Purpose: Instructional leadership is a school leadership approach that emphasizes improving teaching and learning. This study explores how school middle leaders -- teachers holding leadership positions in schools, who are responsible for a particular area or discipline of the school's curriculum -- fulfill their instructional leadership role.…

For several decades now, there have been calls for the creation of inclusive learning environments within regular classroom settings. Teachers and other practitioners involved in this task need various types of guidance to assist them. While general principles deduced from empirically-based positivist studies are valuable, micro-sociology based…

In the United States, state education agencies (SEAs) are required to regularly identify low-performing schools. Initiating the school improvement process is one of the most important, yet most challenging steps. The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has been nationally recognized for the way it initiates the school improvement process. This…

Background: Physical Education (PE) is a fundamental cornerstone for childhood development as it promotes lifelong participation in physical activities for holistic health. School educators play a key role in creating school environments that lead to developmentally appropriate and high-quality PE lessons. Aim: The aim of this study was to…

The researcher examined male and female principals serving at a Title I elementary school that has been reported by TEA as a "met standards" campus. To guide this study, the researcher examined male and female elementary school principals' predominant priorities in increasing student achievement at low socioeconomic Title I schools. Male…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how principals, deputy principals, heads of departments (HoDs) and teachers as leaders exercise their agency within and through the organisational structure of their schools to improve academic quality. Design/methodology/approach: A case study was conducted in the wider context of school-based…

This paper aims to draw lessons from existing research on school leader diversity, and to supplement that evidence with new insights from the lived experiences of teachers, aspiring and practicing school leaders of color, and local and state administrators who oversee school leader recruitment and support. These perspectives are elevated to bring…

As the achievement gap widens, it is even more critical than ever to examine factors that may influence the closing of that chasm. Principal leadership is one such component that needs further study. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine which leadership styles principals employ in traditional public schools in the State of New…

Sixty-six school districts and more than 150 schools in the state of Kansas are participating in the Kansans Can Redesign Project. In this article, we present a case study of using Design Thinking as a systemic process to structure continuous school improvement. The collage of real-life scenarios presented in our case shows the integration of…

Research shows that teachers of color can benefit all students, particularly students of color, yet only one in five teachers are individuals of color, compared to more than half of K-12 public school students. Increasing the diversity of educators can not only benefit students, but recruiting, preparing, and retaining more teachers of color who…

The purpose of this study was to investigate principals' perceptions of the impact of the New York State Annual Professional Performance Review on instructional practices. Dr. Philip Hallinger's Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) was used to examine principal behaviors as they relate to school mission/goals, instruction and…

This paper explores support in primary schools in a single South African school district. The literature suggests an increased need for educator support in South Africa due to a myriad of curricular changes in the aftermath of apartheid, as well as a teacher corps that is ill-prepared for the demands posed by curricular reform. Documented research…

Recent trends indicate a move away from self-contained classrooms and toward content-focused departmentalization in elementary schools. This study takes a snapshot of the existing organizational structures used in elementary schools in one district and explores administrators' beliefs and practices regarding this phenomenon. Our findings suggest…

Since the Florida State Department of Education promoted lesson study as a stateside teacher professional development model using the Race to the Top funding, school districts across the state have taken various approaches to promote lesson study. However, we do not know yet how district leaders made sense of this new model of teacher professional…

One of the skills necessary to be an effective school leader is the ability to effectively provide instructional leadership, including coaching and feedback to teachers and instructional staff. The Wallace Foundation (2016) stated that high-quality principal preparation programs include experiential learning. Preparation programs must embed…