A Ten-Minute Approach to Educational Leadership

A Handbook of Insights for All Level Administrators

Robert Palestini Ed.D

Educational leaders and aspiring leaders are constantly searching for ways to improve the functioning of their institutions. This book provides them with a unique approach to diagnosing a school, school system or college’s organizational health and determining what interventions might be necessary to improve their operations.

Each chapter of the book is dedicated to one of the ten essential components of an organization like a school, school system or university. Most of the content of each chapter focuses on the implementation of these components, but there is some emphasis on the supporting theory that speaks to why these leadership practices actually work. We know that administrators are busy people; therefore, at the end of each chapter there is a Diagnostic Checklist of questions that should be helpful in quickly assessing the status of these components in an institution and indicating whether they need to be addressed. In the Appendix, there are two diagnostic instruments; Heart Smart surveys I and II that will help in quantifying the assessment process so that the weaknesses can be easily identified and quickly corrected.

R&L Education

Pages: 120 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-1-4758-0304-4 • Hardback • September 2013 • $59.00 • (£45.00)

978-1-4758-0305-1 • Paperback • September 2013 • $35.00 • (£27.00)

978-1-4758-0306-8 • eBook • September 2013 • $33.00 • (£25.00)

Subjects: Education / Leadership

A Ten-Minute Approach to Educational Leadership

A Handbook of Insights for All Level Administrators

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Educational leaders and aspiring leaders are constantly searching for ways to improve the functioning of their institutions. This book provides them with a unique approach to diagnosing a school, school system or college’s organizational health and determining what interventions might be necessary to improve their operations.

Each chapter of the book is dedicated to one of the ten essential components of an organization like a school, school system or university. Most of the content of each chapter focuses on the implementation of these components, but there is some emphasis on the supporting theory that speaks to why these leadership practices actually work. We know that administrators are busy people; therefore, at the end of each chapter there is a Diagnostic Checklist of questions that should be helpful in quickly assessing the status of these components in an institution and indicating whether they need to be addressed. In the Appendix, there are two diagnostic instruments; Heart Smart surveys I and II that will help in quantifying the assessment process so that the weaknesses can be easily identified and quickly corrected.

Details

R&L Education

Pages: 120 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-1-4758-0304-4 • Hardback • September 2013 • $59.00 • (£45.00)

978-1-4758-0305-1 • Paperback • September 2013 • $35.00 • (£27.00)

978-1-4758-0306-8 • eBook • September 2013 • $33.00 • (£25.00)

Subjects: Education / Leadership

Author

Robert H. Palestini is graduate dean and professor educational leadership emeritus at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is also the Founding Executive Director of the Educational Leadership Institute and Center for Urban and Catholic Education at SJU. In his fifty years in the field of education, he has been a science teacher and varsity basketball coach, principal, and superintendent of schools.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1 One-Minute Assessment of Organizational Structure
2 One-Minute Assessment of Organizational Culture
3 One-Minute Assessment of Organizational Leadership
4 One-Minute Assessment of the Motivational Process
5 One-Minute Assessment of the Communication Process
6 One-Minute Assessment of the Decision Making Process
7 One-Minute Assessment of the Conflict Resolution Process
8 One-Minute Assessment of the Empowerment Process
9 One-Minute Assessment of the Strategic Planning Process
10 One-Minute Assessment of the Change Process
11 One-Minute Assessment of Leading with Heart
12 What Have We Learned?
Appendix: Heart Smart Surveys I & II
References
About the Author

Reviews

In A Ten-Minute Approach to Educational Leadership Dr. Robert Palestini presents us with a unique approach to improving our institutions, making them welcoming places where teachers want to teach and students want to learn. By systematically assessing and analyzing ten essential components of a school, school system, or college, he provides leaders and aspiring leaders with a guide that will simplify their efforts to diagnose their institutions’ weaknesses and prescribe interventions that will remediate them. An analytical tool in the form of Heart Smart surveys I and II is provided to help administrators more effectively engage in their organizational development efforts. This is a book that every administrator should consider adding to her or his professional library.
— Gail Avicolli, principal, Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School

Dr. Robert Palestini continues to inform our profession, practice, and person with clearly defined diagnostic tools supported by theoretical constructs for organizational health and effectiveness. Decades of experience represented and reflected on in A Ten-Minute Approach to Educational Leadership assist educational leaders with awareness, understanding, maintenance, and improvement of their organizations’ culture and attention to mission.
— Samuel Lee, EdD, superintendent, Bristol Township School District

Leaders seeking to improve on how their educational institutions function will be well-advised to consider Dr. Robert Palestini’s newest book, A Ten-Minute Approach to Educational Leadership: A Handbook of Insights for All Level Administrators. This leadership handbook provides educational administrators at all levels with a valuable guide for addressing the organizational weaknesses in their institutions and turning them into strengths. His diagnostic approach to school improvement can make a real difference in the smooth operation of a school, school system, or university.
— Greg Dell’Omo, president, Robert Morris University