The quality and success of schools depend upon school leadership. Increasingly, in many countries worldwide, this belief has led to designing and implementing appropriate training and development programs for educational leaders. In an international comparative research project, current school leader training and development programs in fifteen countries across Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America are analyzed, compared, and discussed.

Preparing School Leaders for the 21st Century provides insights and constructive ideas, for those planning and carrying out school leadership development in different countries and those conducting research in this field.

* Part one in the book reflects on roles, tasks, competences, and conceptions of school leadership, exploring the changing context in which school leaders find themselves, focusing on the new demands on the school leaders and suitable leadership theories.

* Part two provides a comparative discussion of the various leadership development models, identifying similarities and differences, based on a set of criteria selected and going beyond a mere juxtaposition. In describing common issues and challenges, it also looks for common solutions, and considers what the different countries might be able to learn from each other, and successfully transfer.

* Part three identifies current international trends deduced from these programs. Nineteen recommendations for designing future programs are outlined, and instructive examples of best and promising practice are given.

* Part four comprises well structured country reports, which provide information about the education system and school system of those countries, about recent changes and their impact on school leadership, about the overall school leader training and development approach.