Topics of school culture and climate are evolving in the education field. Researchers continue to study to refine and provide empirical research offering school districts, schools, principals, other scholars, and the general audience solutions and recommendations to transform, reform, and provide change in schools. This study explores school…

The purpose of this article is to illustrate the process of inspiring change for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion by describing the efforts of a College of Nursing and Health Sciences at a 4-year, public institution in Louisiana. Motivated by recent campus conversations, the college has established a collective effort to establish new…

Despite substantial federal, state, and local investments in improving early care and education (ECE), we know little about whether ECE program quality has improved over time. The lack of data tracking the quality of publicly funded ECE programs at scale creates a substantial evidence gap for policymakers attempting to weigh the returns on, and…

Every student deserves arts instruction for its own sake, as an essential ingredient to a well-rounded education. Yet arts education adds value for a whole host of other educational purposes: among them, enhanced writing and reading, ability to retain information, problem solving, and critical thinking. Interest in models of whole-school reform…

Despite the myriad of challenges that families, students, teachers and policymakers faced in 2021, the momentum to transform education did not waver. New opportunities for students unfolded in more than a dozen states through expanded private and public school choice. An additional 1.7 million students gained eligibility for private choice alone,…

Reform is a common tool used by policymakers to increase student achievement, yet some reform efforts are more successful in some schools and not others. This study looks specifically at the following constructs related to both student achievement and reform: school culture, school climate, teacher efficacy, and collective efficacy. The…

What happened to the New Orleans public schools following the tragic levee breeches after Hurricane Katrina is truly unprecedented. Within the span of one year, all public-school employees were fired, the teacher contract expired and was not replaced, and most attendance zones were eliminated. The state took control of almost all public schools…

This study evaluates how welcoming thirty American cities--the twenty-five largest and five smaller "hotspots"--are to "nontraditional" problem-solvers and solutions. It assumes that the balky bureaucracies meant to improve K-12 education and hold leaders accountable are so calcified by policies, programs, contracts, and…

At points of instability in a system--whether a school, community, or any other social system--there is the opportunity for breakdown or breakthrough. In that moment of opportunity arises the possibility for significant change through the emergence of new norms or standards of behavior that reflect the evolving values of the larger group. What…

"Between Public and Private" examines an innovative approach to school district management that has been adopted by a number of urban districts in recent years: a portfolio management model, in which "a central office oversees a portfolio of schools offering diverse organizational and curricular themes, including traditional public…

Before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005, one hundred and twenty one schools in the New Orleans Public Schools (NOPS) system were in the process of being transferred to the newly created, state run Recovery School District (RSD). On September 29, 2005, the New Orleans Parish School Board fired all 7500 employees, including every…

Backed with political and financial capital, advocates of change push to improve America's education system. For most people, the purpose of education is self-improvement--becoming better informed, more knowledgeable, better equipped to solve problems, more able to earn a living and prosper. The more effectively an education system delivers on…

New Orleans, fondly known in better days for its spectacular cuisine, cool jazz, and good times, was the leading story on television news broadcasts the world over when a massive hurricane came. As Katrina took its destructive path, culminating in the devastating rupture of ill-prepared levee systems, the world was riveted by stories about the…

The accelerated schools process provides a systematic approach to the restructuring of schools. Developed in 1986 by Henry M. Levin, the strategy seeks to provide the best education for all students. During the first stage, the "taking stock" phase, everyone in the school community works together to develop a comprehensive school…

At Coppin State University, a historically Black university, nearly 120 ninth-graders are enrolled in the Coppin Academy. The academy is one of nearly a dozen such innovative school partnerships nationwide, aiming to apply study results that suggest that African-American students may perform better in smaller, more personalized learning…