"Cure Student Underachievement" is the culmination of the authors' research, practice, and experience as principals, superintendents, graduate professors, and consultants in efforts to improve school performance and increase student achievement. Searching for the real causes of underperformance, the authors explored problem-solving strategies in…

Though campus principals must take on many leadership roles, their primary responsibility is to facilitate effective teaching and learning with the overall mission of enhancing student achievement. One way to provide instructional leadership is to evaluate and select effective instructional programs that align with campus goals of improving…

This research was designed with the primary purpose of identifying the dimensions of principal support perceived by public high school teachers in Virginia and identifying the relationship between principal support and organizational citizenship behaviors. In addition, this study also examined the relationship between principal support and student…

Chula Vista Elementary School District, the largest in California, dramatically raised its student achievement while taking on increasing proportions of English learners by focusing on what it calls teacher talk--the way lessons are developed, delivered, and executed.

This case involves a high school principal dealing with increasing numbers of students with “invisible disabilities” in his school while faced with ever-present budgetary cuts, perennially substandard academic performance, and low teacher morale. This case seeks to investigate how a principal, faced with an unsupportive Board interested only in…

The Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2004 allowed schools to use a Response to Intervention (RtI) model as opposed to the discrepancy model to qualify students as learning disabled. The incorporation of the RtI model provided earlier interventions for students and reduced avoidance of special services and false diagnosis. With the success of…

The discussion on how to improve students' academic performance has a long and rich history in the U.S. Although it has been a national priority, the debate has centered on the best method to accomplish this goal. Bernhardt (2003) and Shen and Cooley (2008) recognized the importance of teachers, principals, and data, deployed together, as critical…

The Transformational Coaching Team in Oakland Unified School District provides differentiated, sustained, job-embedded support to the district's school leaders. In this article, members of the team describe how they work with principals to transform the culture of schools. Student achievement data show above-average improvement in schools in which…

The purpose of this case study was to examine the factors pertaining to socially, economically, and culturally disadvantaged students, and to relate how these factors do not prohibit these students from demonstrating academic progress in literacy if they are provided with additional academic assistance and resources. This study examined roles and…

The study examined the relationship between secondary public school principals' emotional intelligence and school performance. The correlational study employed an explanatory sequential mixed methods model. The non-probability sample consisted of 105 secondary public school principals in Texas. The emotional intelligence characteristics of the…

Even in marginalized towns it is possible to find school communities that have developed relationships that encourage the construction of institutional cultures and management structures prone to superior academic performance compared to others within the same context. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative research project conducted in…

SWIFT is a national center whose mission is to help educators provide academic and behavioral support resulting in excellence in education for all students, including boys and young men of color. This mission presumes all educators, school and district staff, family members, and the local community have shared responsibility for the teaching and…

The article is a report of a study of how principals select teachers. Based on one-on-one interviews with a convenience sample of 57 principals in one state, this study examined the process they used to make teacher hiring decisions, including information they had and subsequently used in making the selection decision and how they went about…

The growing body of research on school consolidation does not detail the role of the high school principal. This revelatory case study examined a principal in an Illinois high school during the first year of consolidation. Furthermore, this study is informed by two separate bodies of literature. The first relates to school district consolidation.…

The purpose of the study was to assess the impact that professional learning communities (PLCs) have on student achievement. Through this study, the statewide performance results of a school district that implemented PLCs were examined. This study of an Illinois school district's statewide assessment results served as a foundation for further…