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This paper is devoted to the topic of how mathematics might be more efficiently used in educational administration. The position taken here is that mathematics is a branch of philosophy whose subject matter is a set of abstract entities and identified operational rules. It is a vocabulary of symbols that can be used to label objects and, more importantly, a set of grammatical rules for using the vocabulary. The paper begins with a review of some recent developments reported in the social science literature on the uses of mathematics in political science, sociology and economics, and ends with some illustrations of how these developments could lead to similar applications in both the practice and theory domains of educational administration.

The management and leadership of education provide formidable challenges and new opportunities due to the constant changes taking place all over the world. There are several factors giving rise to this change, such as the relationship between education and the world of employment, and the ever‐expanding growth of knowledge and education technology. It is therefore not surprising that attention is currently being given internationally to the problems of educational administration. This article examines administration as a process, and the role of the educational administrator as a leader.

The purpose of this paper is to examine knowledge of strategy within the field of educational administration. It is intended to be the basis for future empirical research and inquiry into strategy in education by suggesting alternate ways of defining and researching strategy.

The study examines the contemporary context of educational administration, the evolution of strategy as an educational construct, its definition and need within educational administration. Using this information the author identifies key conceptual and methodological issues in current research.

The paper finds that knowledge of strategy in education is incomplete and muddled because research and writing in the field have approached strategy from a narrow and conceptually flawed position.

The advancement of knowledge in the area will only advance with alternate conceptualisations and methodological approaches.

Rather than merely review literature, this paper proposes a redefinition of strategy as an educational administration construct, focusing on key features not words and actions. The hope is that fellow scholars and practitioners will continue to question and focus on the key features of strategy and the issues that confront them.

Social and educational planning has often been characterized by limited vision, short time frames, and consideration of only a limited number of variables. Many current futurists and planners ignore the possibility that the future might be other than a linear extrapolation of the past and present. Educational leaders should be proactive rather than reactive. Training in and experience with value clarification, normative forecasting, consensual validation processes, Delphi, trend analysis and design can provide educational leaders and planners with needed competencies in design, analysis, collaborative processes, and systems planning from a holistic perspective. Since 1970, the Educational Administration and Planning Program of the College of Education at the University of Vermont has included a seminar entitled “Future Cognition and Planning” which has been constructed around the above concepts and processes. In this article the professors who designed the seminar describe its components, its impact on students, its place in a preparation program for administrators and planners, and its value as an instructional process.

An analysis of the equity promotion and diversity preservation efforts made in India since independence and a critical appraisal of their impact is presented. It identifies the challenges confronting educational administrators who have to implement the programmes devised to keep the equity‐diversity balance that policy requires.

Discusses the tasks facing educational management in India resulting from demographic change, social demand for education and economic need for trained manpower. Attempts to develop a social paradigm for the year 2000 and beyond that reflects concerns about the strength of India′s democracy and secularization, as well as more immediate practical challenges.

The purpose of this study is to examine principal succession planning and management by analyzing current practices of handling school leader succession in four Georgia school systems.

Looking through the lens of organizational leadership succession theory, the practices of school systems as they experienced changes in school leadership were examined. Participants included superintendents, assistant superintendents, other central office leaders, and principals. A multiple‐case approach was selected with semi‐structured interviews providing the major source of data.

Findings suggest the following: there is a difference in the sense of urgency for the planning and management of the succession of principals; the development of aspiring leaders was identified as a critical component of planning and management of succession; mentoring was an essential practice through the succession process; and reliance on collaborative partnerships with outside organizations was highly valued.

The implications of the study include a call for further research to determine the differences in leader succession planning and management needs related to the varying contexts. In addition, the study implies that building collaborative partnerships with university preparation programs and other external professional development organizations may assist systems in the planning and management of principal succession.

The originality of this study stems from the lack of literature that directly examines the experiences and practices of principal succession. The findings can inform school system leaders of succession planning and management issues and practices that exist in the four systems studied. As leadership becomes more recognized for its impact on student achievement and school performance, it is imperative that succession is managed and planned to ensure sustainability and effectiveness.

This paper examines characteristics of three main education sub‐systems: the policy formation system, the management or control system and the implementation system. In the policy formation system the main features are: intangibility of some education goals; lack of means‐ends continuum; inconsistency of goals; external dominance; the role of management and of teachers in education policy formation; value judgements; lack of feedback; heuristic processes; and incrementalism. Characteristics of the management system include: internal and external constraints; flat hierarchy; bases of authority; conflicting role demands; lack of colleague control; bureaucratic rules; size of staff; feminization; and management self‐image. Implementation system features are: organization of small symmetric sub‐units; organizational implications of goal conflict; compulsory attendance of clients; cognitive vs. emotive functions; resulting tensions and conflicts; sub‐cultures; clients' vulnerability; differential treatment of clients; obstacles to output measurement; and implication of measurement difficulties. The last section points out some implications of the analysis which seem to indicate similar and increasingly important developments in other public service bureaucracies. These include: diffuse and intangible goals; value sensitivity; high cost and external dominance; client service and client dependence; obstacles to output measurements; professionalization and feminization.

The purpose of this research is to identify some determinants of rural‐urban disparity in the implementation of decentralised educational management programmes in Nigeria.

The study examines how political leadership's disposition to decentralised educational management, allocation of funds and physical facilities established for decentralised educational management programmes differ in rural, suburban and urban communitites of Nigeria. Employing a survey design, the study uses national survey data on educational statistics and planning of the Federal Ministry of Statistics, in addition to the administration of questionnaires to 200 key stakeholders in educational management. Sampled groups included political leaders, policy makers in educational administration, traditional rulers, women leaders, leaders of different unions and the youths.

Data collected were analysed using comparative means and findings show that several facts are responsible for the reported disparity between rural, suburban and urban communities in the implementation of educational decentralization programmes. These factors ranged from inequitable distribution of physical facilities, to poor leadership disposition, to decentralised educational management functions.

The implication of the findings from this study is that in spite of the rhetorics of universalisation of educational developments, national policies and attitude towards implementation of decentralised management reform programmes is still low, particularly in rural and suburban communities.

Hopefully, findings from this study would provide practical solutions to existing disparity between rural, suburban and urban communities in the implementation of educational decentralization programmes in Nigeria, since some of the impending factors for current disparity have been identified in this study.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of administration and faculty members in developing character education within public and private universities in Kuwait. It further aims to explore the value of character education in effecting the quality experience of higher education.

The researchers employed a quantitative research paradigm, using a questionnaire survey method to collect data from faculty members at major public and private Kuwaiti universities. They used Statistical Package for the Social Sciences to analyze a total of 298 questionnaires.

The findings revealed that universities do indeed play a “strong” role in student character education. However, within public universities, it is the faculty themselves who form the key ingredient in the process rather than the administrative body, which is perceived to have a “Medium” effect. Conversely, at private universities, the administration and faculty both merited a “strong” role in developing character education.

The study will provide leaders with several recommendations to improve the integrated development of universities through fostering character education.

While K-12 education has received significant attention regarding the moral and character development of students over the last few decades, this study, extends this research significantly into higher education; focusing upon character development at university and comparing its implementation at both public and private institutions.