This qualitative study considers which aspects of school climate support or inhibit student achievement as each aspect relates to school leadership and school reform efforts. Due to the increased responsibility and accountability which schools face during these challenging times, school climate and the role of the school principal formed the basis…

As the Every Student Succeeds Act is returning authority over teacher evaluation policies back to the states, policy makers at the state level have the opportunity to revise their policies. But who will they listen to when it comes to potential reforms? The author surveyed education policy makers to determine to what degree teachers, education…

This study was designed to analyze non-principal staff supervisors' perceptions of PLC efforts, encouragements, and activities in the six dimensions of a professional learning community (PLC) characterized as shared and supportive leadership, shared values and vision, collaborative culture, a focus on learning, supportive relationships, and…

This article aims to explain the role principals play in the variation in academic achievement between secondary schools in Hong Kong. The article draws on survey data from 179 key staff and 2,037 students from 42 schools. The study uses 2 analytical approaches. First, it employs classification and regression tree analysis (CART). This was used to…

School principals' education and professional experience shape their approach to school leadership and how successful their students will be. However, it is not clear from existing research which aspects of principal education and professional experience are related to student outcomes and principal retention. This dissertation explores aspects of…

Teacher evaluation conducted by school principals is a common worldwide practice. However, there are many reservations about principals' ability to evaluate teachers reliably. Reservations appearing in the literature include inflated ratings, minimal discrimination of teacher quality, and evaluations influenced by factors irrelevant to teacher…

Ninth Grade Academies (NGAs)--also called Freshman Academies--have attracted national attention as a particularly intensive and promising approach for supporting a successful transition for high school freshmen. An NGA is a self-contained learning community for ninth-graders that operates as a school within a school. NGAs have four core structural…

This study examines the perceptions of secondary school principals in Pennsylvania with respect to teacher preparation. A review of recent education literature clearly supports the understanding that there is a national concern regarding student achievement and its importance in assuring that the United States can maintain its current position of…

Recent federal legislation has created strong incentives for states to adopt principal evaluation systems, many of which include new measures of principal effectiveness such as estimates of student growth and changes in school climate. Yet, there has been little research on principal evaluation systems and no state-by-state analysis of the…

The purpose of this study was to interview and observe the principals selected to participate in the inaugural cohort of the North Carolina Distinguished Leadership in Practice ("NCDLP") program to understand what leadership practices they applied within their schools that positively impacted teaching and learning. The major research…

The REL Mid-Atlantic Webinar discussed the elements in a positive school climate and shared different methods for assessing school data, including the Comprehensive School Climate Inventory. The Q&A presented in this document address the questions participants had for Dr. Cohen following the webinar. The webinar recording and PowerPoint…

The roles of urban superintendents are crucial to improving the educational outlook for the neediest students, specifically the African-American males. The roles and responsibilities of the urban school superintendent today are more numerous, complex, and demanding than in the past. The expectations of today's urban superintendents are to be…

The purpose of this research study was to design school profiles of two elementary schools in order to investigate the potential relationship between school climate dynamics and levels of student achievement. The research design for this study included a mixed method approach of quantitative and qualitative techniques. These techniques included…

The goal of the study was to investigate how teachers' reflection and asking for feedback--critical aspects of teachers' professional growth--can be explained and stimulated by teachers' self-efficacy, principals' feedback, and servant leadership characteristics. A mixed-method study was conducted with data collected from surveys and interviews…

Despite voluminous research on the detrimental effects of grade-level retention, it continues as a regular practice in American public schools as an intervention for struggling students. While research has been done on the roles and influences of teachers on the retention process, little has been done to measure the influence of the school…