State and district school leaders across the U.S. have long sought ways to create success for children attending schools where too many have failed for far too long. A new approach to solving this old problem is called "starting fresh." By beginning anew with the freedom to do things vastly different, a real opportunity is created to…

Discusses the hierarchical chain of command in schools. Describes a three-year program to help urban schoolteachers bring about school improvement. Notes that state-mandated tests can result in increasing powerlessness among teachers. Argues that unless the present hierarchies are flattened, the best and brightest will be discouraged from entering…

The authors report a study in which they examined how principals utilize instructional leadership in high schools within a Hispanic majority context. The emphasis was on students' academic performance, goal development and implementation, school culture, and instructional management, which make up the broader theoretical framework of school…

In 2007, the state of Mississippi conducted a web-based survey of all school-based licensed educators in which they were asked to share their perceptions of the state of teacher working conditions in Mississippi. This report of the Mississippi Teacher Working Conditions Survey, Project CLEAR Voice (Cultivate Learning Environments to Accelerate…

The purpose of this guide is to help leaders move their schools ahead in the face of adversity. It is intended for principals, teacher leaders, district administrators, and others who have a stake in helping schools move forward. The contents are based on qualitative research and actual experiences of schools effective in dealing with adversity.…

This paper draws on a three-year study of 24 schools involving classroom observations and interviews with teachers and principals. Through an examination of three cases, sets of leadership practices that focus on the learning of both students and teachers are described. This set of practices is called productive leadership and how these practices…

Over the last two decades, researchers have presented convincing evidence that teachers are an important key to school improvement and to closing the student achievement gap. However, ensuring that all students are taught by quality teachers--those with the right talent, skills, and experience--is not enough. Teachers--even the best of them--must…

This paper looks at factors that affect the educational environment. It reports on a study in which survey responses were collected from 10,170 teachers in 331 Chicago schools. Results reaffirm the commonly held belief that teachers are the primary force in a school's output. However, findings indicate that the teachers' influence on a school's…

A high school principal explains her strategy for turning around a disorderly, gang-ridden middle school. Her discipline plan's success hinged on developing schoolwide expectations for behavior, developing positive consequences, compiling a list of unacceptable behaviors, and empowering teachers to administer consequences, including contacting…

Discusses the changing role of teacher leadership, which extends beyond the classroom, suggesting it is no longer viable for one person to act as the school-level authority and recommending a reconceptualization of teachers' professionalism which acknowledges that teachers can provide intellectual leadership in identifying and solving schoolwide…

In Spring 2007, educators in 63 participating Ohio school districts across the state spoke out on working conditions in their schools by participating in a web-based survey that addressed key teaching and learning conditions related to time, empowerment, school leadership, professional development, and facilities and resources. This is the final…

A survey of teachers revealed that principals who want to promote classroom instruction must talk openly and freely with teachers about teaching and learning, provide time and encourage peer connections for teachers, empower teachers, embrace the challenge of teachers' professional development, and lead and motivate teachers. (MLH)

Under the leadership of State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum, with the support of the South Carolina Department of Education's Division of Teaching Quality (DTQ) and the South Carolina Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement (CERRA), South Carolina became only the second state in the nation to study teacher…

When we learn, we learn through our own experiences. So when we teach, how do we incorporate our own invaluable life lessons into a state mandated curriculum? Dale Brubaker's "Revitalizing Curriculum Leadership" provides an innovative and liberating solution to this problem. In this updated resource, the author tells why educators need to move…

If contemporary plans for devolved decision making to schools in Australia are to be realized, the role of all teachers in curriculum decision-making processes will need to be acknowledged. This paper presents findings of a study that sought to build a theory of curriculum leadership from the teachers' own perspectives--a theory of curriculum…