International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership (IJEPL)
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Tracking Myself: African American High School Students Talk About the Effects of Curricular Differentiation
Get PDFResearch on the merit of school tracking policies has long been at the center of heated educational debate. Unfortunately, while the trend in studies looking at tracking in schools has continued, the student perspective has been underutilized in much of this previous research. Recently, however, there has been a surge in research that focuses on the benefits of student-centered research This research recognizes the legitimacy of student perspectives in reform efforts. This paper focuses on the student perspectives in a qualitative project with seven black students to understand the insights and contributions they have for school leaders. Findings revealed that students can contribute nuanced perspectives on complex educational reform issues, such as tracking, and provide powerful insights that should be considered in school reform conversations
Identifying Good Teachers: Expert vs. Ordinary Knowledge
No full textWhile much has been written about the effects of standardized testing on student achievement, less work has addressed how this information is taken up by parents. Drawing on the results of a survey of 286 parents in a diverse urban school district, our research illuminates three aspects of parental response to test score information and efforts to link that information to teacher quality concerns: 1.) How parents relate various teacher traits to quality teaching; 2.) How parents know if their child has a good teacher; and 3.) How parents think teachers should be evaluated. We find that test score data are perceived as both imperfect and incomplete with regard to measuring teacher quality and that parents often rely more on “ordinary” forms of knowledge. This raises questions about the value of existing standardized test score data as an informational spur to reform
Educational Knowledge Brokerage and Mobilization: The Marshall Memo Case
Get PDFThe importance of intermediation between communities primarily engaged in research production and those primarily engaged in practice is increasingly acknowledged, yet our understanding of the nature and influence of this work in education remains limited. Accordingly, this study utilizes case study methodology and aspires to understand the activities and signature product (the Marshall Memo) of a particularly influential mediator of current educational research, news, and ideas: Mr. Kim Marshall. The article also examines the memo’s meaning to subscribing educators. Data analyses suggest subscribers greatly appreciate several aspects of the memo, which was found to draw from a wide range of source material that varies in terms of its research centredness and its practical implications
Leadership Coaching and Mentoring: A Research-Based Model for School Partnerships
No full textThis conceptual article proposes a research-based model for leadership preparation programs to more effectively prepare, support, and sustain new school leaders in the field and profession. This study offers a new construct, which combines the concepts of early field experiences, experiential learning, leadership-focused coaching, and mentoring support, with university faculty and school district leaders and mentors working collaboratively to support novice leaders. University faculty would provide leadership-focused coaching while prospective leaders are completing coursework and later once they are placed in school leadership positions. Further, school districts would provide mentoring support by experienced instructional leaders
Developing Leadership Capacity in Others: An Examination of High School Principals' Personal Capacities for Fostering Leadership
Get PDFIn this multisite case study, we examine the personal capacities of six high school principals who have developed the leadership capacities of other leaders in their respective schools. Participants were purposefully selected by two teams of researchers in two states of the United States, one on the east coast and one on the west coast, who engaged their professional networks of current and former educational leaders to obtain recommendations of high school principals known to develop the leadership capacities of formal and informal leaders in their schools. The findings indicate that the principals possessed a strong commitment to developing leadership capacity, understood leadership development as a process and tolerated risk. This study adds to the rapidly growing corpus of literature focused on distributed leaders by illustrating the complexities of developing leadership capacity in an attempt to increase organizational leadership capacity, and by highlighting the relevant characteristics of principals who have intentionally sought to do so
Influential Spheres: Examining Actors’ Perceptions of Education Governance
Get PDFMany layers of education governance press upon U.S. schools, so we separated state actors into those internal to and those external to the system. In the process, we unpacked the traditional state–local dichotomy. Using interview data (n = 45) from six case-study states, we analyzed local leaders’, state-internal actors’, and state-external players’ perceptions of implementation flexibility and hindrances across several policy areas. We observed how interviewees’ spheres of influence linked to which policy areas they viewed as salient or not, and their relative emphaseson who and what within state education systems contributed to implementation flexibility and/or hindrances, and how these factors played out. We found important differences by sphere: the local sphere produced the most coherent findings, and state-internal was least coherent. We discuss implications for education governance research, applications for practitioners and policymakers, and a methodological contribution
Educational Leadership and a Comprehensive Reform for Improving Underrepresented Urban Students’ College Access
No full textDisparities in college access for underrepresented urban students are one of the most urgent educational problems of America’s education system. In response to growing national concern, this longitudinal study investigated how school leaders worked collaboratively with key stakeholders to implement research-supported student services in order to improve college access for underrepresented urban students. The quantitative investigation showed that when educational leaders and key stakeholders worked collaboratively to deliver comprehensive student services, urban students in a high-poverty school district experienced measurable benefits in terms of their college enrolment. This study may be of particular value to policymakers, school leaders, and educators concerned with the low college access rates of students in urban schools, as well as to those who are seeking to understand what works betterto prepare urban students for post-secondary education
An Analysis of Principal Perceptions of the Primary Teaching Evaluation System Used in Eight U.S. States
Get PDFThis research examines how public school principals in eight U.S. states perceive their teacher evaluation systems which are based on Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching (FfT). States were selected to represent high, middle, and low scorers in the annual Education Week “Quality Counts” report (Education Week, 2016). 1,142 out of over 8,100 working principals in the eight states responded to an online survey, yielding a response rate of over 14%. Most principals were not satisfied with FfT and found implementing the system too cumbersome. Responses suggested an average of two changes to FfT desired by each principal; few wanted to keep their FfT as is. Targets for improvement included overhauling software used to enter teacher evaluations; eliminating student growth goals and student test scores (VAMs) as part of evaluations; reducing the time and paperwork required; and wanting more training for administrators and teachers on the use of FfT. Some states’ principals wanted to return control over teacher evaluation systems to local school districts. Most respondents agreed that their version of FfT has improved their school’s instructional program, and they prefer the new instrument over their previous evaluation instrument
Principal Leadership and Reading Specialist Role Understanding In the Era of Test-Based Accountability Policies
Get PDFThis study investigates how the role of the reading specialist (RS) is defined and communicated by principals, and examines to what degree a common understanding of this role exists among teachers, building administrators and reading specialists. The principal’s responsibility in defining and communicating role, and the effect these efforts have on job satisfaction and specialists’ perceived effectiveness is also studied. Eight elementary schools in the western part of New York State (USA) are studied. Based on interviews with principals and reading specialists and surveys completed by principals, reading specialists, and teachers, the following themes emerge: (a.) Principal leadership was essential in defining the RS role; (b.) A clearly defined RS role was associated with greater RS satisfaction and perceptions of effectiveness as well as greater teacher compliance; (c.) Greater teacher compliance with a school’s literacy program did not affect beliefs about the proper role of RSs; (d.) Lack of a clearly defined role in a school was associated with role conflict and role ambiguity for reading specialists; (e.) Reading specialists, even without coaching responsibilities, served as a resource to teachers, although no time was allocated in their schedule to do so; (f.) Reading specialists faced challenges due to increased accountability and assessment demands affected by policy, demographics, and accountability requirements. It is concluded that principals must assume responsibility for defining and communicating the reading specialist role within their schools to strengthen literacy programming
Building Productive Relationships: District Leaders’ Advice to Researchers
Get PDFExpectations for the role of research in educational improvement are high. Meeting these expectations requires productive relationships between researchers and practitioners. Few studies, however, have systematically explored the ways researchers can build stronger, more productive relationships with practitioners. This study seeks to identify such strategies by examining district leaders’ views of how researchers might work with practitioners in more effective, beneficial, and collaborative ways. Through an analysis of 147 interviews with 80 district leaders in three urban school districts, we identify several key pieces of advice highlighted by district leaders for researchers. For researchers, these findings reveal potential strategies for shaping the design, conduct, and communication of their research in order to ensure its usefulness for practitioners.