This paper examines a collective storytelling practice at Kanu o ka 'Aina Public Charter School (KANU) as a foundation for belonging and community building. In this article, the author focuses on piko, a daily morning gathering of protocol and chants exercised by all staff and students at KANU Public Charter School. The author examines this…

Many public charter schools in the state of Hawaii are explicitly religious. For more than two decades, students at Hawaiian-focused schools have offered chants and prayers to the pantheon of gods who rule over skies, seas, and earth, including to the volcanic god, Pelehonuamea ("she who shapes the sacred land"), popularly known as Madam…

The last two decades have witnessed an ongoing effort to re-design the education doctorate to prepare practitioners to conduct research as a key aspect of their practice. As part of the reform, Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) members have tried to ensure the delivery of a relevant practice-based curriculum that prepares…

While project-based learning can be traced back to centuries-old theory, new research shows how it is linked to a variety of efforts for change in innovative schools.

Federal agents, church officials, and education reformers have long used schooling as a weapon to eliminate Indigenous people; at the same time, Indigenous individuals and communities have long repurposed schooling to protect tribal sovereignty, reconstitute their communities, and shape Indigenous futures. Joining scholarship that speaks to…

This article examines counter-hegemony occurring through the development of the Hawaiian language immersion movement, successfully leading to the saving of both Hawaiian culture and the Hawaiian language. After almost 100 years without Hawaiian being the language of instruction, it has re-emerged. Counter-hegemony began in the 1960s with the…

Research in culturally responsive instruction (CRI) to improve literacy learning was explored through study of Hawaiian-focused charter schools. Building on work by Au, an indigenous framework reflecting the work of these schools was developed, highlighting five elements: (a) literacy in indigenous languages; (b) community connections; (c) a…

In this quantitative correlational research study, the degree to which a school leader's culture-based communication style could predict student achievement outcomes in the Hawaii State Assessment (HSA) in reading and math in: (a) schools with a Native Hawaiian mission, and (b) schools without a Native Hawaiian mission, were examined. The…

While teachers in cyber charter schools play the important role of supporting students, many of these schools also rely heavily on the parents or guardians of students to act as co-educators. Teachers are no longer the sole providers of instruction. However, little is known about the roles of parents or guardians, referred to as learning coaches,…

The framework of cultural advantage calls researchers and leaders to reexamine the structures, paradigms, and practices of effective education. We argue that the moral imperative in this challenge is to critically scrutinize and counter the way education systems perpetuate systematic inequities in opportunities and outcomes afforded to certain…

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to describe how culture, disability, and prospective first-generation college student status influenced the transition decisions of five native Hawaiian students with specific learning disabilities who attended a Hawaiian-focused charter school. Students had strong ties to their history and…

When first conceived, charter schools were envisioned as local projects initiated by parents and/or groups of teachers seeking to improve the educational performance of students. In the past two decades, the phenomenon has expanded to more than 5% of all U.S. public schools and almost 3% of all students (Center for Education Reform [CER], 2009).…

Charter schools are held up as examples of the benefits of a freer approach to hiring teachers. Most studies of charter school personnel policies, however, overlook important variation in personnel practice within the charter school sector. Examining how charter schools use recruitment timelines and teacher compensation to complete for teachers in…

Calls for schools to "improve" are everywhere, but recently calls for schools to "transform" have proliferated, based on the idea that schools are not simply underperforming but outdated if not obsolete. Most prominently, scholars and authors such as Phillip Schlechty, Peter Senge, and Francis Duffy have targeted school and…

Fourteen of the startup charter schools in the State of Hawai'i are Hawaiian-focused, providing an education grounded in culturally relevant content and context. This study centers on outcomes in these Hawaiian-focused charter schools, which have demonstrated their value to the community, serving the educational needs of an increasing number of…