Leading From Below the Surface

Theodore B. Creighton is currently a Professor and Program Leader in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Virginia Tech. Prior to joining the faculty at Virginia Tech, he served as Director of the Center for Research and Doctoral Studies in Educational Leadership at Sam Houston State University and as a Professor in Educational Leadership at Idaho State University. His background includes teaching at all grade levels in Washington, D.C.; Cleveland, Ohio; and Los Angeles, California. His administrative experience includes serving as principal and superintendent in both Fresno and Kern Counties, California. He holds a BS degree in teacher education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a master′s degree in educational administration from California State University Long Beach, and a doctorate from the University of California Davis. Though active in many professional organizations, he devotes considerable time to his role as Executive Director of the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration. He also serves as a member of the National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA), and as a Stafford Faculty Fellow for the National Institute on Leadership, Disabilities and Students Placed at Risk (NILDSPAR). He recently was appointed as Project Director of the Connexions Knowledge Base Project, an international initiative in collaboration with Rice University charged with assembling the knowledge base in educational administration. His research includes examining the forces of the school principalship, and he is widely published in the area of schools with alternative forms of school leadership.

• PrefaceWhat This Book Is Not AboutAcknowledgmentsAbout the Author1. IntroductionFirst, What Is the Surface?OK, Now What Does "Below the Surface" Mean?Leadership Is Both Objective and Subjective2. What Does Traditional Leadership Look Like, andHow Did We Get Here from There?Behavioral LeadershipSituational LeadershipContingency Leadership TheoryPath-Goal Theory of LeadershipTransformational Leadership TheoryA Conceptual Framework for Leading From Below the Surface3. What Is Leading From Below the Surface?Bending the Rules Without Breaking ThemManaging Your Portfolio of Political CapitalBourdieu and Capital4. Evidence-Based Decision MakingBelow the Surface: Data- or Evidence-Based?Data-Driven vs. Evidence-Based Decision MakingAttendance Rates vs. Absence RatesNarrowing the Achievement GapDropout Rate: 2% or 28%?Concluding Thoughts5. Institutional Effectiveness vs. StrategyA Closer Look at StrategyHow Does Strategy Relate to School Leadership?Describing the StrategyIdentifying Positive and Negative Forces6. Cooperation vs. CollaborationClosing Thoughts7. Looking Beyond the ObviousFrom Superintendent to Secretary of EducationThe SAT StoryNot Settling for Embroidering the EdgesConcluding Thoughts8. Creating Leadership Behaviors: A Leadership Practice FieldOK, On to a Leadership Practice FieldDefining a PracticeA Practice Field Further DefinedPracticing Leading From Below the SurfacePracticing ListeningPracticing Respecting9. Implications for Practicing School AdministratorsAccountabilityLeading From Below the SurfaceThe Disjuncture Between Societal Use and School Use of TechnologyThe Virtual ClassroomReferencesIndex

"Creighton gets leaders to look further and more deeply at what is going on within an organization. He clearly demonstrates that looking ‘below the surface’ at motivations, struggles, and challenges is imperative."