The public education system is shaped through policy at the federal, state, and local levels with the expectation of implementation at the building level by educational leaders. Education is a right of all individuals and cannot be taken away due to a person's exceptionalities. This right is protected by federal law and enforced by district…

As superintendents steer their districts through uncharted territories, their experiences and strategies are key to transforming schools. This study employed transcendental phenomenology to explore how seven Virginia superintendents from two different regions described their experiences implementing novel cultural competency training. Data…

The Arizona state legislature has aimed to pass a series of bills banning those in schools from teaching topics associated with inclusion, social justice, and equity. Since 2020, the legislature has targeted teaching 'critical race theory' (CRT), often (mis)using the term to refer to any ideas related to systemic discrimination and racial…

The Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 has outlined an expanded role for school-based occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) as specialized instructional support personnel in general education. However, OTPs have continued to be viewed as related service professionals under special education due to barriers of high caseloads and decreased…

School accountability is a powerful force in education. Today, schools are within the early years of the "Every Student Succeeds Act" ("ESSA") which has introduced a new accountability model to states and districts, in a post-pandemic era in which schools' roles and responsibilities within the larger society have continued to…

In 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into law, replacing No Child Left Behind as the statutory education policy of the federal government of the United States (US). Building on prior shifts in accountability policy at the state level, ESSA focused attention and resources on building school leadership capacities. Five years on,…

Concussive brain injury in high school athletes is a growing problem, with 3.8 million concussions in athletes in the United States. Additionally, 50% of these are not receiving proper treatment, meaning they play with a concussion, known as underreporting (Harmon et al., 2018). Concussive injury damages the sensorimotor system and has cognitive…

Principals are faced with some frustrating situations from time to time in their line of duty in which they must make a variety of decisions affecting their students. This study argues that principals need to understand how to apply professional discretion in their practice and be accountable for their judgements and decisions to avoid the notion…

This phenomenological study explores best practice strategies of Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs) in Texas universities in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Due to the passing of Senate Bill 17, most Chief Diversity Officers were reclassified, and departmental modifications were made. Eight CDOs with a minimum of two years of…

Since the implementation of the legislation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Title I there is one group to which the achievement gap has widened: the Black male. Not only are Black males are in the lowest percentage on every marker of educational success (Kirp, 2010). Black males lead the percentages for every negative educational…

Expectations of campus safety and security are inherent in the development of policies internal to the campus environment as well as to national regulations inclusive of Title IX, the Clery Act, and so forth. Yet, there seems to be an ongoing concern that international students may have heightened risk or are less likely to report violations of…

South Carolina implemented its Read to Succeed (RTS) policy in 2014 in accordance with federal requirements. The problem addressed in this study was that there are many students in South Carolina Title I schools still failing to achieve reading proficiency after 3 years of full implementation of RTS. The purpose of this qualitative study was to…

District and building administrators in the United States are struggling to integrate academic and career and technical education (CTE) as required by Every Student Succeeds Act and Perkins V legislation. One solution school district leaders have developed to address this legislation is the creation of CTE magnet high schools. However,…

Despite continuous efforts to develop teacher observation and evaluation frameworks, one-size-fits-all evaluation tools may not be adequate for an instrumental music classroom. Since implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, teacher evaluation has shifted from a high-stakes accountability model to models focused on feedback and…

Iowa's Senate File 496 requires parent permission to formally survey students about their mental health, bans the discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in schools before 7th grade, mandates schools obtain parental permission to use a nick name, and bans any books that depict or describe sex acts in schools. This exploratory case…