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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how principals and school supervisory authorities understand and use feedback from mandatory proficiency tests (VERA) in the low-stakes context of Germany. For the analysis, the authors refer to a theoretical model of schools that differentiates between Autonomous and Managed Professional Organisations (Thiel, 2008a).

The empirical basis of the qualitative research are contrastive case studies which are focusing on individual schools and on school supervisory authorities. The selection of cases was oriented on Theoretical Sampling according to Glaser and Strauss (2005). For the analysis, the authors used a sample of upper track secondary schools (Gymnasien), four from Berlin and five each from Thuringia, Brandenburg and Baden-Wuerttemberg. In total, the authors conducted 229 structured interviews over two periods in 19 schools with different protagonists on all levels of the educational system (principals, heads of subject departments, teachers and school supervisory officials). The interview data were descriptively analysed according to procedures of qualitative content analyses (Mayring, 2010).

The analyses show a clear tendency in the direction of the Autonomous Professional Organisation within the context of VERA. However, some principals reported activities according to a Managed Professional Organisation. The traditional decoupling remains and the supervisory authorities retain their picture of the individual school as an Autonomous Professional Organisation. Both levels have a major deficit in a competent use of VERA and lack profound experience with accountability and evaluation processes.

The sampling has certain restraints: schools of a particular type, few schools within one state, four of 16 states.

Even though German test-based school reforms have been in progress for one decade, systematic analyses of the reform’s relevance for leadership and for school supervisory authorities’ actions in a low-stakes context have not been conducted yet. The analysis meets this lack of research with an explorative reconstruction of principal leadership within the context of test-based school reform as well as the corresponding school supervisory officials.

The purpose of this contribution is to draw on several recent contributions from the Journal of Educational Administration to reflect on the relationship between school supervision and educational leadership.

The German context of school supervision was first laid out. A comparative analysis of all contributions was then performed against the backdrop of the German context.

One finding from the analysis of the relationship between school supervision and educational leadership from a German perspective is the need to have structures of (mandatory) further training and development in place at the level of school principalship and school supervision. These structures represent building blocks for capacity building and for shifting cultures over time. Without reliable vehicles of professional development for all concerned parties, both school supervisory authorities and principals risk staying stuck in old professional identities that no longer match their current missions or emergent national aspirations.

This paper sheds a light on the complex relationship between school supervision, school leadership and school performance. The findings from the papers analyzed for this paper point to issues which scholars have been pondering about for decades now: Can supervision and support be successfully implemented within one agency? How can a supervisory authority change its professional identity? What combination of supervision, support and space creates conditions favorable to successful educational leadership and school improvement?

A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that contract. When such a repudiation has been accepted by the innocent party then a termination of employment takes place. Such termination does not constitute dismissal (see London v. James Laidlaw & Sons Ltd (1974) IRLR 136 and Gannon v. J. C. Firth (1976) IRLR 415 EAT).

The purpose of this paper is to discuss recent developments in school developmental supervisory evaluation in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai in the Chinese Mainland.

The main research approach is qualitative, using documentary analysis and interviews of an inspector, principals and teachers from two primary schools.

There were perceived positive and negative impacts of school supervision and evaluation.

The paper highlights the implications for fostering a shared school‐government community of school supervision and evaluation, promoting a dynamic approach for addressing contextual differences as well as achieving better coherence among educational reform, supervision and evaluation policies.

In order to succeed in an action under the Equal Pay Act 1970, should the woman and the man be employed by the same employer on like work at the same time or would the woman still be covered by the Act if she were employed on like work in succession to the man? This is the question which had to be solved in Macarthys Ltd v. Smith. Unfortunately it was not. Their Lordships interpreted the relevant section in different ways and since Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome was also subject to different interpretations, the case has been referred to the European Court of Justice.

The purpose of this study was to describe effective clinical supervisory behavior as perceived by school principals and to contrast the findings with other current studies of clinical supervision. Three aspects of a principal's supervisory behavior were studied, the verbal behavior used by the principal with the teacher in post‐observation lesson analysis sessions, the basis of authority the principal had over the teachers, and the frequency of clinical supervisory behavior. Sixty‐five principals completed a Q‐sort that described eight different supervisors and rated them from most to least effective. Only the principal's supervisory verbal behavior was perceived as related to the perception of effective clinical supervision.

“All things are in a constant state of change”, said Heraclitus of Ephesus. The waters if a river are for ever changing yet the river endures. Every particle of matter is in continual movement. All death is birth in a new form, all birth the death of the previous form. The seasons come and go. The myth of our own John Barleycorn, buried in the ground, yet resurrected in the Spring, has close parallels with the fertility rites of Greece and the Near East such as those of Hyacinthas, Hylas, Adonis and Dionysus, of Osiris the Egyptian deity, and Mondamin the Red Indian maize‐god. Indeed, the ritual and myth of Attis, born of a virgin, killed and resurrected on the third day, undoubtedly had a strong influence on Christianity.

The paper’s aim is to consider how best to formulate sturdy regulatory frameworks for RegTech and SupTech. The paper appraises how key features of EU and UK regulatory and policy initiatives can contribute to a functional framework for RegTech and SupTech.

The paper refers to the most comprehensive empirical findings within the EU and the UK on RegTech and SupTech, including reports released by the European Banking Authority and the Bank of England. As data is only gradually becoming available about the true rate of adoption of RegTech and SupTech, the paper identifies salient areas that warrant analysis from emerging findings. In light of the relatively restricted sources of empirical data, the article’s methodological approach is directed towards the most wide-ranging and detailed sources that are currently available at EU and UK levels.

The paper reveals distinct variations in how the EU and UK have pursued regulatory approaches towards RegTech and SupTech growth. However, there are many shared features in the respective approaches. The paper argues that a regulatory framework should ideally be imbued with overarching strategies and policy objectives, as well as with practical measures through innovation facilitators, such as sandboxes. Yet, legislative (top-down) intervention will be the significant ingredient in guaranteeing legal clarity for RegTech and SupTech.

By understanding the nuances in EU and UK approaches, the paper advocates for pragmatic reasoning when formulating a regulatory response. The importance of the article is in its focus on the elements of EU and UK regulatory approaches that are most capable of guaranteeing clarity on standards relating to RegTech and SupTech. The paper makes a vital contribution to existing commentary by determining how a balance can be struck between “top-down” and “bottom-up” types of regulation (i.e. should regulation be entirely concerned with industry-driven standards, such as codes of conduct?).

For management development activities to be successful at the supervisory level, they must take note of the effects of organisational characteristics such as task structures, control systems and the allocation of authority. These needs are often neglected. A long‐term study of over 1,200 first‐line managers in Australia has shown that essentially two types of managers exist: “managerial” and “supervisory”. The former are younger, better educated and aspire to future careers in middle and higher management. The latter group are older, less formally educated and have spent most of their life on the factory floor. The “managerial” group are more technically qualified but lack experience and confidence in dealing with others. The “supervisory” group tend to highlight difficulties in dealing with rapid technological change and its effect on their role. Each group requires training and development which will complement their strengths and help overcome weaknesses.