Terry Orr, associate professor of Educational Leadership and co-director of TC's Superintendent's Leadership Institute, recommends that school administrators record experiences in journals to help them enhance their skills. "It's an excellent tool for reflection," she says of the journal approach. "You need to find ways to build in deep reflection in your practice."

Communicating with others also helps. "The expectation is that you already know everything," she says. "To seek a learning approach can be seen as a weakness," but she suggests that administrators seek out individual mentors with whom to discuss challenges and best practices.

The article, entitled "Three School Leaders Across Upstate New York Advise Each Other Through E-mail," appeared in the November 8 edition of the American Association of School Administrators publication.

Published Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2003