History of Educational Administration Viewed Through Its Textbooks

The History of Educational Administration Viewed Through Its Texts provides the reader a history of the development of the professional field of educational administration. From the Common School Era of the 1840s through the Era of Accountability in 2000, leaders of the profession wrote textbooks to both inform and instruct those desiring to follow in their footsteps. Historical leaders such as Elwood Cubberley, George Strayer, George Counts, and Jesse Sears are identified, and the ways in which their work influenced the profession and the public schools is examined. The various management themes running through the practice of educational administration over a 150-year period are also discussed. Among these themes is the administrator as a: philosopher and manager of virtue, scientific manager, executive, transformational leader, instructional leader in a time of high stakes accountability. The schools of "thought" affecting the preparation of education administrators is also discussed in the framework of general educational administration textbooks. The early textbooks written by the "grandfathers" were compendiums of "best practice" later eclipsed in the 1960s by a "theory movement" to make practice more scientific. This "new movement" was based on research in the social and behavioral sciences. The "theory movement" presently seems to be giving way to a return of textbooks being compendiums of best practice based on "professional" standards. Lastly, an exploration of the development and impact the specialization of the field has had on both textbooks and practice is included. The splintering of the educational administration professorate into finance, law, policy, personnel, and other specialties has had a profound impact on textbooks and practice. The development of standards dictating certification and licensing has also been influenced by specialization as opposed to general preparation. This book is a must for university libraries and every doctoral student writing a dissertation in educatio

Thomas E. Glass is a professor of educational leadership at the University of Memphis. He is a former teacher, principal, central office administrator, and superintendent, and has served on the faculties of Northern Illinois University, Washington State University, and Indiana University. His major previous publications include The Study of the American School Superintendency 2000: A Look at the Superintendent in the New Millennium (2000) and The Study of the American School Superintendency 92: America's Education Leaders in a Time of Reform.