The metaphor of visibility and its counterpart, invisibility, are paired throughout the article in an attempt to characterize the world of three African American women administrators as they struggle for equitable recognition-visibility-within the field of education. Using a naturalistic inquiry advocacy approach, analyses of in-depth interviews revealed portraits of women emerging from the visible absences, illusionary opportunities, and imaginary schools with stories of strength, identity formation, and a collective consciousness in working for and with the Black community in urban schools. Implications of this study for leadership theory, research, and practice are offered.

This article explores the interaction of artist and actor voice as presented by Lawrence-Lightfoot and Davis in three portraits of African American secondary school female principals that had been constructed in the lead author’s dissertation study. After describing various manifestations of actor and artist voice, emphasis shifts to a third voice—that of the audience. The responses of six diverse reviewers are examined in terms of how they reflect the artist’s intent and add new meaning to the portraits. The article concludes with brief thoughts about the interpretation of portraits, the uses of portraits, and the factors that prepare an audience to learn from a portrait.

It was the purpose of this study to identify areas of teacher motivation by determining teacher needs and their relationship to job satisfaction. This objective was pursued by applying the concept of higher and lower order need strength to secondary public school teachers. This concept was first developed and applied in business administration as a means of measuring worker motivation. It is based on the assumption that a match between the needs experienced by the individual and the needs fulfilled by the job bring greater job satisfaction and thus an increase in job productivity. While a predominance of higher order needs in secondary school teachers was found, the correlation of need strength and job satisfaction varied by school district. Apparently teaching in some schools is more satisfying to teachers with lower order needs while teaching in other schools is more satisfying to teachers with higher order needs.

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