This study evaluated the components of the theory of planned behavior as related to teachers' intentions to use data-informed decision-making (DIDM) when evaluating both student progress and their own instructional practices. Analysis was also conducted to determine if there is any difference in data use between special education/intervention…

Research on charter schools tends to focus on direct and immediate effects on student outcomes. However, there may be unintended indirect effects on, for example, the teacher labor market. Charter schools tend to hire younger, less experienced teachers with fewer traditional teaching credentials, which may reduce the equilibrium quantity of…

This article describes the challenge of engaging educators in professional development (PD) that is timely and relevant to their work, and effective in stimulating instructional changes to improve student learning. The authors highlight the competing needs and goals for PD that create tensions among the external accountability demands, school…

Public comments offered by citizens at local school board meetings play an important role in shaping the educational policy process. However, educational researchers have underexamined them in debates about educational policy change. Drawing from critical discourse analysis, this study examines the public comments offered at a school board meeting…

This report highlights the results of Austin ISD 4th- and 8th-grade students on the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation's Report Card.

As the day-to-day leaders of a school district, superintendents oversee budgetary and other district operations, help give practical meaning to federal and state policy, and set local district policy for the schools under their charge. Superintendents therefore work in a unique and important leadership space that exists between federal, state,…

Low levels of student achievement, high rates of principal turnover, and the pressures of the academic accountability challenges seen in urban schools underscored the need to investigate the approaches employed by principal supervisors in urban school districts to build principals' instructional leadership capacity and stability. The purpose of…

One of the most misunderstood aspects of New Jersey's school funding formula is the role of adjustment aid, one of several school aid categories paid directly by the state. Although adjustment is distributed to over 100 districts across the state, this policy brief focuses specifically on the unique circumstances facing Jersey City in an effort to…

This article examines a unique pedagogical approach imbedded with collective learning experiences that engages students in a continuous cycle of mentorship. The research design is guided by two closely aligned methodologies, narrative inquiry and "testimonios." Narrative inquiry lends itself for the 'study of experiences as story'. A…

The aim of this article is to explore the influence of private foundation funding on arts policy and practice in two large, urban school districts: Boston Public Schools and Baltimore City Schools. Both school systems experienced declining enrollments and graduation rates, and in an era of high stakes testing and accountability, schools in both…

Urban schools in many OECD countries are contending with policy trends that squeeze budgets and incentivize parent fundraising. The trend may be most pronounced and longstanding in the US, where parent groups and local education foundations have turned increasing attention to raising funds to support additional services, staff, or programs for…

Little attention has been given to better understanding how to effectively evaluate the work of instructional coaches. This study by Evthokia Stephanie Saclarides and Sarah Theule Lubienski illustrates how a new evaluation system for coaches was implemented in one mid-size, urban district. They describe two ways in which the Evaluation Tool…

In this study, I explored how (a) a team-based instructional method rather than a one-teacher-one-classroom, traditional teaching model and (b) an inquiry-based learning approach affected teachers attitudes and self-efficacy for teaching and students attitudes, self-efficacy, engagement, and connections to school. The study was conducted within…

The Career and Technical Education (CTE)-focused dual credits programs are proven to promote both career and academic benefits to students. This quantitative study matched and analyzed transcript data from 245 high school students enrolled in CTE dual credit programs in an urban public school district in a southern state of the U.S. The school…

Purpose: This paper explores how leaders of new public high schools -- one charter and two innovation schools -- navigated the journey from school-in-theory to school-in-practice during the school's first three years. School leaders at charter and innovation schools have increased freedom over curriculum, budget, scheduling and personnel when…