In spring 2012, after a year of intensive data analysis and planning, the colleges participating in Completion by Design announced strategies for creating clear, structured routes through college for more students, often referred to as accelerated, structured pathways to completion. These strategies contain elements unique to each college, but all…

In the 2007 edition of the NCPEA Yearbook, Zigler and Allen allude to the principalship and its associated training as being at a "tipping point," a reference to Malcom Gladwell's (2000) book, "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Difference" (2007, p. 139). Zigler and Allen contend the current principal paradigm is…

This study involved 107 teachers assessing their apprehension in communicating within group settings, one-to-one, in meetings, and in large public speaking circumstances. Those involved in the study were teachers pursuing graduate degrees in teacher leadership. School administrator's acknowledging the talents and gifts of teaching faculty, and…

This report concludes that for the U.S. to prosper and compete in the 21st century, the education system will need to change its goals and practices so all students may succeed. That is, as information has become ubiquitous, schools need to emphasize 21st century skills such as analyzing, synthesizing, and creating along with understanding and…

The teaching of mathematics, which arguably is so abstract as to transcend place and community and even culture (according at least to a Platonic view of mathematics), will seem to some observers particularly ill-suited to instruction in place- or community- or culture-based approaches. Nevertheless, current thinking in mathematics education,…

Teachers in the second stages of their careers--those with 4-10 years of experience--are often eager to vary their responsibilities, work collaboratively with peers, and influence teaching beyond their own classrooms. With many veteran teachers retiring, principals are apt to recruit these second-stage teachers to fill teacher leadership…

This publication is the result of an 18-month project that brought together teams from six states--Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas--along with their national organizations in a groundbreaking partnership to identify collective bargaining language and policies that support high-quality professional development.…

With 55 percent of the 53,400 students on free and reduced lunch programs, a 78 percent mobility rate, and a diverse population, Columbus City Schools (CCS) in Ohio faces the challenges common to other urban districts. In spite of the challenges, CCS has made a long-term commitment to engage students in high-quality physical education and physical…

This article discusses the lack of female teachers in leadership positions. In 1988, The National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) commissioned a study to address the administrator shortage. They found that the top three reasons candidates gave for not applying…

In an era of dwindling resources, compelling student needs, burgeoning violence, and escalating performance expectations for students and faculty alike, classroom teachers are confronted with new demands that challenge their traditional roles as educators. The leap from a productive individual contributor, working essentially behind a closed…

In this article, the author is asking that teacher educators respond to two papers that recommend political activity. Becoming politically active is one way of reacting to the situation that currently faces teacher educators, but political activity is not for everyone. It is time-consuming, exhausting, and at times depressing. It is also…

A study was conducted to identify and measure theoretical dimensions of teacher empowerment in 307 venture capital schools in Ohio. (The Ohio state legislature established venture capital grants to support school improvement; these grants serve as catalysts for local schools to redesign their internal structures.) Data were gathered from 4,091…

The mission of the Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI) was to build a long-term capacity that would improve the educational structures of the rural communities it served. The major strategy ARSI used to create improvement communities across Appalachia was to identify, embrace and educate individual teachers, who became ARSI Teacher…