The SAGE Handbook of Educational Leadership.

The SAGE Handbook of Educational Leadership: Advances in Theory, Research and Practice is a compilation of the timely thoughts and perspectives of more than two score of notable contributors. It is structured around a binary (either/or) framework--public/private, management/leadership, art/science, theory/practice.

The book's chief architect is Fenwick English, Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Ever the provocateur, English has put together a comprehensive distillation of what is known and not known about educational leadership and the myriad of uncertainties and ambiguities that face leaders in an increasingly complex 21st century environment. He asserts that "no amount of research will ever change the necessity for art." He believes research can be informative, predictive and supportive, but it is not likely to be inspirational or decisive until used by the practitioner in "real time."

In a chapter contributed by English and Professor Betty Steffy, also of UNC, the authors examine administrative survival skills required in a test-driven, multicultural and competitive educational marketplace, matters that are highly complex and increasingly localized and contextual.

Many of the contributors to this timely treatise are involved in the education and training of current and future educational leaders, but most also served as K-12 teachers and administrators. This important tome bridges the chasm among theory, research and practice.

(The SAGE Handbook of Educational Leadership: Advances in Theory, Research and Practice, edited by Fenwick English, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, Calif., 2005, 608 pp. with index, $125 hardcover)

Charles Rudiger

Professor of Educational Leadership and Technology, Dowling College, Oakdale, N.Y.