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When assistant principals experience positive mentoring and professional development, they can obtain valuable knowledge and leadership skills from these learning opportunities. To better understand the formal and informal mechanisms assistant principals use to expand their knowledge and skills, the purpose of this paper is to examine important advice mentors provided for them and the professional learning activities that prepare them for their school leadership roles.

Semi-structured interviews with 69 elementary, middle, and high school assistant principals were conducted. Questions focused on the advice mentors have provided and significant learning experiences that have aided in their growth as school leaders.

Results reveal that assistant principals greatly appreciate insights from mentors about how to enhance decision-making skills, improve people and communication skills, reflect on their personal qualities and capabilities, and clarify their values and beliefs. Their preferred means for professional growth is to work with former and current administrators they trust and respect.

This study goes beyond examining the structural and procedural aspects of mentoring by describing highly valued advice provided by mentors affecting assistant principals’ professional development and growth. For mentoring to be effective, this study suggests that mentors should provide opportunities for assistant principals to develop their decision-making, people, and communication skills as well to clarify their personal capabilities, values, and beliefs.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how Robbins ES has sustained high academic performance over almost 20 years despite several changes in principals.

The paper analyzed longitudinal data based on: state-level academic and demographic data; two earlier studies of the school; and recent interviews with teachers, the principal, and parent leaders.

The analyses of these longitudinal data revealed four ongoing factors were responsible for sustained academic performance: high expectations, distributed leadership, collective responsibility for student performance, and data-based decision making. However, challenges that persistently confront Robbins staff include limited resources (e.g. technology and library materials), high mobility rate, and some cases of unsupportive parents.

This study adds to understanding how high-need urban schools can sustain high academic performance in spite of changes in principals, shifting community demographics, and high student mobility.

The Minnesota State University System's Project for Automated Library Systems (MSUS/PALS) is a fully integrated library system that serves over 150,000 patrons on a network of 53 state university, community college, private college, and state agency libraries throughout Minnesota.

Isolation is a word typically used to describe the role of the school principal. Although many in‐service training programmes for administrators strive to improve their leadership and management skills, few are aimed at reducing their isolation. However, Peer‐Assisted Leadership (PAL), a programme where principals shadow and interview peer partners, is intended to reduce isolation while improving observation and interview skills, building collegiality among peers and expanding leadership skills. An in‐depth description of PAL is provided, focusing on the researchbased origin of the programme, the training activities and the effects of the programme on participants. Principals who have participated in PAL remark that the programme validates many of their actions and attitudes, stimulates self‐reflective behaviour and creates an opportunity to try new ideas in a safe and non‐threatening environment. In addition, they report that their PAL experience continues to influence their actions and attitudes after their involvement in the programme ends. A thorough discussion of the key elements that contribute to the success of the programme is engaged in. These features include developing operational procedures and common language; creating a bond of trust between partners; providing a structure for reflecting on the programme′s process and content; and committing the necessary time for learning, applying and adapting new skills and thought processes.

The purpose of this review is to add to the discussion of assistant principals (APs), a position that has been under‐represented in the professional literature.

An extensive search was undertaken on assistant principals, vice principals, and deputy head teachers from various sources, including journals, conference papers, doctoral dissertations, ERIC documents, articles from professional publications and organizations, and relevant books and chapters. Each document was thoroughly analyzed and common themes were identified.

The assistant principalship is a unique entity because the position lacks a precise job description yet entails numerous tasks to ensure the success of a school. Although the assistant principal is a critical leader in schools, the position is underutilized and under‐researched. This review analyzes the roles, responsibilities, training, socialization, and typologies of the assistant principal.

As a result of this research, it is suggested that the role of the assistant principal needs to be reconfigured. Additional research is needed in the areas of training, professional development, and transition to the principalship.

This article presents a unique comparison of the roles of APs throughout the past 30 years both in the USA and abroad. In addition, after examining the lack of university training and professional development for the assistant principalship, suggestions are made as to how APs can be better prepared for this critical leadership position.

The hectic and fast‐paced nature of principals′ jobs often prohibits them from learning directly from their on‐the‐job experiences. Nevertheless, having the opportunity to observe and interview a peer partner can allow principals to become more knowledgeable and reflective about their practice as school administrators. One such programme that encourages knowledge generation and reflection is peer‐assisted leadership (PAL), where principals shadow one another and conduct reflective interviews. The increased self‐knowledge and knowledge of the role of school administrators which principals gain as they engage in personal and vicarious experiential learning is described. In addition, the programme encourages the integration of theory and practice as principals compare a conceptual frame‐work of instructional leadership with the observed realities of their jobs. Principals′ reactions reveal their concern about being isolated from other administrators, their need for information that is immediately relevant, their desire to use alternative observation and feedback strategies with teachers, their frustration as instructional leaders, and their concern with being unfairly criticised by their superiors and others.

Presents a study that verified the effects of the peer‐assisted leadership programme (PAL) on communication networks and professional isolation of educational managers. The study used a one‐group pre‐test post‐test design to test its hypotheses. The subjects were 41 educational managers from two school districts of the province of Québec, Canada. A first PAL group, from a suburban school district (n = 16), followed the programme in 1993‐1994. A second group (n = 25), from a rural school district of the northern part of Québec, participated in PAL in 1994‐1995. The study used the ÉSUL a validated French version of the University of California at Los Angeles loneliness scale, to assess isolation. A sociometric questionnaire inspired by the ones used by previous researchers was used to assess subjects’ informal networks. The results indicate that PAL significantly reduces professional isolation without greatly enhancing the extent of communication networks of participants.

An important function of mentoring is to assist protégés in becoming autonomous professionals who reflect and solve problems as experts. The emerging literature on information processing, reflective practice, and expertise indicates: experts solve problems differently than novices; and learners who participate in a structured instructional programme can learn these higher‐order conceptual skills. Based on these findings, examines the principles and practices of cognitive coaching as a viable means for mentors to use in developing the reflective and problem‐solving expertise of their protégés. Provides practical suggestions for how mentor/coaches can utilize reflective questioning strategies, clarify and probe responses, and take a non‐judgemental stance. Concludes with an overview of a training model which would prepare and support mentors in their attempt to assist protégés in becoming self‐directed, expert problem solvers.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for analysing and modelling detailed workflow of image‐guided interventions to facilitate simulation and the re‐engineering process for the development of new procedures in multi‐modal imaging environments.

The methodology presented includes a literature review on workflow simulation in surgery, focussing on radiology environments, an assessment of simulation tools, a data gathering and management framework and research on methods for conceptual modelling of the processes.

The literature review reveals that few authors attempted to analyse the phases within image‐guided interventions, and those that did, only did so partially. The framework developed for this work intends to fill the gap found in the survey. It allows the maintenance and management of large amounts of data, one of the most critical factors when modelling detailed workflow. In addition, selecting the appropriate simulation software plays an important role, saving time in later stages of the project.

The framework presented for endovascular interventions can be extended to other types of image‐guided interventions. Moreover, modelling the workflow processes in a modular way facilitates the re‐engineering process when integrating different imaging modalities during the same procedure.