Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the authors' views of university-multi academy trusts' (MATs) opportunities for future interconnectivity that could support successful partnerships. Design/methodology/approach: The authors developed a matrix of university-MATs partnerships that could help identifying potential scenarios of…

Background: We examined written language in Wisconsin school wellness policies (SWPs) for federal mandate compliance, quality related to obesity prevention, and school characteristics associated with variations in quality. This is the first near census of Wisconsin SWPs and examines whether adhering to federal mandates results in strong policies…

Teachers of elementary English language arts/literacy (ELA) tend to line up behind one of two very different approaches to reading instruction. The first approach prioritizes reading comprehension strategies over content. The second rests on the idea that building background knowledge of the world, including the vocabulary that accompanies such…

Research suggests that diversifying the educator workforce has a strong positive influence on students, particularly vulnerable and historically underserved groups. This article presents an intrinsic case study of a Leaders of Color Network that provided promising design elements to reduce professional and racial isolation, promote collective…

School rezoning, or redistricting, is the process by which school boards draw and redraw school attendance boundaries. These boundaries are key drivers of racial and economic school segregation but can also work to ameliorate it. Using a critical orientation to narrative policy analysis, this study examined the cultural politics of race and…

COVID-19 school closures disrupted special education. In Fall 2020, districts sought to reopen schools, recover from the shocks of the pandemic, and implement special education to serve students with disabilities. Using policy document data from the United States' 25 largest school districts, we surface patterns in how districts communicated…

Introduction: "High-tech" assistive technology (AT) plays a critical role in the lives and educational experiences of students with visual impairments (i.e. those who are blind or have low vision). However, little is known about how these students actually use AT within their educational programs. Methods: A survey examining AT use and…

As policy debates concerning LGBTQ+ students and staff continue across the American education system, there is not a clear description of the prevalence of local policy protections, even in states with legislative mandates, nor a strong understanding of how to expand reform initiatives. After conducting a document analysis of policies with a…

Purpose: This article examines the relationship between educational and residential segregation in three school districts with differing approaches to student assignment. Racial and income segregation within school districts is often only examined at the school level, even as school patterns are often related to residential and attendance zone…

In the study reported on here, we investigated the effectiveness of principal leadership practices in secondary schools in Niger State, Nigeria. Surveys were conducted with 154 principals, 269 heads of the department and 25 members of staff from the Secondary Education Board in Niger State. The findings indicate that the extent of principal…

The role of schools in developing values is internationally recognised, with many systems grappling to identify and embed values in schools. Within an Irish context, the Education Act (1998) frames values from the perspective of 'characteristic spirit', giving responsibility to boards of management to uphold the characteristic spirit as…

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to determine the extent to which American school board members faced electoral competition, as well as the factors influencing the likelihood of competition. Design/methodology/approach: The authors utilized original national survey data of American school board members linked with school district…

Already under fire before spring 2020, the dominance of federally mandated test-based accountability in American education had led many educators and policymakers to decry the system as largely out of balance and to suggest that this imbalance has stifled productive local efforts toward meaningful, lasting improvements in student learning. It is…

After a natural disaster hits, schools often focus on a recovery plan that meets the immediate needs of students. Unfortunately, teachers' needs are not prioritized, leaving them to address personal and professional disruptions on their own. We studied 20 school districts in North Carolina and Texas that were affected by Hurricanes Matthew and…

In this article, we combine theories of teacher leadership, policy leadership, street-level leadership, and policy enactment to inform our novel conceptualization of teachers' policy leadership. We draw on data collected through a series of 3 focus group interviews with 31 secondary school teachers in Ontario between July 2020 and February 2021 to…