While federal law requires public schools to provide students with disabilities a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment, students with extensive support needs are excluded from general education at alarming rates, raising concerns about equity of access to education. Purposeful school systems in which students'…

Purpose: Existing research on loosely coupled educational systems has largely ignored the social and affective dimensions of such systems. Drawing on literature from organizational behavior, this study examines how "human" factors, including role identity dynamics, power dynamics, and stereotyping, shape the implementation of state-led…

To achieve equity, there is a need to recognize that both White educators and educators of color can add values and perspectives to the conversation (Singleton & Linton, 2006). Despite of a large number of studies on social justice, there is a scarcity of studies on how principals of color enact social justice leadership and what are the…

Black students with disabilities in Maple Cove School District were three times more likely to lose instructional days due to exclusionary disciplinary action than their peers without disabilities. A qualitative inquiry approach, in the form of a case study was used to determine principals' perspectives about factors that may impact discipline…

The Parent Leadership Institute (PLI) of Children's Aid (CA), funded via a 2013 Investing in Innovation (i3) development grant operated between the 2014-15 through 2018-19 school years. Key goals of the PLI included: (1) improving the capacity of parents to effectively engage in the school community in support of their child; and (2) increasing…

The task of guiding the development of scholar-practitioners as leaders for social justice is inherently challenging. The dissertation journey, unlike any other journey practitioner-based doctoral students face in urban school settings, provides a steep learning curve as they transition from practitioner to scholar-practitioner. This journey…

When a major fire occurs in a school, the impact can be felt for years to come. How the school community rebuilds depends on strong leadership and the resilience of the members of that community. This article explores the stories of four Australian schools, two rural NSW schools, Kelso High School and Oxley High School and two urban schools;…

Recent research on the relationship between standards and teachers' practice suggests that teachers are unlikely to make changes to practice without extensive opportunities for learning about standards with colleagues. This article extends this line of research, using a comparative case study of three high-poverty urban schools to examine the…

Despite the push for inclusive mathematics education, students with disabilities continue to lack access to, and achievement in, rich mathematics learning opportunities. We assert that mathematics teacher educators have a central role in addressing these contradictions. This role includes enacting facilitative moves during mathematics teacher…

This critical ethnographic study investigated how gentrification processes shaped an elementary school's community and two-way bilingual education (TWBE) program in Central Texas. Findings revealed how these gentrification processes impacted the principal and vice principal at the ontological and epistemological levels, as their ways of being and…

The authors discuss an urban public school district's efforts to reinsert play after its mandated disappearance for fourteen years under a scripted curriculum imposed to meet the goals of the No Child Left Behind law. The authors analyze field notes, teacher and administrator interviews, coaching records, and surveys to chart the impact on…

Background/Context: Many strategies to improve failing urban schools rest on efforts to improve leadership within the school. Effective school-based leadership depends not only on the activities of the principal, but also on teachers' efforts to address school-wide challenges. Research has shown that the principal is pivotal in such ventures,…

Often little unsaid things demonstrate what is truly important in a school. When teachers have common planning time and all of the department chairs share a single space as they do at Norview High School in Norfolk, VA, the unmistakable message is that instructional collaboration and leadership are expected and valued. Norview, an urban,…

The study presented here examines the efforts of one principal and the team she relied upon to create a more inclusive and high-performing school in a large urban school district. The goals, actions, and responsibilities of the team are described, as well as the daily challenges associated with school administration and special education. In doing…

The purpose of this study was to determine what stressors face practicing school principals, with an interest in determining whether they perceived that teacher leaders could relieve some of their stress. This descriptive study used quantitative and qualitative measures that revealed differences in the stressors identified by principals.…