Research and professional leadership standards identify specific ways in which principals directly influence school organization and community relationships and exert less direct, but critically important, influence on teaching quality and instructional effectiveness. Principals' roles are central to supporting and supervising teachers'…

Teacher evaluations are often designed to serve two purposes: to measure teacher competence and to foster professional development and growth. A teacher evaluation system should give teachers useful feedback on classroom needs, the opportunity to learn new teaching techniques, and counsel from principals and other teachers on how to make changes…

Urban public schools in the United States face the problem of failure to reach academic goals of performance mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act. It was hypothesized that use of Senge's leadership model might result in academic performance in one urban elementary school. Based on Senge's shared vision leadership model as the theoretical…

The accountability required by school-reform measures such as No Child Left Behind has placed increased emphasis on data analysis for appraising schools, administrators, teachers, and students. The focus of accountability-driven initiatives is developing policies and procedures that collectively influence the district, the school, and most…

This report describes Ohio's school restructuring efforts under the No Child Left Behind Act, including findings from interviews with state officials and case studies of nine schools in four school districts: Cincinnati Public Schools, Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Mansfield City Schools, and Mount Vernon City Schools. Key findings from…

As the United States stands on the brink of a new era in American history with new leaders, fresh ideas, and a strong feeling of optimism for the future, everyone has an important opportunity to get the nation's education policy right. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) recommends that as policymakers reshape the…

This article addresses how teacher preparation programs can best respond to the broad, complex calls for reform in ways that are locally meaningful and honor academic integrity, but that are also true to the intent of the reform mandates. The authors begin with an overview of some of the federal and state initiatives that are presenting challenges…

The conditions that students, parents, teachers, and administrators experienced are a product of economic, political, and social influences that impact the day-to-day operation of urban schools. One cannot understand the context of urban schools in the United States without considering the economic, political, and social influences that have made…

About two years ago, Ohio's school district, like many other districts nationwide, was beginning to feel the first effects of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Reading scores at many of Ohio's elementary schools were unacceptably low, and one school in particular--Fairmount Park Elementary School--had been labeled as "in need of…

Online learning is growing rapidly across the United States within all levels of education, as more and more students and educators become familiar with the benefits of learning unconstrained by time and place. Across most states and all grade levels, students are finding increased opportunity, flexibility, and convenience through online learning.…

This essay describes the broad consideration of educational standards that occurred with a cohort of masters' licensure students in public, urban university and high school contexts. This deliberation over standards was rooted in the model of standards development presented by these future teachers' licensure program and called upon this next…

Written by an interdisciplinary group of experts in education, psychology, sociology, and other fields, this landmark handbook provides a thorough examination of U.S. secondary education from the private academies of Colonial America to the comprehensive high schools and alternative schools of today. This accessible compendium is a treasure trove…

Innovations, ETS's corporate magazine, provides information on educational assessment for educators, school leaders, researchers and policymakers around the world. This issue on how classroom assessments in five U.S. states and several foreign countries expand educational opportunities for all students. Articles in this issue include: (1) Keeping…