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Updated Edition of Bestseller

Bringing Out the Best in Teachers

What Effective Principals Do

Third Edition
By: Joseph Blase, Peggy C. Kirby

Teachers reveal how principals can empower them to perform their best!

This third edition of the bestseller offers a wealth of first-person accounts drawn from hundreds of teachers who share the strategies of outstanding principals who influenced them. New material examines the original findings alongside recent literature on transformational leadership, school productivity, and adult learning, as well as ISLLC and ELCC standards. Such comparisons underscore the impact of school leadership practices that allow leaders to:

Use the power of praise
Influence others by using expectations and involvement
Encourage professional autonomy
Lead by standing behind
Use formal authority in a positive way

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781412965200
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2008
Page Count: 176
Publication date: July 23, 2008

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Author(s) Table of Contents Reviews

Description

"Reading this book is like having a conversation with several great colleagues sharing their ideas and expertise. The ideas and suggestions are clear, relevant, and doable. This book is inspiring!"
—Pam Newell Bradley, Principal
Irving Elementary School, Muskogee, OK

Teachers reveal how principals can empower them to perform their best!

What strategies do great principals use to influence teachers, students, and classroom instruction? This best-selling book by Joseph Blase and Peggy C. Kirby, now in its third edition, provides the answers from the teachers themselves.

New material in this revised edition compares the authors' original research findings with recent literature on transformational leadership, school productivity, and adult learning, as well as the ISLLC and ELCC standards. Such comparisons underscore the continued timeliness and timelessness of this teacher's-eye view of effective school leadership. The book offers strategies and related practices that allow leaders to

Use the power of praise
Influence others by using expectations and involvement
Encourage professional autonomy
Lead by standing behind
Suggest rather than direct
Use formal authority positively

Ideal for experienced or aspiring school principals, this enlightening and compact resource provides invaluable perspectives on how to motivate and inspire classroom teachers.

Key features

Easy-to-follow guidelines are included in each chapter. Strategies and related practices illustrate how to:

Use the power of praise
Influence by expecting and involving
Encourage professional autonomy
Lead by standing behind
Suggest rather than direct
Use formal authority positively

Author(s)

Joseph Blase

Joseph Blaseis a professor of educational administration at the University of Georgia. Since receiving his Ph.D. in 1980 from Syracuse University, his research has focused on school reform, transformational leadership, the micropolitics of education, principal-teacher relationships, and the work lives of teachers. His work concentrating on school-level micropolitics received the 1988 Davis Memorial Award given by the University Council for Educational Administration, and his coauthored article published in the Journal of Educational Administration won the W. G. Walker 2000 Award for Excellence. In 1999 he was recognized as an elite scholar, one of the 50 Most Productive and Influential Scholars of Educational Administration in the world. Blase’s books include The Politics of Life in Schools: Power, Conflict, and Cooperation (winner of the 1994 Critic’s Choice Award sponsored by the American Education Studies Association), Bringing Out the Best in Teachers (1994, 2000, 2008); The Micropolitics of Educational Leadership (1995), Empowering Teachers (1994, 2000), Democratic Principals in Action (1995), The Fire Is Back (1997), Handbook of Instructional Leadership (1998, 2004), Breaking the Silence (2003), and Teachers Bringing Out the Best in Teachers (2006). His recent research (coauthored with Jo Blase and Du Fengning, 2008), a national study of principal mistreatment of teachers, appeared in The Journal of Educational Administration. Professor Blase has published over 120 academic articles, chapters, and books.

Peggy C. Kirby

Peggy C. Kirby is a former professor of educational leadership and foundations, university research professor, and endowed professor for school improvement at the University of New Orleans, where she taught graduate courses in research and school leadership. She is a certified teacher and program evaluator in the state of Louisiana. Since receiving a PhD in educational administration in 1987, she hasinvestigated school-level factors, particularly leadership and governance, that influence student and teacher outcomes. She co-founded the Jefferson Community School, Louisiana’s first charter school that serves middle school students at risk of failure due to chronic discipline problems. She co-authored, with Vincent Anfara, Jr., Voices from the Middle: Decrying What Is, Imploring What Could Be (1999). Her research publications have focused on alternative middle schools, shared leadership, ethics in educational administration, charter schools, and classroom processes related to effective schooling, and have appeared in journals such as the American Journal of Education, the Journal of Educational Administration, and the Middle School Journal.

Kirby is now president of ed-cet, inc., an educational research, evaluation, and consulting firm based in New Orleans. Her clients include school districts in 12 states that received federal or state funds to improve instruction, leadership, and climate in their schools. She helped create the School Leadership Center of Greater New Orleans, which emphasizes cross-district collegiality, professionalism, and research-based school improvement. Through the center, she continues to assist school leaders in examining and implementing alternative forms of governance based on teacher empowerment.

Foreword to the First Edition by Arthur Blumberg

Foreword to the Second Edition by Roland S. Barth

Foreword to the Third Edition by Jackie Daniilides

Preface to the Third Edition

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

1. Principals and Their Effectiveness

2. The Power of Praise

3. Influencing by Expecting

4. Influencing by Involving

5. Granting Professional Autonomy

6. Leading by Standing Behind

7. Gentle Nudges: Suggesting Versus Directing

8. Positive Use of Formal Authority

9. Mirrors to the Possible

10. Conclusions, Caveats, and Challenges

Resource A: Research Methods and Procedures

References

Index

Reviews

"Reading this book is like having a conversation with several great colleagues sharing their ideas and expertise. The ideas and suggestions are clear, relevant, and doable. This book is inspiring!"

Pam Newell Bradley, Principal
Irving Elementary School, Muskogee, OK

"Blase and Kirby’s book serves as a constant reminder of the importance of improving and sustaining staff relations."

Lyndon Oswald, Principal
Sandcreek Middle School, Idaho Falls, ID

"Allows principals to make teachers feel appreciated and valued. The book includes everything you need to know about being a transformational leader in your school."

David Raleigh, Assistant Principal
Frankfort High School, KY

Other Titles in: Principalship | Staff Supervision / Evaluation / Retention

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Review Copies

This book is not available as a review copy.