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The job satisfaction and effectiveness of principals, the effectiveness of their schools, and relationships among those three variables were investigated by questionnaires and interviews involving elementary school teachers, principals, and area superintendents in Alberta. Job satisfaction of principals was closely associated with the effect of the job on their personal lives, and it was highest in respect of working relationships with teachers and students. An appropriate school climate emerged as the most important and most effective individual aspect of the performance of schools, but a multidimensional perspective was supported. Effective principalship was seen to encompass many high priority areas, and principals′ overall effectiveness related most strongly to their decision‐making effectiveness. Principals′ job satisfaction was only weakly associated with the effectiveness of schools and principals, but the two effectiveness variables were significantly related. Teachers and area superintendents tended to rate the effectiveness of schools less positively than did principals.

Some of the most crucial current issues in educational management are related to governance, effective schooling and performance indicators, conditions of employment of teachers, and in‐service education. For example, what different types of policy and operational decisions should be made by central, regional, and school bodies? What are the most important indicators of school performance that can be reliably assessed? How can we assure that teacher‐evaluation practices are conducted fairly and appropriately so that the interests of both teachers and students are served? How can schools effectively integrate their teaching and continual professional development activities so that minimal disruption occurs with student learning? These issues were identified during study leave in 1988‐89. Interviews were conducted with staff in universities, colleges, schools, government departments, research institutes, and local education authorities in several countries. The crucial nature of the issues was assessed by frequent attention to the intensity with which interviewees spoke about an issue, and the author′s subjective assessment.

Describes the perceptions of administrators of post‐secondary institutions in Alberta with respect to various aspects of the resource‐environment of their institutions. While administrators of post‐secondary institutions in Alberta are divided on the issue of government funding ideology, the vast majority of them agreed that the attitude of the government to funding was changing. Other problems of concern to these administrators include the lack of public awareness of the true situation in their institutions, the growing competition among post‐secondary institutions, and the unpredictable funding direction from the government. Recommends a clear funding direction with multi‐year budget plan and internal restructuring to prepare for an increasingly competitive environment.

Both the criteria which can be used to assess the effectiveness of schools and the means by which effectiveness can be increased have received considerable attention during the last two decades. These criteria have usually been shown to revolve around school climate, leadership, shared decision making, effective teaching, and parental and community involvement. However, identification of universal criteria has been criticised on grounds such as poor methodology, differences in context and culture, assumptions of causality, and neglect of the influence of the external environment. Primary schools have goals and styles of operation which contrast markedly with those of secondary schools. Using approaches which differed from those commonly used in effectiveness studies, two Alberta studies asked principals (headteachers) to identify items which were (a) critical for planning and (b) important for judging the overall effectiveness of primary schools. Emphasis was placed on climate, high expectations for students, leadership, the morale and satisfaction of staff and students, effective teaching and student attitudes.

This study was undertaken in 1971–72 to compare the proportions of staff in various types of positions in public K—12 education in two Australian states and two Canadian provinces. For reasons of accessibility of data, cost, travel time, and familiarity of the researcher with the systems, the Australian states of Victoria and Queensland and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia were selected as being representative of structurally “centralized” and “decentralized” educational systems. In addition, the study has as asociated objectives the comparison of (1) the proportions of salaries paid to personnel in various types of positions, and (2) the various administrative structures.

Explores the perceptions of junior high‐school principals about constraints on their leadership effectiveness and the overall effectiveness of their schools. Data were collected in Alberta, Canada, using a questionnaire completed by 87 per cent of the 108 junior high principals and an interview conducted with ten principals. The most frequently listed constraints on leadership effectiveness were inadequate funding, time taken dealing with problem students, and inadequate physical facilities, while the most frequently listed constraints on school effectiveness were financial support by the province, financial support by the school system, and ineffective provincial leadership. Different perceptions of constraints on effectiveness were associated with selected demographic variables including the number of years served as principal and the number of years the school had been in operation. Several constraint‐resolution strategies were recommended by respondents, including redistribution of budget allocations.

Describes a study which examined expectations for academic leadership of, and sharing of authority by, departmental heads in a community college, a technical institute, and a university in Alberta, Canada. Information was obtained from questionnaires completed by 20 deans, 123 incumbent department heads, and 17 faculty association executive members; and also from interviews with 17 department heads and three senior administrators. Several substantial differences were noted in the information provided by respondents classified by position and type of institution.

That there has been a flood of this type of case in recent years—a flood which shows no signs of abating —must be manifest to all. In a paper “Food Sampling: Changing Trends” presented to a Sessional Meeting of the Royal Society of Health last March, Dr. H. Amphlett Williams, public analyst, tabulated a comparison of prosecutions in England and Wales reported in this Journal for five years before the War (1936–40) with five years since (1956–60). This showed that in the first period, “foreign body” cases were non‐existent compared with 37 per cent of total cases reported in the second period. It also showed that cases concerned with adulteration were 39 per cent of the total and milks, in particular, 41 per cent compared with 12 and 16 per cent respectively for the post‐war period.

The unreflective adoption and use of technology by the police, combined with inadequate management, have helped to cause decline in the relations between the police and the public in Britain. Divides the recent history of the police into four periods: “traditional policing” (1945‐1960); “mechanized policing” (1960‐1972); “fire brigade policing” (1972‐1985); and “contemporary policing” (1985‐present). Traces the impact of technology on police practice and the contribution of management for each period. Argues that the development of reactive policing, following the adoption of cars and radios, disrupts the traditionally stable relations between the police and the public, and this is made worse by the administrative centralization subsequently adopted. The result has been widespread resentment of the police, and in some communities organized resistance to their initiatives. In the contemporary period, there are only the beginnings of the development of suitable management practice.

This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.