Some professional learning communities (PLC) are successful, and others are unsuccessful leading to questions about which characteristics of a group of people are important to the success of the community. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand the factors contributing to the presence of a community of practice between…

New Leaders is a nonprofit organization with a mission to ensure high academic achievement for all students by developing outstanding school leaders to serve in urban schools. Its premise is that a combination of preparation and improved working conditions for principals, especially greater autonomy, would lead to improved student outcomes. Its…

New Leaders is dedicated to promoting student achievement by developing outstanding school leaders to serve in urban schools. RAND Corporation researchers conducted a formative and summative external evaluation of the New Leaders program, its theory of action, and its implementation from 2006 through 2013. This document presents technical…

Involving two or more academic subjects, interdisciplinary studies aim to blend together broad perspectives, knowledge, skills, and epistemology in an educational setting. By focusing on topics or questions too broad for a single discipline to cover, these studies strive to draw connections between seemingly different fields. Cases on…

This three volume study presents the results of research which examined working conditions and their possible relationship to stress among faculty in six schools (two elementary, two middle, and two high schools) in two major U.S. cities. Information about the schools was obtained through ethnographic case studies. Data were synthesized to…

The Urban Mathematics Collaborative (UMC) Project was a 5-year effort to reform mathematics instruction in urban schools by empowering mathematics teachers. Targeting over 3,000 high school mathematics teachers in collaboratives in 11 urban areas, including San Francisco (California), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), and New Orleans (Louisiana), the…

Comparative data from three middle schools, all in one large urban school district in the Pacific Northwest, are used to identify criteria for evaluating student discipline policies and to generate theoretical statements of how school administration affects student behavior. An introduction summarizes the study's goals and assumptions and…

This book examines educators' norms, beliefs, and values in case studies of three "improving" high schools. The distinction between "sacred" and "profane" norms in the teaching profession is applied to the relationships among school culture, improvement efforts, and the effectiveness of change strategies. Schools'…

The study on which this book is based examined the development of social relationships among black and white students in a new, desegregated urban middle school. In the initial phase, information was gathered from classroom observation, interviews, and a wide variety of supplementary sources over a three-year period beginning with summer…

This book presents an argument for, and invites, critical examination of teacher preparation and assessment practices--in light of both the complexity and demands of urban settings and the theories of learning and learning to teach that guide teacher education practices. This dynamic approach distinguishes the authors' stance on urban teacher…

A case study was done of the Boston University management and operation of the Chelsea (Massachusetts) school system including perceptions of key participants and outcomes of the first year of the partnership. Despite unanticipated levels of hostility between various groups and slow funding, which slowed some first year objectives, the project…

This paper describes the activities and experiences of a technical assistance consultant working with a superintendent and assistant superintendent to implement the Achievement Directed Leadership (ADL) school improvement program during 1981-82. The paper's first section describes the ADL program's "top-down" implementation plan, with…