An honest and insightful look at the real world of middle school leadership. Grounded in the belief that schools should be responsive to the developmental needs of their students, the authors explore the distinct nature of the middle school, the appropriate responses required from middle school principals, and introduce a model for developmentally responsive leadership. At its heart, the book describes the strategies and best practices employed by middle level principals who are struggling to implement the middle school concept in their schools. It focuses on the seven critical themes of school leadership based on the practical experiences of real world principals and the needs of the early adolescent. This is an important book for aspiring and practicing middle school principals, board members, teachers, and parents who are intent upon building the close-knit community that is at the heart of the middle school.

Author Biography

Kathleen M. Brown is assistant professor of educational leadership at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to receiving her Ed.D. from Temple University in educational administration and policy studies, Brown taught middle school and served as an elementary and middle school principal in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey. Vincent A. Anfara, Jr. is associate professor of education leadership at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He received his Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of New Orleans in 1995. Before entering the professorate, he taught for 25 years in both middle and high schools in Louisiana and New Mexico. He has published widely on middle school advisory programs, middle school reform, and the middle level principalship. He coedited the book entitled Voices from the Middle: Decrying What Is; Imploring What Could Be with Peggy Kirby (2000). He serves as the series editor of The Handbook of Research in Middle Level Education. Currently he is president of AERA's special interest group, known as Research in Middle Level Education, and a member of NMSA's research committee.