EMERGING PERSPECTIVES IN

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP
TOPIC 1

INTRODUCTION

1.0 STRUCTURE
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Proforma Of The Course And Requirements
1.2 A History Of Public School Leadership
1.3 What Is Leadership
1.3.1

Definition Of Leadership

1.4 The Powers Of Leaders

1.5 Leadership Versus Command
1.6 Definition Of Power

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Introduction

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon completion of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Explain the History of Public School Leadership
2. Discuss What is Leadership?
3. List the various Powers of Leaders
4. Differentiate Leadership from Command
5. Explain the Meaning of Power
6. Define Leadership

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Introduction

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Effective educational leadership facilitates in changing the way one learns.
This concept is not new or recent. This clarifies the importance of leadership
in learning of all children and has developed over several decades of school
renewal efforts. School renewal and reform measures help one to understand
what problems the school faces and how the school should change to resolve
such issues. Though, school reforms refer to the programmatic shift of the
entire school whereas school renewal efforts refer to the implementation of a
new plan, new idea or a new way to address a problem or issue. It refers to
making new changes so as to better the school and its practices.
Research has shown that educational leadership not only affects the teaching
methods of the educational staff but also impacts student learning. It has been
seen that the effect of leadership is the highest where the learning needs of
students are most considered.
Though, school or educational leadership have gained popularity for replacing
educational administration in recent times; leadership is only a small part of
the schools work, division or district, state education personnel and university
faculties concerned with the operations of schools and educational institutions.
Leadership broadly refers to changing and influencing the minds of people
to enable them to move towards achieving the organisations identified goals.
But first one must understand how leadership quality is achieved.
The first step commences with providing the right directions. This is done by
formulating a clear and defined course that all the students understand, setting
high expectations and using educational and assessment data to monitor the
performance of the students.
The various other stakeholders teachers, faculty staffs, etc. too should be given
the right direction to move towards achieving the highest levels of educational
and academic goals.
The next step involves the development of people. One must provide teachers
in the teaching system with all the necessary training and support they might
need to meet efficiently the goals.
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The last and final step is to make the organisation work by ensuring that
the entire community and external factors in the schools area fully support
teaching and learning rather than discouraging it.
There are many steps involved in achieving and understanding quality
leadership. How one can use its benefits to ones advantage, to ensure that good
leaders are not thrown in negative environments and systems that discourage
and demotivate them. This book will give the required knowledge that will
assist one to develop and lead more effectively and improve the concept of
school teaching.

ACTIVITY
Prepare a list of improvements that you wish to bring about in the field of
education by directing your skills and talents in the right direction. Suggest
further skills that you would like to acquire to better yourself.

1.1
PROFORMA OF THE COURSE AND
REQUIREMENTS
Educational Leadership, also known as School Leadership involves engaging
and guiding the skills, knowledge, and talent of teachers, students, parents,
and the community toward achieving a common educational goal. Educational
leaders are the school heads or administrators who strive to bring about positive
changes in the policy and processes of education and lead by educational
leadership.
The course on educational leadership is critical to obtain a certification as a
principal, director in an educational institution or as a curriculum coordinator.
The course has three major objectives to be familiarised with the current
research and thoughts in educational leadership, understand the characteristics
of good leadership and be familiarised with the skills required to be an effective
and visionary leader at education institutions.
This course is critical for many students who wish to make a career in
administration and education. The course aims to give its students a clear
understanding of the choices and decisions faced by educational leaders, the
skills and knowledge required to perform their tasks effectively and to give

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the students an opportunity to manage their jobs, personal commitments and

responsibilities.
The goal of educational leadership is to build the collective skills and knowledge
of individuals in institutions so as to create economic value for them, their
employers or their society. It aids to build the relationship between the leader
and followers so that the participants are motivated by common goals, vision,
mission, and values.
All the reforms undertaken at schools are practiced with an aim to better
teaching and learning. However, each of these reforms differs from one
another. Despite this, all the reforms undertaken by teachers depend on the
capacity and motivation provided to them by their leaders. The chance of any
improvement in student learning and teaching methods is minimal unless the
school leaders agree with its success and reasons. These leaders need to extend
sufficient support and win the acceptance of parents and the community. Hence,
effective or successful educational leadership is vital to reforming school
practices and critical to one involved or aiming to succeed in this profession.

Figure 1.1: Pillars Of Educational Leadership

How can a student benefit from this course?

This course will examine the various theories and models of educational
leadership from its history till date; how the concept of educational leadership
has changed over the years based on the unique traits, personality, behaviour,
and contributions of leaders and their followers. The suitability and purpose

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of an individual theory and model of educational leadership will be examined

from the aspects of knowledge, culture, condition, locality, change, and political
influence. Case and research discussions will also form a part of this course
on educational leadership.
In simpler words, educational leadership and teacher training can provide
significant benefits to the students.

Some of the benefits for students are broadly highlighted below:

Engage and interact with the process of learning
Aid teachers to create a classroom community
Be willing to have a mentor in their lives who can guide them well
Practice better discipline
Achieve academic success
Improve their skills of being a leader
Develop harmonious relations with their teachers and school administration;
Learn leadership qualities from their teachers.
Besides students, educational leadership also facilitates the growth of the
various stakeholders involved with schools and the education system such
as the teachers, faculty members who devise the programs and policies for
schools, parents as well as the community and university departments.

DID YOU KNOW:

The term educational administration has undergone various nomenclature

changes. The term, earlier known as educational administration is currently
popularised as educational leadership due to the concept of intentional
influence process being followed today rather than the concept of authority.

1.2
A HISTORY OF PUBLIC SCHOOL
LEADERSHIP
The terminology school leadership or educational leadership gained

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popularity in the late 20th century mainly due to expectations of schools

to improve the regular and traditional minimum educational and academic
levels so as to obtain higher achievement levels of students. Though, the terms
administration and management were used earlier; leadership was a preferred
term as it conveys dynamism and intentional pro-activeness. Usually, the
school Principal or Dean is stated to be the school leader, but various other
members form a part of the schools leadership team who aim to work towards
the common goals of the school.

Figure 1.2: Public School Leadership

The role of school administrator has undergone many changes in the United
States since the creation of this position. The concept of school administration
is almost 170 years old and has undergone four major role changes until the
early 21st century. Initially, the main functions were clerical in nature and laid
emphasis on assisting the education board with daily operations of the school.
In the 20th century, many states in America started developing a common
curriculum for public schools with the administrators performing the role of a
headteacher. This role was thereby revised to managing non-instructional tasks
such as facility, budgets, and transportation.
In 1983, a research report named A Nation at Risk: the Imperative for
Educational Reforms was released, which directly impacted the accountability
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of public schools and, in turn, the administration. This report was published
by the National Commission on Excellence, which included research done on
the American school system. This report is considered as a landmark event in
modern American educational history. It highlighted the facts that American
schools were failing in their teaching systems and stressed the need for local,
state, and federal reform efforts.
The report included various studies and surveys that pointed at the
underachievement of the academic systems at both national and international
levels. For example, the report highlighted that the average SAT scores had
dropped over 50 points in the verbal reasoning section and nearly 40 points
in the mathematics section during a 17 year period from 1963-1980. Research
studies also showed that American students were ranked in the last seven in
over 19 academic tests conducted in the 1970s in many countries.
The research concluded that the education system was not in line with the
education institutions worldwide, and the notion of equal education for all,
irrespective of caste, race, or class was not met. The report suggested various
recommendations be made in five main areas curriculum content, standards,
student expectations, teachers preparation time and teaching style.
Some of the suggestions provided for the above-mentioned criteria are listed
below:
Curriculum Content: For high school students, the curriculum should
include four years of English, three years of mathematics, three years of
science, three years of social studies, and one and half years of computer
science. Foreign language should also be included2.
Standards: It focuses on the need to raise the standards of admissions and
tests.
Students Expectations: There should be a difference in levels of schooling
from one level to the other, i.e. from high school to college.
Teachers Preparation Time: There should be seven hour school days and
a total of 200-220-school days a year.
Teaching: Teachers should demonstrate competence in an academic
discipline and remuneration for the teachers should be professionally
competitive, market-sensitive and founded on ones individual performance.
The introduction of A Nation At Risk in the early 1980s, initiated the change
in the role of an administrator to the new role of the Chief Executive Officer.

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This role included various sub-roles such as advisor to the board, leader of
reforms, resource manager, and public communicator. This role has continued
and followed till date.

Figure 1.3: The Front Look Of The Research Report A Nation At Risk-1983

DID YOU KNOW:

The report A Nation At Risk received a lot of critique post its publication.
In 1990, Admiral James Watkins, the Secretary of Energy, commissioned the
Sandia Laboratories in New Mexico to highlight the flaws in the report with
justifications from actual data. The systems engineers found contradictory
data in the SAT test scores when they were divided into various subgroups.
Though, the average scores had declined, the scores in the individual
subgroups had increased.
However, despite the actual findings of the critical data in the Sandia report,
it failed to receive much recognition.

1.3

WHAT IS LEADERSHIP

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things Peter
Drucker3
The concept of Leadership starts with understanding the abilities of an Effective
Leader, which are mentioned below:

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To creates a vision that inspires others

To motivate and influence people to work wholeheartedly towards that
vision
To manage and ensure accomplishment of that vision and
To train and build a team to achieve effectively that vision

1.3.1

Definition Of Leadership

In simple words, leadership is the ability of a person to influence, motivate or

inspire others to work towards a specific goal. It is the skill that encourages
followers to work freely towards the leaders goal on their own free will.
Unlike management, leadership is an inborn talent that cannot be taught,
though one can enhance their skills by training and coaching.
Leadership is behavioural, situational, and multi-faceted. Leaders have the
ability to make the right decisions in the most complicated and difficult
situations. This decision-making ability can be refined through mentoring.
Effective leadership lays the foundation for the success of every organisation
and makes the potential prospects and goals turn into reality. Leaders are just

Figure 1.4: Definitions Of Leadership By Famous Leaders

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Figure 1.5: Pillars Of Leadership

and look for the benefit of all and work with ethical and moral values.
There are three basic practices for successful leadership. These help to redefine
the goals of the followers while motivating employees to attain success. These
practices are briefly explained below:

Setting the Right Targets/ Directions

A leaders impact comes from his involvement in setting and providing directions
to his followers. These practices aim to develop shared understandings of the
organisations activities, goals, vision, and mission among people. People are
usually motivated by goals that they find not only challenging and realistic
but also achievable. These goals allow people to have clarity of their work
requirements while identifying themselves with their tasks. This practice
of giving direction helps in identifying and articulating a vision, helps to
foster group goals and create high expectations of performance. Effective
communication assists in the development of such organisational directions
and goals.

Development of People
Though clear directions and goals significantly impact ones work-related
motivations, there are various other factors that add to it. Directions are
not solely responsible for enhancing the capacities, skills, and productivity
of people. Skills and motivation of an individual can be influenced by their

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Figure 1.6: Various Attributes Of A Leader

experiences with the leaders and the organisation. The skills developed by
such experiences include - intellectual stimulation, individualised support and
development of best practices and beliefs.

Redesigning the Organisation

There is a need for seniors and their colleagues to work both individually
and together to achieve a particular organisational goal. Their motivation
and knowledge skill-sets help in efficiently achieving the same successfully.
However, many times the organisational conditions prevent the effectiveness
of the leadership practices.
For example, financial incentives provided to teachers for the achievement
of schools targets of attaining high ranks can at times lower the teachers
commitment to their students.
Successful leaders develop their organisation effectively by supporting the
performance of its employees. Certain practices that enable this include
strengthening work-life balance, modifying the organisations structures and
building open door policy with various collaborative processes. Redesigning
the organisations cultures and structures facilitates the work of its employees
and matches the goals of the organisation.
Further, effective leadership, though challenging can facilitate orientating the
works of people in the most effective and rewarding manner so as to benefit
the education institution or organisation in the best way. This shall not only

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bring excellence in the teams / students performance but also work towards
the organisations goals with utmost commitment.
Some of the most famous and well known leaders have been Steve Jobs,
Jack Welsh, Nelson Mandela, Napoleon, Henry Ford, Adolf Hitler, Mahatma
Gandhi, Dalai Lama, Abraham Lincoln, Mother Theresa, Jawaharlal Nehru,
Martin Luther King, John F Kennedy, Abdul Kalam Azad, Subhash Chandra
Bose, and Bill Gates. Each of these leaders had their own unique leadership
traits and characteristics.

A few of the unique traits of effective leadership include:

Awareness Be aware of all happenings in the organisation
Empathy Express genuine concerns for their employees
Decisiveness Must make tough decisions
Confidence Confident of themselves
Accountability Take responsibility for their employees and their own
Honesty Ethical and honest
Focus Extremely organised and focused on their goals
Optimism Extremely positive
Inspiration Inspire and influence others

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Name a person whom you consider a leader in your life. State the qualities
or traits you feel he/ she possesses for being an effective leader.

1.4

THE POWERS OF LEADERS

People say the greatest leader is not the one who actually does great things,
but who gets people to do great things. In order to achieve these great things,
every effective leader has certain powers to inspire and motivate his followers.
Below are five of the powers of leaders:

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Figure 1.7: Powers Of Leaders

Coercive Formal Power

This power is instilling fear in another such as fear of losing ones job, getting
demoted, of doing wrong, of criticism, receiving a poor performance appraisal
review or having an important project taken away.
For example, a Sales Head threatens sales managers to achieve their targets or
lose their jobs.

Reward Formal Power

This is the power of a leader to influence his followers by rewarding them
with promotions, appreciations, bonus, trips, incentives, increments, etc. so as
to motivate them to achieve their goals.
For example, a supervisor provides his subordinate with extra bonus/ incentives
for achieving particular targets.

Legitimate/ Positional Formal Power

This power of the leader comes from his legitimate position and level of
authority recognised by his designation.
For example, a CEO has the power to direct the companys plan of actions.

Expert Personal Power

This power is defined by ones expertise, skills, and knowledge in a particular

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Figure 1.8: Positional Power Vs. Personal Power

area. One gains expert power as one obtains more experience and knowledge in
their field of work. This makes one a leader in achieving the goals by utilising
their skills.
For example, a Civil Engineer is an expert in the field in civil engineering and
construction due to his experience in that field.

Referent Personal Power

This power comes from being trusted and respected by others. When others
trust and respect you to make the right decisions in difficult and complicated
situations, you are bestowed with referent power.
For example, the Human Resources Department is trusted to be fair in complex
circumstances.
Leaders have few other powers that might enable them to influence others.
These include the following:

Connection Power
This power is dependent on ones networking influence. One can attain this
power by being a source of information for people or by doing them certain favours obtained with their important business coalitions or social circle network.

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For example, a person may have connections with certain political ministers
giving an organisation some benefits.

Power of Appreciation
Employees at all levels need feedback. This allows them to get suggestions on
how to improve or if they are doing a good job. Appreciation allows employees
to strive and work hard.
For example, a boss praising a new trainee for his/her work will enhance the
quality of effort into work in the future.

Power of Encouragement
Runners try their personal best or run to show support for a good cause or to
stay fit. People to lose weight or to tone up go to the gymnasium. The power
of encouragement allows one to keep facing challenges.
For example, the gymnasium instructor encourages the trainee to run faster to
lose weight.

Power of Critical Thinking

One of the most effective tools to succeed and keep learning is to evaluate all
options before embracing them. This is why biases can overtake our decisions.
One should check all the sources, challenge, generalisations, and stereotypes
without ever losing sight of ethics.
For example, a senior manager may be faced with a dilemma between
considering opinions from two opposing, competing teams.

Power of Apology
True leaders take personal responsibility when they make a mistake. They step
up and apologise. A sincere apology not only heals injury but can build trust
and credibility. Apologies are a sign of integrity.
For example, a teacher apologises to a student for blaming him wrongly.

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Power of Money
Money is an important source of power. Many rich people command power
over others by their ability to provide and purchase certain items such as
providing ivy league education to their children, push their agendas by
providing politicians with huge sums of money for their campaigns or even
having the ability to have an elite and powerful societal circle or high status.
For example, a businessman exercises his power of money by purchasing a
Mercedes car for his 21-year-old son.

DID YOU KNOW:

There are various other powers that the finest of leaders have lived up to,
such as the power of optimism, laughter, resilience, collaboration, choice, and
love.

1.5

LEADERSHIP VERSUS COMMAND

More often than not people get confused between the terms command and
leadership. The term command is usually used in reference to military or navy
ranks or judges. A military commander is one who is defined by his rank
and experience. He undertakes and delegates orders that are given to him by
higher authorities.
A leader, on the other hand, is not confined to the military and inspires his
followers to work towards a common goal rather than follow commands and
orders.
Effectively commanding others is achieved when the other members of your
staff have the capability of doing the tasks that you assign them. Mentoring
can help them achieve this better.
Leadership is when your staff willingly wishes to accomplish the tasks in a
better way. This can be done by giving honest assessments to your staff, guide
and inspire them to move in a positive and correct direction.

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Figure 1.9: Command And Leadership

Command is having the skills to undertake a task, know how to execute it

and get the task done.
Leadership includes all of the above, but the work done is better due to the
willingness of the associated parties.

Figure 1.10: Command And Leadership

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Thus, in simple words; leadership is the ability to inspire or influence people,

whereas a command is your years of experience. Command is thus, more
impersonal and leadership is a personal affair.
For example, parents start out by being in command and look after the wellbeing of their children, but later when their children become teenagers, the
parents adopt the role of a leader and aid their children to be strong and
independent individuals.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

State whether the following statements are true or false:

1. There is no difference between Leadership and Command. (True Or False)
2. Command is having the skills to undertake a task. (True Or False)
3. Leadership is when your staff is not willingly to do a task. (True Or
False)
4. The willingness of people comes in Leadership. (True Or False)
5. Leadership is more impersonal. (True Or False)

1.6

DEFINITION OF POWER

Power is the ability or capacity to influence the action or behaviour of people.

In other words, power is the ability to make and influence ones decisions or
to impose ones will on others. It has been observed throughout history that
power motivated most people. For example, men forcefully did what kings
ordered them to do, or they were imprisoned or executed; employers have the
power to dismiss men from jobs.
Power is just a form of strength that can be manifested physically, financially or
through any other medium, thus, power can be defined as a form of leadership
that is basic, authoritative and raw. But it has been extremely effective in
most situations throughout history. Power refers to the position, authority or
influence over others. Depending on how it is used, power can have both
positive and negative outcomes.

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An important aspect to be considered is that power is amoral and is not

associated with ethics, justice or morality. It is merely power, which may be
exercised for good or bad purposes.
For example, Hitler used his power for committing immoral atrocities, while
Abraham Lincoln imposed his for doing good.
Today, power is exercised in the form of money, position, political influence,
status, knowledge, designation or even love. For example, people with the
power of knowledge may rule over critical decisions made by people who are
ignorant or have insufficient knowledge. People in organisations also impose
their positional power on their subordinates to do various jobs.

Figure 1.11: Power In Organisations

Power in organisations can be witnessed in the form of energy, optimism,

relationships and networking, success, laughter, resilience, influence, choice,
and love.
An employee with a high amount of energy and zeal to continuously learn
and take on new challenges also has the power to influence others in his
team to be just like him. This power of energy creates an enthusiastic
environment.
A positive and optimistic attitude, especially in a stressful environment when
things are not moving can lift up ones spirits and instil encouragement
among the employees. The power of optimism combines reality and
pragmatism with a ray of hope and positivity.

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Relationships and Networking allows one to have the power to influence

people with their contacts. Credit may go to the employee who has a better
relationship with the employer.
Success and a sense of achievement are the ultimate goal of every employee
and organisation. The power of success can give one a sense of pride and
superiority.
The Power of Laughter is contagious. Genuine laughter and happiness within
the team can enhance harmonious relationships. A positive environment
will influence the employees to retain longer and contribute in a more
substantial manner.
Resilience is the time between disappointment and reappointment and
sorrow and uplifting oneself. The power of resilience leads a team faced
with failure to success, using the concept of try, try till you succeed. In
turn, the team leads to success with much better results as expected earlier.
Choice is a power one has to choose what one wishes to do or not do. It
is a power that each individual possesses, which makes one the boss and
decision-maker of his/ her life.
Love is the universal power. It is the inspiration behind most of the
activities. Every human has the need to feel loved and accepted. Each one
has a desire to feel as if they belong.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

1. Power refers to the ___________, authority or __________ over others.

2. Depending on how it is used, power can be both _____________ and
_______________ in outcome.
3. Power can be in the form of ___________________, ___________________,
_______________________, _________________, etc.
4. ____________________ power allows one to influence others with their
contacts and networks.
5. The Power of _______________ is the power of the universe.

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SUMMARY

The introductory chapter explains the concept of Educational Leadership

and what it teaches. It also speaks of the requirements and skills required
to be an effective Educational Leader.
The concept and the evolution of public school leadership are explained.
How the school administrator or superintendents job role has undergone
a change. The report A Nation At Risk completely revolutionised the
education system in the United States of America.
Leadership is defined as the ability to influence and inspire others to
work towards a common goal. There are various characteristics of being
an effective leader.
There are five powers of leaders that are broadly classified as formal and
personal power. Formal power includes Coercive, Rewards and Legitimate
whereas Personal power includes Expert and Referent.
There is a distinction between Command and Leadership. Command is
defined as ones ability to follow certain orders and get the work done by
others, whereas, leadership includes inspiring others to get the work done
better. Command is impersonal and utilised more in military or navy ranks.
Leadership involves taking a personal interest in ones staff/ followers.
Power is the ability to influence ones behaviour. It can have positive or
negative outcomes.

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KEY TERMS

Educational Leadership

Leadership

Public School

Power

Powers of Leaders

Administration and Management

Command

School Administrator or Superintendent

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EXERCISE

Short Answer Questions:

1. Write a short note on Public School Leadership.
2. Define Educational Leadership.
3. Define Power.

Long Answer Questions:

1. Write about the Powers of Leaders in detail.
2. Differentiate Command from Leadership.
3. Define leadership and state the important traits and characteristics of a
leader according to you.

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References

Boyce Brown. (2009, June 1). Standards-Based Education Reform In The United
States Since A Nation At Risk. Retrieved from http://www.hawaii.edu/
hepc/pdf/Reports/FINAL-History_of_Standards-Based_Education_Reform.pdf
Drucker, P. F. (2001). The essential Drucker: Selections from the management
works of Peter F. Drucker. New York: HarperBusiness.
Policies & Procedures - Admissions - University Admission Policies - 1E1.
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.siue.edu/policies/1e1.shtml

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