Showcasing exemplary practices of school and district administrators, Decision Making in Educational Leadership covers issues concerning the role of emotion, ethical and legal ramifications, the use of data, and complexity in decision making.

A guide to decision making for school administrators.

This book presents insights into the experiences and perspectives of educators in formal positions of leadership involved in decision-making processes in an education system. Drawing on qualitative research conducted in the New Brunswick education system, the author identifies factors in the decision-making process which influence whether or not a decision is implemented. Probing what is required for effective decision-making, defined as decision-making that results in implementation, the book examines not only the role of formal educational leaders of schools (administrators) but also the roles played by district and department of education formal leaders. It uses five central themes that surfaced from research to develop a novel leadership model for ensuring implantation of decisions. These include knowledge and skill; collaboration and communication; balance of autonomy, accountability, and direction; political and bureaucratic considerations; and strong moral imperative. The newfound model is presented in the form of antecedent steps to the decision-making process. Extending the literature by offering new, empirically grounded insights for influencing the likelihood of implementation following a decision-making process, it will appeal to leaders, scholars, and students of educational leadership and reform.

Understanding Decision-Making in Educational Contexts presents 'problem cases' confronting school leaders in real settings, and illustrates the multiple approaches that school leaders draw upon to navigate complex and challenging decision-making contexts.

The fifth edition of the best-selling text, Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education, continues to address the increasing interest in ethics and assists educational leaders with complex dilemmas in today’s challenging, divided, and diverse societies. Through discussion and analysis, Shapiro and Stefkovich demonstrate the application of four ethical paradigms – the ethics of justice, critique, care, and the profession. After illustrating how the Multiple Ethical Paradigms may be applied to authentic dilemmas, the authors present cases written by graduate students, practitioners, and academics representing dilemmas faced by educational leaders in urban, suburban, and rural public and private schools and universities, in the U.S. and abroad. Following each case are questions that call for thoughtful, complex thinking and help readers apply the Multiple Ethical Paradigms to practical situations. New in the Fifth Edition are more than ten new cases that cover issues of food insufficiency, the pandemic’s effects on diverse school populations, a student’s sexual orientation, transgender students in the university, lock-down drills for young children, refugees in a Swedish school, boundaries in high school sports, generational differences in an adult diploma school, acceptance of animals on campus, and hate speech in the academy. This edition also includes teaching notes for the instructor stressing the importance of self-reflection, use of new technologies, and global appeal of ethical paradigms and dilemmas. This book is a critical resource for aspiring and practicing administrators, teacher leaders, and educational policy makers.

Pedagogically rich, demographically inclusive, and culturally sensitive, Ethical Decision Making in School and District Administration exposes educational leaders to an interdisciplinary array of theories from the fields of education, economics, management, and moral philosophy (past and present). Authors Paul A. Wagner and Douglas J. Simpson demonstrate how understanding key concepts can dramatically improve management styles and protocols. Key Features Contains numerous case studies that apply the book's concepts to relevant ethical issues faced by school administrators Reveals possibilities for thinking outside the box in terms of morally informed and effective leadership strategies aimed at securing organizational commitment and shared vision Presents multiple theories of ethics, demonstrating how they inform decision making and culture building in school districts Incorporates a range of in-text learning aids, including figures that clarify and critique ideas, a complete glossary, and end-of-chapter activities and questions

Our fifth book in the International Research on School Leadership series focuses on the use of data in schools and districts as useful information for leadership and decision making. Schools are awash in data and information, from test scores, to grades, to discipline reports, and attendance as just a short list of student information sources, while additional streams of data feed into schools and districts from teachers and parents as well as local, regional and national policy levels. To deal with the data, schools have implemented a variety of data practices, from data rooms, to data days, data walks, and data protocols. However, despite the flood of data, successful school leaders are leveraging an analysis of their school’s data as a means to bring about continuous improvement in an effort to improve instruction for all students. Nevertheless, some drown, some swim, while others find success. Our goal in this book volume is to bring together a set of chapters by authors who examine successful data use as it relates to leadership and school improvement. In particular, the chapters in this volume consider important issues in this domain, including: • How educational leaders use data to inform their practice. • What types of data and data analysis are most useful to successful school leaders. • To what extent are data driven and data informed practices helping school leaders positively change instructional practice? • In what ways does good data collection and analysis feed into successful continuous improvement and holistic systems thinking? • How have school leadership practices changed as more data and data analysis techniques have become available? • What are the major obstacles facing school leaders when using data for decision making and how do they overcome them?