Little research has focused on the extent to which community school principals approach family engagement efforts, specifically from an equity-centered perspective. This study examined how community school principals' leadership practices exhibited tenets of Community Equity Literacy. Results from interviews with 13 administrators and 19…

The community school model is a strategy for addressing educational and place-based inequities. Our case study of a community school in Pennsylvania examines the role of the principal in leading toward authentic partnerships with families and community organizations. Our findings demonstrate how the school principal's approach to partnerships…

This study determined what principals need to successfully lead community schools and the extent principals are prepared to lead them. The authors of this qualitative study collected data from a broad sample of community school experts, principals, and directors to develop a list of necessary qualities for community school principals. Although the…

Purpose: This study examines the local and institutional factors that shape how educators and educational leaders in western Pennsylvania have understood and responded to rapid growth in opioid misuse and drug overdose within their communities. We examine how educational leaders and educators in two rural school districts in western Pennsylvania…

Due to the growth of school choice across the United States as well as declining enrollment in some districts, schools are experiencing increasing competition for students. As a result, principals and school district leaders in high-choice districts are now expected to develop strategies such as branding, marketing, and community outreach to…

Public school districts are locally controlled and funded through local property taxes. Funding schools this way perpetuates structural inequities in poorer school districts and as a result, students living in poverty have minimal access to critical resources that support student learning. Community schools are resurfacing in many of these urban…

Urban districts throughout the nation are contending with declining enrollment, aging facilities in disrepair, persistently low student achievement, increased competition with charters, and severe fiscal constraints. Philadelphia is a case in point. Over the past year, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) was forced to borrow $304 million…

Based on Bass and Riggio's (2006) Augmentation Model of Transactional and Transformational Leadership, this quantitative study sought to identify the amount of variance in teacher job satisfaction and organizational commitment that can be explained by principals' transformational leadership behaviors, above and beyond the influence of…

The "No Child Left Behind Act" has profoundly impacted public schools throughout our country. All school personnel must work together thoughtfully and diligently to address the mandates set forth by this federal law. As reforms are initiated and instructional programs are restructured, this qualitative multiple-case study examines…

This narrative case study research project focused on African American women principals and the leadership qualities and competencies that they bring to an urban school setting. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of African American women principals and examine the influence of this past experience, identify common…

This article examines the use of interim assessments in elementary schools in the School District of Philadelphia. The article reports on the qualitative component of a multimethod study about the use of interim assessments in Philadelphia. The study used an organizational learning framework to explore how schools can best develop the capacity to…

The purpose of this paper is to inform the community about teacher appraisal methods in the School District of Philadelphia, outline the difficulties of the current system, and suggest approaches that would strengthen the teacher appraisal process. The authors gathered their information over three months in mid-2009 from multiple sources:…

Throughout the 1980's, the notion of standards came to the forefront throughout the education world. Groups questioned how to define quality teaching. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards was developed to meet this need providing a voluntary national certification to identify accomplished teachers. Since its inception,…

WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF A RECOMMENDATION FOR DECENTRALIZATION, THIS SPEECH DESCRIBES P.S. 192M IN HARLEM, WHICH IS ADMINISTERED BY AN INDEPENDENT PRINCIPAL WHO IS THE KEY FIGURE IN DETERMINING THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION HIS STUDENTS RECEIVE. HOWEVER, A PRINCIPAL USUALLY DOES NOT HAVE THIS FREEDOM AND IS SOMETIMES LIMITED BY THE "BUREAUCRATIC…

The current study replicates work of Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Northeast and Islands. It describes dropout prevention programs in nine Mid-Atlantic Region (Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) school districts serving communities with populations of 24,742-107,250 (as of July 2008). All nine…