Europe
- Early Childhood Education in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Early Childhood Education in Sweden
- Early Childhood Education Pedagogy
- Early Childhood Education Policy
- Early Childhood Education, The Arts in
- Early Childhood Mathematics
- Early Childhood Science
- Early Childhood Teacher Education
- Early Childhood Teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand
- Early Years Professionalism and Professionalization Polici...
- Economics of Education
- Education For Children with Autism
- Education for Sustainable Development
- Education Leadership, Empirical Perspectives in
- Education of Native Hawaiian Students
- Education Reform and School Change
- Educational Statistics for Longitudinal Research
- Educator Partnerships with Parents and Families with a Foc...
- Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
- Epistemic Beliefs
- Equity and Improvement: Engaging Communities in Educationa...
- Equity, Ethnicity, Diversity, and Excellence in Education
- Ethical Research with Young Children
- Ethics and Education
- Ethics of Teaching
- Ethnic Studies
- Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention
- Family and Community Partnerships in Education
- Family Day Care
- Federal Government Programs and Issues
- Feminization of Labor in Academia
- Finance, Education
- Financial Aid
- Formative Assessment
- Future-Focused Education
- Gender and Achievement
- Gender and Alternative Education
- Gifted Education
- Global Mindedness and Global Citizenship Education
- Global University Rankings
- Governance, Education
- Grounded Theory
- Growth of Effective Mental Health Services in Schools in t...
- Higher Education and Globalization
- Higher Education and the Developing World
- Higher Education Faculty Characteristics and Trends in the...
- Higher Education Finance
- Higher Education Governance
- Higher Education Graduate Outcomes and Destinations
- Higher Education in Africa
- Higher Education in China
- Higher Education in Latin America
- Higher Education in the United States, Historical Evolutio...
- Higher Education, International Issues in
- Higher Education Management
- Higher Education Policy
- Higher Education Research
- Higher Education Student Assessment
- High-stakes Testing
- History of Early Childhood Education in the United States
- History of Education in the United States
- History of Technology Integration in Education
- Homeschooling
- Inclusion in Early Childhood: Difference, Disability, and ...
- Inclusive Education
- Indigenous Education in a Global Context
- Indigenous Learning Environments
- Indigenous Students in Higher Education in the United Stat...
- Infant and Toddler Pedagogy
- Inservice Teacher Education
- Integrating Art across the Curriculum
- Intelligence
- Intensive Interventions for Children and Adolescents with ...
- International Perspectives on Academic Freedom
- Intersectionality and Education
- Knowledge Development in Early Childhood
- Leadership Development, Coaching and Feedback for
- Leadership in Early Childhood Education
- Leadership Training with an Emphasis on the United States
- Learning Analytics in Higher Education
- Learning Difficulties
- Learning, Lifelong
- Learning, Multimedia
- Learning Strategies
- Legal Matters and Education Law
- LGBT Youth in Schools
- Linguistic Diversity
- Linguistically Inclusive Pedagogy
- Literacy
- Literacy Development and Language Acquisition
- Literature Reviews
- Mathematics Identity
- Mathematics Instruction and Interventions for Students wit...
- Mathematics Teacher Education
- Measurement for Improvement in Education
- Measurement in Education in the United States
- Meta-Analysis and Research Synthesis in Education
- Methodological Approaches for Impact Evaluation in Educati...
- Methodologies for Conducting Education Research
- Mindfulness, Learning, and Education
- Mixed Methods Research
- Motivation
- Multiliteracies in Early Childhood Education
- Multiple Documents Literacy: Theory, Research, and Applica...
- Multivariate Research Methodology
- Museums, Education, and Curriculum
- Music Education
- Narrative Research in Education
- Native American Studies
- Note-Taking
- Numeracy Education
- One-to-One Technology in the K-12 Classroom
- Online Education
- Open Education
- Organizing for Continuous Improvement in Education
- Organizing Schools for the Inclusion of Students with Disa...
- Outdoor Play and Learning
- Outdoor Play and Learning in Early Childhood Education
- Pedagogical Leadership
- Pedagogy of Teacher Education, A
- Performance Objectives and Measurement
- Performance-based Research Assessment in Higher Education
- Performance-based Research Funding
- Phenomenology in Educational Research
- Philosophy of Education
- Physical Education
- Play
- Podcasts in Education
- Policy
- Policy Context of United States Educational Innovation and...
- Politics of Education
- Portable Technology Use in Special Education Programs and ...
- Pre-Service Teacher Education
- Problem Solving
- Productivity and Higher Education
- Professional Development
- Professional Learning Communities
- Program Evaluation
- Programs and Services for Students with Emotional or Behav...
- Psychology Learning and Teaching
- Psychometric Issues in the Assessment of English Language ...
- Qualitative Data Analysis Techniques
- Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Research Samp...
- Qualitative Research Design
- Quantitative Research Designs in Educational Research
- Race and Affirmative Action in Higher Education
- Reading Education
- Refugee and New Immigrant Learners
- Relational and Developmental Trauma and Schools
- Relational Pedagogies in Early Childhood Education
- Reliability in Educational Assessments
- Religion in Elementary and Secondary Education in the Unit...
- Researcher Development and Skills Training within the Cont...
- Research-Practice Partnerships in Education within the Uni...
- Response to Intervention
- Restorative Practices
- Scale and Sustainability of Education Innovation and Impro...
- Scaling Up Research-based Educational Practices
- School Accreditation
- School Choice
- School Culture
- School District Budgeting and Financial Management in the ...
- School Improvement through Inclusive Education
- School Reform
- Schools, Private and Independent
- School-Wide Positive Behavior Support
- Science Education
- Secondary to Postsecondary Transition Issues
- Self-Regulated Learning
- Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices
- Service-Learning
- Severe Disabilities
- Single Salary Schedule
- Single-sex Education
- Single-Subject Research Design
- Social Context of Education
- Social Justice
- Social Network Analysis
- Social Pedagogy
- Social Science and Education Research
- Social Studies Education
- Sociology of Education
- Standards-Based Education
- Statistical Assumptions
- Student Access, Equity, and Diversity in Higher Education
- Student Assignment Policy
- Student Engagement in Tertiary Education
- Student Learning, Development, Engagement, and Motivation ...
- Student Participation
- Student Voice in Teacher Development
- Sustainability Education in Early Childhood Education
- Sustainability in Early Childhood Education
- Sustainability in Higher Education
- Teacher Beliefs and Epistemologies
- Teacher Collaboration in School Improvement
- Teacher Evaluation and Teacher Effectiveness
- Teacher Preparation
- Teacher Training and Development
- Teacher Unions and Associations
- Teacher-Student Relationships
- Teaching Critical Thinking
- Technologies, Teaching, and Learning in Higher Education
- Technology Education in Early Childhood
- Technology, Educational
- Technology-based Assessment
- The Bologna Process
- The Regulation of Standards in Higher Education
- Theories of Educational Leadership
- Three Conceptions of Literacy: Media, Narrative, and Gamin...
- Tracking and Detracking
- Traditions of Quality Improvement in Education
- Transformative Learning
- Transitions in Early Childhood Education
- Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities in the Unite...
- Understanding the Psycho-Social Dimensions of Schools and ...
- University Faculty Roles and Responsibilities in the Unite...
- Using Ethnography in Educational Research
- Value of Higher Education for Students and Other Stakehold...
- Virtual Learning Environments
- Vocational and Technical Education
- Wellness and Well-Being in Education
- Women's and Gender Studies
- Young Children and Spirituality
- Young Children's Learning Dispositions
- Young Children's Working Theories