The purpose of this study was to learn if teachers believe their experiences with the Ohio Resident Educator Program (OREP) improved their ability to meet the Ohio Standards for the Teaching Profession (OSTP). Two hundred forty-five teachers voluntarily participated in a thirty-three question Likert-based survey with seven open-ended comment…

Research demonstrating principals' impact on student learning outcomes has fueled the shift from principals as facilities managers to an emphasis on instructional leadership (Hallinger & Heck, 1996; Leithwood, Louis, Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004; Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005). Principals are under increasing pressure to carry out…

The purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics and traits of individuals and buildings in which teacher empowerment is strongest, so that those schools and individuals can be further studied and emulated. An additional purpose of the study is to investigate the relationships between principals and school environment characteristics,…

In 2009, President Barack Obama announced the 2020 College Completion initiative. The goal: By 2020, the United States will have the greatest proportion of citizens who are college graduates, compared with the rest of the world. On a national level, however, the average six-year completion rate hasn't changed much in the more than five years since…

Dwight Carter admits he was a novice at social networking when he was introduced to the 140-character world of Twitter in 2010. Now, three years later, the principal of Ohio's Gahanna Lincoln High School and one of three winners of the 2013 National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Digital Principal Award does not know what he…

In the sphere of education, social media has posed enormous challenges and unleashed its potential as a venue to communicate with stakeholders. This case is a fictionalized version of several real cases related to the school leaders' struggle with utilizing social media to accomplish changes in schools. This case describes two high school…

State education agencies are investing more time and effort to communicate effectively and engage with district, school and classroom leaders, parents, students and other key audiences about the important changes happening in their States. They are using myriad tools to do so, including forums, meetings, direct contact, mainstream and social…

Social media's established power to communicate and engage with mass audiences, combined with its largely free and easy-to-use platforms, makes it an irresistible lure for private, nonprofit and government institutions. What is murkier, but more important than ever, is solving the problem of properly planning and creating a structure so that…

Policy makers at the federal level have embraced an educator effectiveness agenda, which in turn has driven many states across the country to rapidly develop and implement new and more complex teacher evaluation systems. It is increasingly clear that the success of these nascent teacher evaluation systems partly depends on the will, skill, and…

Of the many inequities in the education system, gaps in access to strong teaching have proven to be among the most stubborn. That is not to say that there are not excellent teachers in high-poverty schools. Research shows an indisputable and wide-spread pattern in schools and districts across the country: Low-income children and children of color…

Leadership matters. Principals are the primary drivers of school improvement and the best long-term investment to ensure effective teaching and learning at scale. Principals are central to State efforts to implement new college and career-ready standards, execute teacher evaluation and support systems and turn around low-performing schools. These…

The ultimate goal of teacher evaluation systems is to improve the quality of instruction by clarifying expectations for effective teaching and helping teachers meet those expectations through high-quality feedback and support. Classroom observations -- which make up the majority of a teacher's summative rating in most States and districts -- give…

There is a dearth of research concerning Response to Intervention (RTI) implementation processes at the secondary level. Because the implementation process requires a change in day-to-day process for teachers and administrators, this could cause a change in roles as a second order change may be necessary for RTI implementation. Second order…

In the past, school and college administrators relied heavily on advice from colleagues, largely because they had an internal orientation toward their work. As the social, political, and economic influence of external forces became more apparent, they learned to value input from a range of stakeholders. Robert Taft, former governor of Ohio, is a…

This study advanced the research by Michael, Schwartz, and Balraj (2001) and McGoey (2005), which examined how trustees and other internal key stakeholders (respectively) from institutions of higher education in the state of Ohio perceived indicators of presidential effectiveness. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the perceived…