P.S. 52 Sheepshead Bay School in Brooklyn, New York, serves more than 850 students from pre-kindergarten to fifth grade from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. After scores on the 2014 New York State English language arts assessment were unsatisfactory, first-year principal Rafael Alvarez searched for a way to improve academic outcomes for his…

The "Quality Practice Project" (QPP) is the National Association of Charter School Authorizers' (NACSA's) multi-year research initiative to identify what high-performing authorizers do to achieve stellar student and public interest outcomes. Participants and researchers collaboratively investigated the perspectives and practices of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report findings from an exploratory study of New York's Children First Networks (CFNs); to examine what is known about the CFNs thus far, drawing on new empirical research, as well as document review and analysis of secondary sources. Design/methodology/approach: Organizational learning theory guided this…

In this article we examine induction policies and practices for new alternatively certified mathematics teachers in the country's largest urban school district, New York City. Our focus is on the support system for such teachers as it is legislated and as it is enacted. This includes the induction and general supports (e.g., mentoring, coaching,…

US school libraries are required to ensure that schoolchildren and school staff with disabilities have equal opportunity to use and benefit from library facilities and information services under federal law. However, evidence indicates teacher-librarians (TLs) often lack the training, knowledge and skills to provide programmes and services that…

Superficially, the Brooklyn Generation School, in the Flatbush area, looks a lot like the other six small public high schools that share space in this tall building, the former South Shore High School. What's noticeably different about it, though, is the strength of the relationships among staff members. Teachers can be seen running across the…

Although multidisciplinary teams (MT) are often available to all students in a school district, questions concerning the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of MTs remain largely unanswered. To examine MT functioning in New York, a survey was conducted with 108 separate MTs representing 43 public school districts. Respondents completed the…

Describes how extraordinary collaborations between agencies, educators, architects, and others created special places to learn within the New York City school system. Discusses this group approach in fostering commitment and achieving success in creating innovative educational facility designs. (GR)

This study investigated the extent to which school characteristics would interfere with or enhance a shared decision making (SDM) team's ability to address issues of academic achievement as mandated by New York State. A group of 108 SDM team chairpersons in New York State public high schools completed surveys about school characteristics and…