This chapter describes a model for continuous improvement that guides the work of the National Center on Scaling Up Effective Schools, or NCSU. NCSU is a research and development center funded by the Institute for Education Sciences, the research arm of the United States Department of Education. At the core of the Center's work is an innovative…

This chapter recounts the first 3 years of the Student Voice Collaborative (SVC) in New York City, a district supported student leadership initiative that engages high school aged youth in school reform work at school and district levels. Based on his experiences developing and running the SVC, the author identifies nine design and implementation…

Principals are being encouraged to distribute leadership to increase schools' organizational capacities, and enhance student growth and learning. Extant research on distributed leadership practices provides an emerging basis for adopting such approaches. Yet, relatively less attention has been paid to examining the principal's role in fostering…

This case study examines the leadership practices and actions of an urban high school principal who faced many challenges, but worked diligently to improve student achievement and school climate over a 3-year period. Significant improvements were made by using elements of Distributed Leadership, Professional Learning Communities, and Social…

In schools, like many business organizations, the establishment of mission statements has become common practice. In fact, many high schools are required to establish mission statements as part of an accreditation process. The intent of mission statements is to establish organizational purpose, and theoretically, once established the practice of…

School leadership is synonymous with challenge. However, some school leaders face true crises--situations threatening the continuing existence of their school. "Leading Schools During Crisis" analyzes leadership and behaviors of principals in these extraordinary circumstances. A simultaneously scholarly and practice-oriented book,…

Three decades of mounting academic and testing requirements are snagging growing numbers of students in the 9th grade. "The bulge" is the name education researchers give to the percentage increase in students in the 9th grade over the same period. This article reports on factors that might explain the growing 9th grade bottleneck and…

School structures need not be rigid, controlling, and coercive; in fact, they can be just the opposite. Enabling school structures are centralized and formalized in ways that promote problem solving, collaboration, flexibility, change, and professional judgment. The current research demonstrates the importance of "both" collegial…

Wartime conditions created a new interest in school-and-work programs for educators because the realities of employment were brought closer to the schools, and for those concerned with the protection of young workers because of the necessity for safeguarding the interests of these young people while on the job. School-and-work programs, under…

It is believed that superintendents and principals, school board members, teachers, and employers and other lay citizens--in fact, all those persons who help to decide on public-school curriculum have need for a bulletin in which information is made available concerning work experience education programs. They should be informed about selected…