Research and Educational Leadership: Navigating the New National Research Council Guidelines

The authors of the seven essays presented here by English (educational leadership, U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and Furman (educational leadership, Washington State U.) react to the recommendations and arguments of the National Research Council's Scientific Research in Education (2002), especially those areas relevant to research in educational leadership and school administration. Authors criticize the report for its blindness to the needs of culturally sensitive research, examine political contexts undermining the reports requirements, argue the futility of generalizing leadership across multiple school contexts following the importation of "moral goods" such as social justice into the conceptualization of leadership, and advocate for the benefits of the reports' recommended standards for research integrity. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Fenwick W. English is the R. Wendell Eaves Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a former public superintendent of schools, middle school principal, classroom teacher, and author or co-author of more than twenty books in educational leadership. Gail C. Furman is professor and program coordinator of the Educational Leadership Program at Washington State University and a past president of the University Council for Educational Administration. She has published numerous books and articles on her research emphases_moral leadership, community, and ecojustice.