My dissertation investigates the effects of education policy on academic achievement. I focus on state and federal policies that seek to influence how teachers and school administrators educate their students, and I evaluate those policies' effects on academic achievement. Chapter 1 examines the effects of a compositional shift in a school's…

The purpose of this study was to describe my experiences as a campus principal in facilitating the use of participatory formative assessment (PFA) in an environment of accountability and high-stakes testing. The methodology I employed was autoethnography (Chang, 2008; Ellis, 2004; Reed-Danahay, 1997; Stinson, 2009). I kept journals over a period…

Charter schools are "autonomous, publicly funded entities that operate on the basis of a contract between the individual and/or group (e.g., teachers, parents, others) which organizes the school and a sponsor (typically local or state education boards or districts)" (Lavine, 1994, p. 8). Charter schools are responsible to sponsors for their…

The six chapters in this research involve the history and development of middle schools from the early conceptions of junior high school to the ground breaking research by the Carnegie Foundation on changes in how young adolescent students develop, are taught and transitioned from elementary levels to high school. Professional literature reporting…

Students report that teachers bully them, but a review of the literature indicates that little attention has been given to teacher-to-student bullying. This study used a mixed-methods approach to investigate elementary teachers' perceptions of seriousness and their intent to intervene in teacher bullying incidents. Results indicated that teachers…

Public education in the United States is currently enveloped in an era of intense accountability. At the national level the "No Child Left Behind Act," demands accountability in any district or school receiving federal funds One of the goals of the No Child Left Behind legislation had its roots in the Texas education accountability…

For twenty-nine years, Red Clay Consolidated School District has managed data processing in a unique manner. Red Clay participates in the Data Service Center consortium to provide data management and processing services. This consortium is more independent than a department in the district but not as autonomous as an outsourced arrangement. While…

In recent years, state and national policy created the need for higher accountability standards for student academic performance. This increased accountability creates an imperative to have a formative assessment system reflecting validity in inferences about the effectiveness of instruction and performance on statewide large-scale assessments.…

Accountability in education with regard to student achievement, especially within core subject areas such as mathematics, has emerged over the past ten years that support the need for impactful educational reform. Educators have been asked to evaluate the distinctiveness of the students that they serve to determine if there are better ways to…

The demands of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) increase each year, requiring all students to be proficient in all subjects by 2014. Due to NCLB legislation, schools sense additional pressure to meet national and state standards. This legislation not only expanded the role of the federal government, but it also increased the pressure on schools to…

This constructivist multiple-case study examined the collaborative leadership practices of seven secondary and seven post-secondary leaders who participate in Ohio's Early College High School Initiative (ECHSI). The 14 educational leaders in this study partnered in an effort to respond to the access and success of traditionally underrepresented…

Public charter schools have become a bigger and bigger part of the public school landscape. Online education has also grown exponentially over the past decade. In recent years a new instructional model has emerged within the charter school community. This model is known as blended or hybrid instruction. Blended instruction involves some…

Given the current crisis in urban education and the frequent calls for urban school reform, a number of colleges and universities have established teacher education programs designed specifically to prepare teachers for work in urban schools. These urban-focused teacher preparation programs seek to provide pre-service teachers with the knowledge,…

Schools and educators have been increasingly educating students with disabilities in the general education setting; while at the same time the level of accountability for making a positive outcome on high stakes assessments for all students has increased. As educators feel pressure for their students to perform well on state assessments and meet…

The purpose of the study was to collect data to determine if assistant principal experience predicts student achievement as measured by the outcome measures of (1) school overall accountability rating, (2) Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) reading/English language arts score, (3) TAKS mathematics score, and (4) campus attendance rate…