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This paper seeks to explore how principals use their time when the requirement exceeds the activities are desirable. In the scholarly debate it has been pointed out the heads think that too much time is devoted for the financial and administrative issues, or to solve acute problems. This means that there is not enough time to work with educational issues. The purpose of this paper is to clarify how principals use the time they have devoted for the educational area and what activities they prioritize. It will also increase the knowledge of reasons behind their prioritizing and reflect on some of the consequences. Results relate to the question if introduction of performance measures has increased a short-term perspective on student performance or if it works as a suitable tool for the principals to achieve the schools goals and to create more effective schools in the long run. The question if stakeholders can get required insight by the performance measures as they are designed today and if the principals got the right incentives is raised.

A quantitative approach is used and a mail questionnaire was distributed to the principals in all upper secondary schools in Sweden and a comparative cross-sectional study was conducted.

Principals’ perceptions suggest that, their prioritization when working with educational issues is influenced by a more short-term perspective and that they prioritize teaching, which have a much faster impact on student outcome, over long-term school development which facilitate the conditions for the former. These findings increase the insight into the need, for as well stakeholders as principals, to develop performance measures to stimulate change when needed.

These findings have implications on the direction of the development of performance measures. The result points out the lack of transparence for stakeholders and uncovers the need to know when change and long-term development is ongoing or not. The study show how principals need incentives for prioritizing these activities and that this can be done by the stakeholder by designing required measurements for as well teaching as long-term school development when change is needed or to maintain a successful process.

This paper fulfills an identified need to study how the performance measures of today can be complemented with measures for stakeholders for increased insight in ongoing activities with development and required change for long-term school success.

Describes how the changing educational environment demands continuous school‐based teacher education (SBTE) for school development, teacher effectiveness and quality assurance. Suggests that SBTE should help teachers and the school to perform technical, human, political, cultural and educational functions at five levels. Asserts that the functions of SBTE can contribute to the strategic management process, facilitate whole‐school development and enhance school effectiveness. Argues that a thorough understanding of the multi‐functions of SBTE is necessary for effective design and implementation of the content and activities of teacher education in school. Provides a comprehensive framework for practitioners and researchers to understand the complex nature and potential contribution of SBTE in both local and international contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of Swedish school leaders’ relational and management work orientation, in terms of both techno and socio structure dimensions. The background is the neoliberal policy regime, underpinned by OECD and PISA, and an increased focus on school leaders’ management work.

In total, 26 school leaders in a Swedish municipality were interviewed, and their responses were analysed to score their expressed orientations in terms of techno structure (object and formal) and socio structure (person and symbolic) dimensions.

The school leaders had predominantly formal work orientations, expressed in comments about organising teams, scheduling teacher meetings, shaping working routines in meetings, making plans and (in some cases) creating an infrastructure. Scores for object (goal and result) and symbolic dimensions of their management orientation were low.

The results suggest a need to increase Swedish school leaders’ attention to object aspects, and both person and symbolic aspects of the formal or organising dimension, of their work. They also indicate the importance of establishing and communicating core symbols in compulsory schooling, like democracy and equity, to avoid external accountability pressures instrumentally shaping schools’ management.

In contrast to previous research, the analysis indicates that Swedish school leaders have a predominantly formal and organising work orientation, frequently with little clear goal and results orientation, or attention to professional needs and motivations of the teachers (important aspects of person orientation).

Explores two interesting areas for understanding the changing roles of principals. Describes, first, some changes in the political structure and in the educational policy which make clear that primary and secondary school principals are confronted with a turbulent policy environment; second, during the last 20 years, schools and principals have been involved in so‐called large‐scale improvement projects. Using research data illustrates what the consequences are for principals, and how they restructure their activities. From these analyses, it is obvious that in the coming years principals are expected to legitimate their local policy.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of falling rolls on human resource management in local preschools in Hong Kong. It aims to argue that the developing role of leadership in creating a culture and procedures for collective participation in staff appraisal is important for human resource management in preschool settings.

With the aid of a case study, the paper illustrates and analyzes the policies and practices presently adopted by many preschool heads in the process of personnel management that may potentially affect the quality of education service.

This paper focuses on discussing the common practices used by many preschool heads in the field to handle staffing reduction. In particular, voluntary redundancy is perceived as an effective strategy to solve the problems of budget deficit. From the quality perspective, the strategy is based on individual decision but not on the teaching performance of staff members. This may have a negative impact on the quality of teaching and service.

Relatively little research on human resource management in preschools has been conducted in Hong Kong. The illustration of this case study follows other studies in the literature in revealing the important links between human resource management and school development. It is proposed that the management of professional knowledge embedded in teaching practices should be connected to the policy of staff appraisal in order to achieve better quality of service. Thus, the introduction of staff appraisal and collective participation in such processes is, by its nature, a political process. This paradigm shift creates a new agenda for leadership roles and requires a cultural change in preschool settings.

Reports on the evaluation of the European Network of Health Promoting Schools project in England, which concluded in March 1997. The Europe‐wide initiative aims to develop schools as settings for the promotion of young people’s health, encouraging innovative approaches and opportunities for pan‐European working. In England the project has been managed by the Health Education Authority, which commissioned an independent research agency, the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), to carry out the evaluation. Reports on the NFER’s evaluation of the impact of a co‐ordinated whole school approach to health education in 16 pilot and 32 reference schools. Presents highlights from the Final Research Report and accompanying Management Summary, including a case history of health promotion work carried out by special schools which took part in the project.

This paper aims to identify what counts as successful school leadership within a Norwegian context.

The paper uses multi‐site case study methods as a methodological approach. In selecting cases the first strategy included schools appointed as “good practice schools” by the Ministry of Education and Research. The second strategy was to obtain a desired variation based on different factors like school size and structure, rural/urban representation and principals' gender.

Leadership in the case schools are almost entirely practiced through collaboration and team efforts, and a learning‐centered approach is the focal point for the schools' philosophy as well as for its practice. Respect of the individual student and colleague in the building of professional communities of practice seems to be a guiding norm of conduct. In addition, school leaders that are successful in fulfilling a moral enterprise based on democratic principles and values, manage to deal with the types of dilemmas that are at the core of working with people in a school.

The study shows how successful leadership is an interactive process involving many people and players.

This paper seeks to explore how managing by objectives (MBO) has been adopted in Swedish schools and to reflect on some of the consequences in a longitudinal study. Results relate to whether introduction has increased student performance and whether it works as a tool for the principals to create more effective schools.

A comparative cross‐sectional study was made on the adoption of MBO as perceived by principals in upper secondary schools in Sweden. Initially, a mail questionnaire was distributed to every principal in Swedish upper secondary schools, which determined the extent to which mandated MBO practices were being implemented. Ten years later, the study was replicated, which made initial and subsequent practices comparable.

Principals' perceptions suggest that the effects of MBO have diminished over the ten‐year period. Ancillary measures of student performance correlated to MBO practices appeared statistically insignificant, or perhaps even negative. Thus, the change appears to have produced unimproved student performance, frustrated principals and perhaps somewhat less stressed teachers.

These findings have implications on the direction the management of upper secondary schools subject to central direction may take. Although MBO may improve efficiency in staff performance, it appears to have little effect on effectiveness, if student performance is used as a criterion.

Adoption measures of MBO have been obtained and associated with student performance for the first time.