Summary:
Both the 1996 Interstate School Leadership Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards and the 2002 Educational Leadership Constituent Council (ELCC) standards, adopted by preparation programs nationwide have a strong emphasis on democratic ideals. By aligning their programs with these standards education administration faculty have taken a step in the right direction. This paper, as part of a larger mixed method study examines the degree to which faculty’s perception of the change environment, the attitudes and dispositions they exhibited during the implementation process, and their choice of program-standard alignment strategies reflected the democratic ideals they wish to instill in graduates of their programs. The findings of this study confirm that a collaborative, collegial atmosphere prevailed. While the attitudes and dispositions that faculty exhibited demonstrated democratic ideals, this was not always evident from their choice of strategies. Much of the work was done by faculty, or by committees comprised primarily by faculty. Group differences were observed in strategies used and found to be beneficial, when compared across accreditation and Carnegie classification status. To ensure that the program modification process is both democratic and inclusive, faculty should adopt a more proactive approach in engaging graduates of the program, current graduate students, superintendents, principals, and teachers in the actual process of program review, evaluation, and development. FULL MANUSCRIPT AVAILABLE AT: http://cnx.org/content/m43606/latest/