From the Editor:

The Journal of Research for Educational Leaders is no longer accepting manuscript submissions.

Due to reorganization within the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership Studies in the College of Education at The University of Iowa, we are discontinuing the publication of the electronic journal, the Journal of Research for Educational Leaders (JREL) effective March 1, 2009.

We wish to thank the many contributors who graciously shared the results of their research in the pursuit of improving educational practice and pedagogy in PK-12 schools. We wish to thank the many individuals who unselfishly gave of their time and talent to serve as reviewers of the many manuscripts submitted to the JREL over the years. And most importantly, we wish to thank the thousands of educational leaders, school boards, faculty and staff who visited this site to read the JREL and work each day to provide children a high quality and meaningful education.

Sincerely,

Dr. Gerald Portman, Mana

Gerald L. Portman, Managing Editor

ging Editor
Journal of Research for Educational Leaders (JREL)
The University of Iowa

WELCOME

In keeping with the mission of the College of Education at The University of Iowa, the Division of Educational Policy and Leadership Studies is pleased to present the Journal of Research for Educational Leaders. The Journal is an electronic professional resource provided at no charge as a service to educational leaders, their boards, and their faculty and staff.

The goal of the Journal of Research for Educational Leaders is the timely dissemination of interdisciplinary research findings and their practical implications as they identify and/or affect best practice in PK-12 schools. The Journal is focused on the improvement of America’s schools, student learning, and educational leadership, knowledge and skills.  Each issue contains articles on current research and informed opinion in a variety of disciplines and their practical applications important to educational leaders.

About the Journal of Research for Educational Leaders

All articles published in the Journal of Research for Educational Leaders are refereed and peer reviewed under the supervision of our Editorial Board Members. The Editorial Board of the Journal of Research for Educational Leaders is national in scope and is composed of both professors of education and public school practitioners.

School superintendents and principals are encouraged to share Journal articles with their colleagues, staff, board members, community members, and parents. Copyright will be waived for not-for-profit educational purposes.

Journal articles must meet three criteria:

1. The article must contribute to knowledge, theory, and practice
2. The article content must be accurate and scholarly
3. The article must conform to the editorial guidelines of the Journal:
   • Manuscripts should be written for a general audience of educators in a usable, easily understood format
   • Technical jargon should be avoided
   • Manuscripts should be interesting to a significant body of educational leaders
   • Manuscripts should focus on the relevance and implications of the research findings for educational leaders
   • Manuscripts should avoid detailed descriptions, technical information about methodology, and unnecessary details about data findings
   • Articles will include author contact information. Readers desiring technical information and details are encouraged to contact the author(s) directly.

You, the Reader

While the members of the Editorial Board and The University of Iowa are pleased to offer the Journal of Research for Educational Leaders to the education community, we are quite dependent upon you, the reader in the following areas:

1. Manuscripts: In order to provide timely dissemination of interdisciplinary research findings and their practical implications for K-12 schools, the Journal requires at least 35 to 40 quality manuscripts annually. To date, the most difficult step in creating this publication has been the solicitation of appropriate manuscripts. If you have a manuscript describing recent research or views of a scholarly nature that are of value and interest to educational leaders, please consider allowing the Journal to review them for publication.
2. Readership: A publication is of value only when it is read. If you think the Journal has something to offer school leaders and others involved in educating children, please share news of this journal with your peers and colleagues.
3. Input and feedback: Your ideas on topics for future research, comments on articles we have published and suggestions on how we might improve our publication are desired and encouraged. Please contact us, either directly or through our Editorial Board Members.

Sincerely,

Gerald L. Portman, Managing Editor

What Do You Make?

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life.  One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education.  He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"  He reminded the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about teachers:  "Those who can do.  Those who can't teach." To corroborate, he said to another guest, "You're a teacher, Susan.  Be honest. What do you make?"

Susan, who had a reputation of honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make?"  "I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.  I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional Medal of Honor and an A- feel like a slap in the face if the student did not do his or her very best."  "I can make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall in absolute silence. I can make parents tremble in fear when I call home."  "You want to know what I make?  I make kids wonder.  I make them question. I make them criticize.  I make them apologize and mean it."  "I make them write.  I make them read, read, read.  I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful over and over and over again, until they will never misspell either one of those words again."  "I make them show all their work in math and hide it all on their final drafts in English.  I make them understand that if you have the brains, then follow your heart, and if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you pay them no attention."  "You want to know what I make?  I make a difference."

~Author Unknown~        Thanks to J.K.T.