Drawing on case study evidence, this article explores the motivations a small liberal arts university internationalize and the challenges in facilitating internationalization. It employs qualitative methodology with qualitative data were collected from organizational documents, interviews, and field observations. The findings suggest that though a…

How educational leaders initiate and sustain change is often hotly debated by those inside and outside of the system. Given the many reform initiatives of the past 30 years, and the resulting changes public educators have made lurching from initiative to initiative, one must ask if public education has truly improved. The answer to why public…

Change process research often discusses barriers that impede organizational change (e.g., Banta, 1997; Cavacuiti and Locke, 2013; Mutchler, 1990; Stewart et al., 2012); however, no empirical research has addressed how behaviors established in leadership models counteract these barriers. This study explored these two interconnected constructs of…

This dissertation investigated the reasons that school districts chose to change the structure of their middle grades learning environments from the traditional junior high school to the newer middle school model. The study answers the following research questions: According to the perceptions of teachers, school and district administrators, and…

Information and promotional marketing play central but complex roles in market-based educational programs. This in-depth qualitative study examines these complexities using the case of Supplemental Educational Services, a parental choice program providing federally funded tutoring to low-income students in K-12 public schools. Examining the…

Previous papers in this issue of "JCS" have presented case studies of the state-based curriculum commissions that developed the "Illinois Learning Standards" of 1997 and Norway's "Laereplanverket 1997" ("L97") (1997). The studies were developed using as a framework a body of German research that sees…

Focusing on the Developmental Mathematics program installed by McHenry County College (MCC), this case study examines an integrative approach to reducing student dependency on developmental math. Facing the challenge of bridging the gap between K-12 and college readiness, MCC established a summer bridge program to help alleviate summer brain drain…

Amid the growth of charter schools, autonomous schools, and private management organizations, an increasing number of urban districts are moving toward a portfolio management model (PMM). In a PMM, the district central office oversees schools that operate under a variety of governance models. The expansion of PMMs raises questions about local…

STEM education has received significant attention in the USA and is largely fueled by rhetoric suggesting the USA is losing its global competitive edge and that there is a lack of qualified workers available to fill growing STEM jobs. However, a counter discourse is emerging that questions the legitimacy of these claims. In response, we employed…

This article focuses on the increased power of venture philanthropy to shape education in urban communities of color in the USA. The author situates venture philanthropy's expanded influence in urban school districts in the nexus of urban disinvestment, neoliberal governance, wealth concentration, and economic crisis. The author argues that…

Many procedures are used by school districts to initiate change that are integral to the success or failure of that initiative. Many initiatives have failed because they were not implemented successfully. Too often, the failure is attributed to the inability of the administration to get the necessary buy-in from the teaching and support staff. The…

On March 31, 2011, Governor Quinn of Illinois called for schools to consolidate in order to become more financially and administratively efficient. This call for massive school reform is not new. Although consolidation, or reducing the number of school districts to save administrative costs, seemed radical to some, the idea of sharing services to…

This instrumental case study reviews the 1994-2004 period of state financial oversight in East St. Louis, Illinois School District 189, with a secondary review of the initial years of NCLB implementation. Although the oversight panel's fiscal management did generate financial stability, case findings indicate that its accountability processes did…

In a very short period during the spring and summer of 2012, researchers at the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR) and the Illinois Education Research Council (IERC) collected data from respondents in five districts across Illinois to examine how school districts in the state approach designing and implementing new…

Exceptional management skills are crucial to success in educational environments. As school leaders, principals are expected to effectively supervise the school system while facing a multitude of issues and demands. "Multidimensional Perspectives on Principal Leadership Effectiveness" combines best practices and the latest approaches in…