Leadership Matters: Advancing Issues of Equity, Engagement, and Excellence in the Study of Educational Leadership

Abstract

While issues of education reform and improving schools have long focused on the decisive role of the teacher, the critical role of the school leader has gained increasing attention in the public sphere, given shifts in federal edu- cation pohcy that have focused more explicitly on the importance of great teachers, as well as great leaders. As a result, research on educational lead- ership affirms that leadership matters and sets the scope, structure, and sequence of student learning and academic programmatic delivery (Brown & Hunter, 2006). The question facing all professional educator preparation programs is, what kind of leaders are we producing? It is important for schools, colleges, and departments of education to demonstrate the effectiveness and utility of their professional leader- ship preparation programs. The public vilification of schools and student achievement portend a unique opportunity to delineate the complex nature of our work. The piupose of this special issue of the Joumal of School Leadership is to expand the knowledge and research base on issues of educational equity, community engagement, and academic excellence as informed by leadership theory, research, and practice. It does this by featuring the work of students and faculty of the Holmes Scholars® Pro- gram and extending both the conversations and the research that deal with issues of equity, engagement, and educational excellence as perceived, valued, experienced, and informed by the educational leader.