"Perhaps the worst thing that can be said about any educational program is that it is "irrelevant." Yet, that is precisely how a majority of newly trained school administrators have recently described their graduate school experience. These principals-in-training needed more hands-on experience, more practical training, less theory--in short, a program that would better prepare them for the combat zone facing them upon graduation." "As a result of this and other findings, the Danforth Foundation undertook the difficult task of changing the way school administrators "earned their stripes." From its beginnings with just four university preparation programs in 1987, the Danforth Programs for the Preparation of School Principals grew to include 22 universities by 1992. Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET.