The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between principal attrition and academic factors in Georgia's high-needs rural schools. The research shows that principals have a significant impact on student outcomes, and principal attrition is a disruptive factor in schools. The findings from this study indicate a negative correlation…

States use their accountability systems to identify low-performing schools, which can receive added support and are expected to improve. Alternative schools serve students whose needs are not met in a regular school. They often serve at-risk students who are struggling academically or behaviorally. Given this unique population, the Government…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the development of co-teaching relationships in a high school setting in a small rural Georgia community. This study also explored how high-school special and general education teachers constructed collective efficacy beliefs that affected the development, implementation, and sustainment of…

Many school systems across the United States have begun redesign efforts by investing in smaller high school settings (Cawelti, 1999). Transforming schools into structured academic or career-themed academies has been associated with increased student achievement and more personalized learning environments. Ongoing collaboration of district level…

This article traces how the work of instructional leadership in the urban high school embodies a response to particular pressures in the school's environment. Based on evidence from multiple-case study research in four urban districts, the article demonstrates how supervisory and nonsupervisory leaders fashioned responses to the district (and…

It's getting to be that one needs a scorecard to identify district administrators by their titles. To keep up with changing needs, many districts are creating new management positions or adding new responsibilities to old ones and then coming up with titles that sometimes only hint at what they are about. In addition to 2008-2009 salary survey…

The high school principalship has been designated an area of professional shortage by many states. Resignations and terminations have been numerous as a result of poor student test performance. The purpose of this ex post facto correlation study was to investigate the self-perceptions of accountability by high school principals as they related to…

This latest brief updates education leaders on the key policies the 13 (Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia) Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states plan to implement under federal waivers to No Child Left Behind. It details,…

This individual profile provides information on Georgia's high school exit exam standards and policies. Some of the categories presented include: (1) State exit exam policy; (2) Type of Test; (3) Purpose; (4) Major changes in exit exam policy since the 2009-10 school year for financial reasons; (5) Subjects tested on exam; (6) Grade exam first…

In today's economy, employers increasingly demand that workers have a high school diploma, yet America's graduation rates are unacceptably low, particularly among poor and minority students. Nationally, only about 70 percent of students graduate from high school on time with a regular diploma; for African American and Hispanic students, this…

Nearly 7,000 students drop out of the nation's public high schools each school day, and 3,000 of them are in the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states. Altogether, an estimated 1.3 million teenagers in the United States abandon high school each year without earning a diploma. In 1,700 of the nation's high schools, less than 60 percent of…

Graduation rates are a fundamental indicator of whether or not the nation's public school system is doing what it is intended to do: enroll, engage, and educate youth to be productive members of society. Since almost 90 percent of the fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs require some postsecondary education, having a high school diploma and the…

SREB states were among the first in the nation to implement statewide high school exams. Today, these exams are a key component of each state's accountability system. This report identifies which states use comprehensive exams and which use end-of-course exams, how students perform on them, and whether achievement gaps have narrowed. It also…

This study addressed the perceptions of isolation among high school principals in Georgia. The data collection process, in which interviews were conducted, provided insight into the lived experiences of 10 principals. One of the findings was that high school principals were relieved, in a sense, to discuss their perceptions of the…

The transition into high school is a critical point in the educational pipeline, and ninth-grade can be characterized as one of its leakiest junctures. This policy brief examines how some states and districts are currently easing the transition into high school for students. It focuses on five key challenges that states, districts and schools…