Joseph P. McDonald reports findings from a study of nine poverty-impacted schools in New York City striving to more effectively use student performance data in teaching. The study was one of 13 studies of data use at the classroom level across the United States funded by the Spencer Foundation -- an effort intended to fill a serious gap in…

Kappan's editor-in-chief talks with renowned scholar Susan Moore Johnson about her extensive research into the professional lives of public school teachers. For decades, studies have shown that teaching tends to be isolating work, with few opportunities for teachers to collaborate with and learn from each other or to play meaningful roles in…

Under both No Child Left Behind and the Every Student Succeeds Act, school leaders have been mandated to employ data-driven decision-making (DDDM) to diagnose student needs, implement targeted supports, and design school improvements. However, district administrators tasked with developing principals' DDDM capacity face a tough road. The authors…

As states approach the funding cliff marking the end of federal stimulus help for education, school districts will be feeling more financial pain than they're experiencing now. But there's good news amid the bad: Big city districts are showing schools nationwide a way to save money and improve efficiency by working together. They've created the…

Having studied schools in the past eight years that have high concentrations of students living in poverty, but who consistently exceed the performance of similarly impoverished schools, the authors conclude that such higher-performing schools share common characteristics setting them apart. The three most essential are: Teachers, administrators,…

Describes an inner city New York City school that has achieved some success in improving urban education. (JF)

States some of the problems caused by bureaucracy in urban schools such as institutional complexity and overload, goal displacement, deficiencies in communication and decisionmaking processes, and social and psychological distances between client and institution. (JF)

Reports the results of a study conducted from 1977 to 1980 that observed 24 building principals in the Chicago public schools in order to compile a picture of the principal's workday. Suggests ways in which training programs for principals could be redirected. (Author/WD)

In reviewing a study of elementary urban school teachers, the author points out how the bureaucracy of education stifles teachers' ability to develop an internalized locus of control and leads to disenchantment and alienation. Giving teachers authority to act in their areas of expertise while decentralizing the educational power structure will…

Identifies factors contributing to urban schools' failure, including bureaucratic decision-making processes; outmoded, poorly maintained, and improperly designed facilities; responsibility overload; a new student population comprising immigrants, African-Americans, and the poor; rising security costs; inadequate staffing; and lack of political…