This study provides a historical analysis of the Chicago Public Schools major reform policies and initiatives and their implications for educational leaders and principals in urban areas during the mayoral term of Rahm Emanuel. This analysis includes detailed reform initiatives implemented under several mayors and CEOs leading up to Mayor Rahm…

The problem was the commonly held belief that lack of confidence, preparedness, educational neuromyths, and little or no professional development are factors that impede early childhood teachers' implementation of brain-based learning strategies in the daily curriculum design structure. This qualitative narrative inquiry aimed to explore…

In this article, the Tennessee's Voluntary Prekindergarten (TN-VPK) program in general and the Shelby County Schools' VPK program in particular are analyzed using the policy instruments of regulation, finance, and support services. The geospatial analysis (Geographic Information Systems or "GIS") indicates that many of VPK's site…

Background/Context: Although professional development using coaching has been widely adopted as a way of improving early care and education practice, only recently have researchers begun to look at the content and features of coaching that lead to desired outcomes. This study examines one of the first projects to explore coaching components among…

This case is to help district leaders and community partners understand the complexity of pursuing a principles-based approach to improving early school readiness. Wyckoff Public Schools adopted the Boston Basics to support young children's early learning and readiness for school. It required district leaders and partners to work across…

This study contrasted face-to-face and remote coaching models using an empirically-based professional development model, The Early Education model (TEEM). Child care teachers (n = 174) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: remote coaching (n = 59), face-to-face coaching (n = 66), and business-as-usual (n = 49). This study examined…

This study contrasted face-to-face and remote coaching models using an empirically-based professional development model, The Early Education model (TEEM). Child care teachers (n = 174) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: remote coaching (n = 59), face-to-face coaching (n = 66), and business as-usual (n = 49). This study examined…

Drawing from transnational feminism, we describe the interplay of multiple identities influencing teaching and research. By exploring our stories of border crossing as first/second-generation immigrant women, we highlight the importance of building communities of care in collaborative relationships. We explore the reciprocal relationship between…

Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to test a theoretical measurement model representing four proposed dimensions of the classroom ecology in pre-K to third-grade classrooms. The four proposed dimensions of Classroom Composition, Peer Network and Norms, Teacher Practices, and Student Experiences were evaluated using data collected in…

Using administrative and qualitative data, we investigate how decentralization affects the supply of optional educational services using the example of school-based prekindergarten (pre-K) in New Orleans during the transition to a majority-charter system. Although charter school leaders are motivated by student- and school-level benefits of pre-K,…

The purpose of this study was to examine how paraprofessionals and other service providers participate in co-teaching with a certified special education pre-Kindergarten teacher during dual language (DL) instruction. The study took place in two DL special education preschool classrooms located in an urban public school district in the southwestern…

This study examined the relationships among school specialists, specifically, special education teachers, Child Study Team members (school psychologists and school social workers), and school counselors, who provide support to students with specific learning needs and their families. By examining the relationship and level of collaboration among…

This mixed-methods study's main goal was to examine whether teachers' conflict intervention strategies are contingent upon children's insistence level (i.e., unwillingness or inability to understand others' perspectives) and whether this support leads to different outcomes. An additional goal was to under-stand teachers' perceptions of peer…

Purpose: This study builds on research scrutinizing school autonomy in policy and school governance by shifting the focus from a formal structural view of autonomy to examining how principals negotiate autonomy in their daily work. Drawing on multiple dimensions of autonomy and street-level bureaucracy, this study examined how principals, as both…

New York City's Pre-K for All (PKA) is the nation's largest universal early childhood initiative, serving over 64,000 four-year-olds annually. Stemming from the program's choice architecture as well as the city's stark residential segregation, PKA programs are extremely segregated by child race/ethnicity. Our current study explores the complex…