The School Administrator

September 2004EthicsAre codes enough to prevent the tarnishing of a profession?

Features

Ethics in the Superintendency
by Priscilla Pardini
A spate of recent news accounts about superintendents involved in acts of malfeasance brings new attention to the place of ethics today in school system governance.
Similar Reading: State Codes Adorn Office Walls, But Few Have Bite and Code of Ethics and If the Phone Don’t Ring … and Ethical Judgments in Public Service: Simplicity and Transparency and Better To Give Than To Receive?
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Board Ethics
by Paul Riede
Codifying appropriate behavior by school board members can be a divisive act in itself, but a number of local boards and their state associations are trying to do just that.
Similar Reading: New Jersey Cleans Up Its Ethics Act and Building an Ethical Board
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Captains of the Ships
by Robert J. Starratt
An allegory about moral leadership of school systems during times of turbulence by a professor at Boston College who has authored a new book on ethics among educators.read more | purchase issue
Hot Potato in the School Cafeteria
by Kate Beem
Should a school district contract with a private firm to run its food service operation? The answer doesn’t always come down to cost savings as recent experiences around the country suggest.
Similar Reading: A Menu for Success in the School Cafeteria and Competencies for Food Service Chiefs
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Profile

Leslie L. Daniels: A Blind Eye to Racism by Jay P. Goldman

He grew up in a segregationist community in Ole Miss and now runs a district divided by race, but Les Daniels refuses to let racism define his work.read more

Departments

Board-Savvy Superintendent

Management Oversight But Not Management by Donald R. McAdams

Some school boards, in their zeal to oversee management, slow down decision making, disempower the superintendent and undermine overall effectiveness. How can superintendents keep their boards from crossing the line?read more

Focuses

Communication: Time Savers for Handling Two Jobs at Once by David Stanfield

A former superintendent on how he kept his head above the stacks of paper while temporarily filling two top positions.read more

School Environment: Putting Staff No. 1 Connects Students by Jim Peters

Putting employees first has more to do with how they are treated every day than it does with special events and what they are paid, according to a former superintendent.read more

Instructional Leadership: Improving the Way We Observe Classrooms by Barbara A. VonVillas

A Rhode Island superintendent describes her district’s new tack in evaluating teachers and providing feedback.read more

Guest Columns

Can School Culture Change? by Paul Kelleher and Marya R. Levenson

A pair of former superintendents wonder whether efforts to change a school system’s work environment can really be institutionalized.read more

How Do We Find and Retain Superintendents? by Lance D. Fusarelli and Barbara L. Jackson

Five ideas from two researchers for making better, longer-lasting matches between school boards and their chief executives.read more

People

People by Sarah J. Noonan

News of career changes and the passing of an AASA past president plus the Sidelight shines on a Montana superintendent with a fascination for old school buses.read more

Tech Leadership

The Decisions We Make About Data by James F. Parsley

The author, honored for his technology accomplishments, says the emphasis must shift from enabling Internet access and business applications to systemic implementation of vertically aligned instructional technology solutions.read more

President’s Corner

Ethics and Community Values by Donald L. Kussmaul, president, AASA

Executive Perspective

The Samurai Superintendent by Paul D. Houston, executive director, AASA

Federal Dateline

The Federalism Debate by Terri Duggan Schwartzbeck, senior policy analyst, AASA

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