Table of Contents Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ......................................................x
Introduction ...............................................................xi

1 Adapting Theory to Practice, Sally J. Zepeda .....................1
The significance as well as the organization of the book is offered to help the reader see the practical applications of the research to practice.

2 Connecting the Past to the Present: The Impact of Principals' Past Supervisory Experiences as Teachers on Current Super- Visory Practices, Lisa M. Vaughn ..................................7
The impact of principals past supervisory experiences as teachers on their current supervisory practices is examined. Although the principals remember "vividly" negative exper- iences, the principals imitate positive supervisory behaviors from their pasts. This study emphasizes the importance of reflection and the power of how positive and negative mo- deling can have in the life and growth of school leaders.

3 Honoring the Voices: Perspectives of Veteran Teachers Regarding Instructional Supervision, Julie Baker Van Soelen ....29
Veteran teachers share their experiences with instructional supervision, reflect on events that were effective for their professional learning, and report on self-initiated activities that help them maintain their edge in the classroom. The current supervisory practices of veteran teachers are reported to be unrelated to professional growth.

4 The Perspectives of Veteran High School Teachers Participating in a Voluntary Peer Coaching Program, Lea Arnau ..................51
What would cause veteran teachers to initiate and to direct their own professional learning? At one urban high school, veteran teachers volunteer to participate in a peer coaching program. Though it is more work for them, the opportunity to gain self-determined, meaningful feedback and to direct their own learning provide motivation for these teachers to grow professionally.

5 Instructional Supervision: Perspectives of Middle School Fine Arts Teachers, Marcus D. Beaver ...................................71
Six middle school fine arts teachers relate their experiences with instructional supervision and describe what they need and want from their instructional supervisors. Instructional supervisors must understand the "world of the fine arts class- room," narrow the gap between the ideal and what is practiced, and be trained to observe fine arts classrooms with a "larger lens" in light of accountability concerns.

6 Superivsion of Itinerant Teachers: Perspectives From Itinerant Teachers and Those Who Supervise Them, Brad N. Benson ............89
Nine itinerant teachers and four administrators report per- ceptions of the supervision of itinerant teachers. They agree on the importance of supervision for itinerant teachers, but there are gaps in the comparative understanding of the conditions of itinerancy and the requirements for effectively supervising them.

7 Instructional Supervision and Gifted Education: Elementary Teachers; Perspectives, Patricia Williams Bentley .......................................107
Four elementary teachers in a gifted program share perspectives about supervision. The major theme was an overall lack of super- vision. Other concerns include lack of instructional guidance, little input in the gifted education program, confusion with mul- tiple supervisors, administrators with little knowledge of the gifted program, and supervision as evaluation.

8 Rural Middle School Principals' Perspectives of Supervision and Evaluation as They Implement a Recent Statewide Reform Initiative, Charlotte King Eady ...................................................127
Three rural middle school principals share their perceptions about teacher supervision and evaluation as they implement mandated reform. The principals believe teacher effectiveness could be assessed solely by standardized test results, supervision consists of classroom visits, and ruralness affects the delivery of staff development.

9 Teacher Perspectives of How High-Stakes Testing Influences Instructional Decisions and Professionalism, Brenda C. Schulz ...............................145
The perspectives of six National Board Certified teachers confirm that high-stakes testing is negatively affecting their instructional decisions. Additionally, the extreme pressure of high-stakes testing have stymied the development of the teachers’ sense of profession- alism to a point that the greater goals of teaching and learning are not being valued.

10 A Study of Superintendents’ Practices of Principal Supervision and Evaluation: A Contrast of Low Performing and Performing Schools, Mike Mattingly .........................................................................167
With the increasing demand for principals to ensure their school avoids the label of low performing, can principals count on superintendents to supervise and evaluate them any differently when their school is per- forming versus low performing? This chapter explores supervisory and evaluative practices of superintendents. Some findings reveal superintendents start placing greater emphasis on a principal’s school improvement planning processes, the school improvement plans, and begin to monitor more closely the work of principals after their school becomes low performing.

11 High School Department Chairs, Instructional Leadership, and Change, R. Stewart Mayers ..................................................................185
Five high school department chairs share their struggles to emerge as leaders during a major change initiative, a move to a block schedule. The struggles include inconsistencies between admini- strative expectations and duties required by policy, time consuming clerical work, and administrative mandates.

12 Instructional Supervision and the Role of High School Department Chairs, Bill Kruskamp .............................................................203
The perspectives of three urban high school department chairs and instructional supervision are examined. Findings indicated: 1) the chairs experienced role conflict and ambiguity, 2) the meaning of instructional supervision was intuitive and reflected differentiated approaches, and 3) constraints, namely time and lack of emphasis, created obstacles.

13 A Case Study of the Perspectives of Three First-Year Teachers and Their Mentors on Mentoring Through the Use of Electronic Mail, Danny Evans ...223
Three mentors and first-year teachers share perspectives about the use of electronic mail. Although there was support for the use of tech- nology to increase communication, issues related to the possible misuses, face-to-face contact, adequate technological resources, and confidentiality are discussed. Electronic mentoring is a process which must be studied further and implemented carefully.

14 Building Learning Communities in Urban Schools Through Professional Learning and Supportive Leadership, Sally J. Zepeda, Ed Bengtson, Lea Arnau, and Meca B. Mohammed .....................................................239
How is professional development challenged by the context of urban schools? This chapter explores the nature of urban schools and suggests that learning communities, expected and monitored by leadership, are one means of ensuring high quality professional learning. Challenging such leadership is high teacher turnover, large schools, and few resources.

15 Hearing the Voices From the Field: Lessons Learned Along the Way, Sally J. Zepeda ..........................................................................251
Analysis and final perspectives are offered. The meta-message is that there is hope for the future of instructional supervision as a means to improve teacher quality and to promote the growth and development of teachers.

About the Authors ...............................................................................265

Index