Completing Advanced Placement (AP) coursework is an important part of the selective college admissions process, and access to AP coursework can be viewed as a measure of equal opportunity. Relatively little research has fully examined how access to AP coursework is mediated by school characteristics. Rural schools are at a particular disadvantage…

This report on "Responsive School Systems" constitutes the second of three thematic comparative reports bringing together findings from the OECD's School Resources Review. Evolving educational objectives, changing student needs and demographic developments require school systems to be highly responsive to new patterns of demand and adapt…

In the Fall of 2010, the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) approached Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) to commission a report of system-wide performance for their first full school year of testing as part of the BIE-NWEA Project. Even with only a single year of testing data, some patterns were identified and they are listed in this report.…

As indicated in papers 2 and 3 of this symposium and in published research from Project REAL, there is clear evidence that the SEALS model has a general positive impact on the school context during the early adolescent years. The purpose of this study was to identify key process factors that support gains to academic outcomes in general, but…

This case study examined the extent to which the No Child Left Behind mandate has contributed to principal stress, specifically in middle schools that have achieved annual yearly progress through the use of confidence intervals when measuring particular sub-groups. A secondary question relating to how principals are coping with the law from an…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore state takeover as a school reform strategy in a small rural school district. Since 1988, more than 50 U.S. school districts in 20 states have been subject to some form of state takeover. A number of factors generally contribute to a state takeover, some of which include: poor student…

Public education is the cornerstone of democracy and is absolutely fundamental to a democratic, civil and prosperous society. Beyond the boundaries of the United States, other countries are working to provide quality education to their children through civil society institutions. In particular, there are three extraordinary organizations in Peru,…

This report presents the results for Part I of the study focusing on the performance of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) fourth- and eighth-graders on the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading and mathematics. A national sample of approximately 10,100 AI/AN students at grades 4 and 8 participated in the 2007 reading…

The consolidation of rural schools in the United States has been a controversial topic for policy-makers, school administrators, and rural communities since the 1800s. At issue in the consolidation movement have been concerns of efficiency, economics, student achievement, school size, and community identity. Throughout the history of schooling in…

Public-private partnerships in education exist in various forms around the world, in both developed and developing countries. Despite this, and despite the importance of human capital for economic growth, systematic analysis has been limited and scattered, with most scholarly attention going to initiatives in the United States. This volume helps…

Elementary teachers' beliefs, knowledge, and practice relating to retention were explored using an adapted version of the Teacher Retention Beliefs Questionnaire (Tompchin & Impara, 1992). A researcher-developed knowledge section was added to the original questionnaire to measure teachers' propositional knowledge of retention. Thirty-five, K-4…

This article reports on an exploratory study of the factors perceived by school personnel to contribute to success in high-performing, high-needs (HPHN) rural schools. It is based on earlier research in HPHN schools that identified 4 key components of success (leadership, instruction, professional community, and school environment) and explored…

A qualitative study, using focus groups of Latino parents living in a rural Southeastern U.S. community, was conducted to explore the experiences of elementary-school-aged Latino children. Using the consensual qualitative research method to analyze participants' responses, this study identified four general themes that impact Latino children in…

This is the 2011 Yearbook of the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA). This Yearbook contains five parts. Part I, Invited Chapters, includes: (1) NCPEA President's Message, 2011 (Gary W. Kinsey); (2) Shadows and Images II (Lloyd Duvall); and (3) Micropolitics in the School: Teacher Leaders' Use of Political Skill…

While the Amish are an established cultural group in the United States, Amish children are relatively ignored as a cultural and language minority group in public schools. Little information is available to the educator wishing to understand these children. Teacher education programs do not prepare teachers to deal with the language and experience…