The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the extent to which instructional leaders providing principal feedback to teachers with five or more years of teaching experience influence student high value-added growth in urban Ohio middle schools, specifically in regard to their Black students. It examined statistical information between…

This self-study examined my leadership practices as a principal and researcher. Herr and Anderson (2005) define self-study as "a focus on one's own personal and professional self." Through reflective analysis of my leadership practices, the Instructional Leadership and Grade Level Teams were supported with protocols and leadership…

This study examines how school-based personnel (i.e., principals, assistant principals, and school social workers) defined and engaged in collective leadership to support undocumented students. This instrumental, comparative case study explores their roles, relational processes, and the extent to which school-based personnel's relationships…

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to review practices aimed at improving literacy outcomes for multilingual language learners (MLLs). This was done by studying the internal coherence practices of a superintendent in Community School District 100 (a pseudonym), an urban school district in the northeast region of the United States.…

An urban middle school goes through the transformation of becoming a university-supported lab school. Drawing upon design thinking principles, the planning team cultivates a sense of shared empathy, creative problem-solving, and an ethos of curiosity and learning in a collaborative environment.

Roaring Falls Unified School District (a pseudonym), an urban New Jersey district near NYC, was challenged by K-8 Multilingual Language Learners (MLLs) who lagged significantly behind general education students in English Language Arts (ELA). The District had roughly 12,000 students, of whom 93.0% were Hispanic, 26.2% were MLLs, and 32.0% were…

This study explores Black girls' perceptions of school and the leadership of a Black woman principal. Portraiture as the methodology was used to understand the nuances of education by interviewing and observing six Black girls. In this article, Black girls are situated as experts and co-constructors of knowledge on what it means to be a Black girl…

Background/Context: Teachers' relationships with principals, instructional coaches, and other teachers have important implications for the improvement of their instructional practice and student learning. In particular, teachers who access content-specific instructional expertise through their social networks are more likely to exhibit and sustain…

The purpose of this study was to examine cyberbullying policies and procedures in middle schools in a large urban school district located in a metropolitan area of Texas. The researcher obtained the perceptions of middle school principals regarding how they implement policies and procedures for dealing with incidents occurring on their campus.…

Social justice leadership has become a popular topic and catchphrase in the field of educational leadership. However, most scholarly and empirical contributions have ignored the inherent tensions, challenges and dilemmas associated with the practice of school leadership and the realities principals confront on a daily basis. This is partly because…

Sustainability practices that lead to greener schools are often overlooked in leadership preparation programs and in school improvement efforts. An urban middle school principal recognizes the potential to build community, foster a healthy learning environment, and redefine her school through focusing on sustainability practices in a collaborative…

Previous research demonstrates that collective efficacy positively predicts students' academic achievement (e.g., Bandura, 1993; Goddard et al., 2000). However, unaddressed by the current literature is whether collective efficacy also works to reduce inequity by closing achievement gaps. To learn about the operation of collective efficacy, we…

Current societal demands have increased the role of schools. The Family Resource and Youth Services Centers (FRYSC) seek to link students, families, and communities, using the school as the nexus for much needed services. The FRYSC offer a myriad of interventions aimed at removing non-academic barriers that hinder academic success for students…

Michel Foucault argues that power is everywhere, all of the time. He describes it as concrete, "capillary," acting in, on and through the actual body. All "knowledge" and "truth" is an effect of that power which is why power and knowledge are integrally related. Power/knowledge produces social positioning. In this…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to test the validity of using collective trust as a social indicator of instructional capacity. Design/methodology/approach: A hypothesized model was advanced for the empirical investigation. Collective trust was specified as a latent construct with observable indicators being principal trust in faculty (PTF),…