This article explores issues that had to be confronted over a three-year period in terms of two New York State funded grants for which I was the evaluator. Major, critical challenges are presented, described, and discussed. Specifically, the paper addresses issues related to lack of planning at the grant design stage that resulted in challenges…

Most states in the United States operate their public preschool programs in a mixed delivery system that serves children in local education agencies (LEAs) as well as non-LEA settings, such as Head Start agencies, child care centers, private schools, and family child care homes. To inform state preschool administrators and policymakers as they…

Research concerning men working in predominantly female environments has suggested that stereotyping can occur when gender norms are violated, such as men teaching at the elementary school level. The present study investigated the presence and perspectives of male elementary school music teachers in specific geographical regions of the…

The purpose of this qualitative case study from archival material was to evaluate the degree of public transparency in the evaluation methodology and procedures of school superintendents of districts with student populations between 700 and 900 students in the State of New York. This study examined the language of the 71 superintendent employment…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how US school leaders and teachers make sense of multiple accountability policies, including the Common Core State Standards and teacher evaluation, and how this process relates to school priorities and classroom practice. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a comparative case study…

Rural school districts face different challenges than urban and suburban districts. In fact, several Rural Systemic Initiatives (RSIs) have been established around the country to isolate and address rural school district issues (Harmon & Smith, 2012). In order to improve the effectiveness of transition services in rural schools, feedback from…

Scholars typically frame the subgroup problem in education in terms of protecting religious minorities from majoritarian encroachment. This essay explores a different aspect of the subgroup problem: what happens when an antidemocratic religious minority becomes a local majority responsible for the promotion of the public good? This essay uses the…

Despite a long-standing concern within the sociology of education for ameliorating educational inequality, the challenge of improving educational opportunities for disadvantaged students remains deeply entrenched. While 'macro' issues such as segregation and systemic inequalities in school funding and access to qualified teachers must be addressed…

This study aims to examine the role athletics plays in academic achievement amongst varsity athletes in a large suburban Long Island school district. The study was motivated by six questions using both a quantitative and qualitative methodology. Those questions aimed to answer the extent (1) the overall grade point average of an athlete compared…

Amid the growth of charter schools, autonomous schools, and private management organizations, an increasing number of urban districts are moving toward a portfolio management model (PMM). In a PMM, the district central office oversees schools that operate under a variety of governance models. The expansion of PMMs raises questions about local…

The "Response to Intervention Guidance for New York State School Districts" (2010) document indicates Response to Intervention (RTI) is a mandated general education process intended to provide early interventions to struggling at-risk students. The multi-level RTI framework is structured to include targeted evidence-based interventions…

This article focuses on the broader political sphere as it affects superintendents and other constituents of rural districts. The current landscape of education reform focuses on accountability--particularly at the policy level of both state and federal education agencies. This article draws on the literature and an empirical study that examined…

Over the course of the past few decades, technology has shaped the way people interact, work, learn, and retrieve and disperse information. The advent of the 21st Century includes new forms of knowledge and information, requiring tools and skills previously unseen by generations of learners. New tools are meant to be used for expansion of…

This descriptive study of a change initiative by the Syracuse (NY) City School District informs the question, "How do school boards and districts better use research and data to inform policy decisions?" Researchers used interviews and artifacts to describe how the district developed and implemented a new discipline policy, the Syracuse…

This study explored the skill sets possessed by speech-language pathologists working with profoundly deaf children in three types of settings (state-funded "4201" schools for the deaf, Board of Cooperative Educational Services programs, and local school districts) throughout New York State. The phenomenological method of inquiry was…