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The aim of the present study was to measure the effects of a management training course on the work behaviour of a group of scientists and technicians who performed supervisory roles within their organisations. A matched control group consisted of non‐trainees who were scheduled to take part in similar courses in the future. The study was designed to determine whether the observed changes in behaviour were due to the training course itself or to other factors operating within the work environment, and for this reason, a no‐training control group was employed as well as measures of organisational climate. Both self reports and the assessment of the subjects' superior officers were recorded. A longitudinal design evaluated effects on trainees work behaviour at three, six and 12 months following training. Moderate effects were observed throughout the follow‐up period although some gradual fall‐off in behaviour occurred. Both qualitative and quanitative aspects of the observed changes were examined. In addition to measuring actual changes in behaviour, immediate post‐training intentions were compared with post‐training outcomes. Personal characteristics of age, tenure and leadership experience were not found to be significantly related to behavioural changes at work.

Achieving the elimination of racial differences in test performance, as set forth in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), requires education policies that engage the reality that African American test performances are not only about race but also about gender and residential status. In an effort to inform education policymaking with research that explores race–gender and residential inequality, I assess the growth of reading gaps in school and non-school contexts using a national and city sample of children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal, Kindergarten Cohort 1998–1999. I found that inequality in test performances was greater in the city than elsewhere, and African American boys shoulder a disproportionate educational burden related to city residency and enrollment in city schools. Additionally, children in city neighborhoods – where drugs and burglary are big problems – experience large shortfalls in reading in school and non-school contexts. I conclude with a discussion of the study’s implications for future educational policy, practice, and research, especially NCLB, which mandates that public schools achieve parity among racial groups by the end of the 2013–2014 academic year.

Leadership and management are concepts regularly used in organizational change and reform literature. This is particularly evident in educational settings and oftentimes understood as interchangeable. The school administrator is considered a leadership position, as is department chair in an institution of higher education. Yet, most are engaged daily in management tasks with little to no time spent on leadership (Bush, 2008). In higher education, the complex role of department chair necessitates a multi-task oriented individual (Hecht, Higgerson, Gmelch, & Tucker, 1999) who can both serve and coordinate multiple constituencies and ultimately balance the role of chair with the continuing roles of teacher and scholar. Although they are pulled in many directions there may be no more important leadership position in the institution for those interested in affecting the future of young people as well as their colleagues. In this chapter we discuss the commonalities and differences between leadership and management across the PreK-16 continuum; present the general roles and responsibilities of school-based administrators and university-level department chairs, and; compare leadership readiness and transition processes of school-based and university-level department chairs. Implications for theory and practice are presented.

Management training ranks among some of the most common approaches used to bring about organisational change and development. The goals of such training include improving organisational effectiveness and improving the lot of employees so that they become more satisfied, more productive and more affluent. Given its importance to both individual employees and the organisation, it is asserted that the impact of management training programmes should be assessed to determine whether the large expenditure of time and money invested in them is justified and to provide the basis for well‐informed decisions concerning their future improvement. According to writers like Hamblin, evaluation should be thought of as an integral part of the total training system and should include the measurement of outcomes at a number of levels, including trainees' reactions, immediate changes in knowledge, skills and attitudes, intermediate effects on job behaviour and ultimate level of organisational effectiveness outcomes. It may not be possible to measure all levels of training within a single study, but an attempt should be made to measure effects at least up to the intermediate job performance stage, and for this to occur, it is necessary to employ a longitudinal design with measurements taken before, and at several points after, training. In the report which follows, changes in knowledge or understanding following a management training course are assessed.

This study was conducted as the first stage of a project to evaluate a management training course designed especially for a group of research scientists and senior technical staff employed by several government and quasi‐government organisations engaged in scientific and industrial research. The training courses had been instituted two years previously for the purpose of preparing these senior scientists and technicians for the administrative and managerial duties associated with their positions as section, group or project leaders of research teams.

This chapter features leadership practices sourced from more than 25 Māori (Indigenous) and non-Māori women in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) who are leaders of schools where Māori-based best practices benefit Māori and other systemically underserved students (e.g., children in poverty, Pasifika [i.e., Samoan, Fijian, Cook Island, Tongan] descent). This study, by Auckland-based scholars of North American, Indigenous, and international descent (Māori, Latino, African American/American Indian [Choctaw], and East Indian immigrant) examines the expression of Applied Critical Leadership (ACL) in women leaders participating in Te Ara Hou or The Māori Achievement Collaboratives (MACS), an initiative aimed at challenging status quo leadership practices, which result in persistent inequitable educational outcomes for Māori learners. Based on an analysis of data, women leaders demonstrated leadership that mirrored and exemplified leadership practices suggested in ACL research. Qualitative stories evidenced from women leaders in MACS provided exemplars of authentic and appropriate pathways for implementing effective leadership practices aimed at promoting whānau (family), iwi (tribe), and hapū (subtribe) engagement, context-specific pedagogy, tikanga (cultural protocols), and whanaungatanga (relationships) within mainstream school contexts. These findings affirm and validate research on the benefits of critical and culturally appropriate leadership around the world in a number of diverse contexts.

Within the past twenty years, the transition to adulthood has become a burgeoning area of research. The status attainment process, an early model for transition to adulthood research, has given way to research focusing on singular outcomes such as completing formal education, leaving home, obtaining employment, forming a union through marriage or cohabitation, and becoming a parent. As young adults continue to delay family formation, some argue that one’s first experience of heterosexual intercourse is also a symbol of adult status (Meier, 2001). Although most scholars agree that these outcomes along with chronological age symbolize being an adult, relatively few empirical studies examine them as inter-dependent transitions. A recent comparison of these indicators by gender, race, and social class is also needed.

This chapter examines our leadership journey as Black female social justice leaders and culturally responsive leaders from the Caribbean Diaspora in Canada. Borrowing from Mullen, Fenwick, and Kealy (2014) and Campbell’s (2008) notion of leadership as a journey, we critically examine what it means to navigate educational leadership contexts. Through our lived experiences as racialized leaders, border crossing spaces and cultures, and with a deep sense and agency to resolve social inequities and injustice we critically gaze at our leadership contexts. This chapter examines ways we, as critical leaders, challenge inequities, issues of power and marginalization, and find transformative actions and purpose by critically reflecting on our leadership journey. This work will add to the educational leadership discourse by positing ways that leaders can develop agency and engage in leadership that is transformative – bringing theory into action.