The California Community Colleges (CCC) system is the largest, most diverse public college system in the nation. As the system works to improve outcomes for all students, and in response to the racial climate in the United States during 2020, the system's Chancellor's Office released a call to action, asking all colleges to address systemic racism…

The narrative of superintendent's leaving school districts shortly after being hired is a national phenomenon with significant impacts on the capacity of educational systems to make progress and improvement. Exacerbated in high need/reform districts, evidence of dysfunction in the relationship between the superintendent and board of education…

This article examines the administrative and bureaucratic barriers faced by trans and nonbinary high-school students in the School District of Philadelphia. Despite strong gender-inclusive policies like the district's Policy 252, student interviews, first-hand observation, and document analysis reveal a variety of stress points that trans and…

In an era of increasing political and social divisiveness, school boards across the country face pressure to maintain effective governance amongst relentless pressure. Most school board members lack the experience to know how to effectively serve, thus, training is a necessary resource to ensure effective board governance and retain board members.…

This quantitative correlational-predictive study addressed the predictive relationships of County Political Leaning (Republican vs. Democratic/reference) and Poverty of Student Population (operationalized as percentage of students enrolled in Free and Reduced Price Lunch programs) with Out-of-school Suspension in public high schools in California.…

As the sector's gatekeepers, charter school authorizers are responsible for ensuring that schools in their purview set students up for success. To that end, they provide various forms of scrutiny and technical assistance, decide whether existing schools' charters should be renewed, and--perhaps most important--set the bar for the approval of new…

Differentiated Instruction (DI) is a framework that supports planning for diversity within K-12 classrooms. Research has grown steadily over the past 15 years that explores DI implementation, as well as beliefs and practices. Literature to date has focused heavily on the experiences of educators, with limited attention given to the role of…

There are over 13,000 local school boards in the United States, yet there is little research on these institutions of local government--particularly from a qualitative perspective. This dissertation uses constructivist grounded theory methodology and data from 26 interviews with local school board members in Tennessee to develop three categories…

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore community engagement experiences as perceived by board members, the superintendent, and community members in a high-performing school district in North Texas. Interviews with ten participants (five current school board members, one past school board member, one district superintendent, and…

The author presents a summary of the changing role of the traditional superintendent within the United States through the lens of how this work can be challenged or encouraged by the relationship with her or his respective board. The author emphasizes how the evolving roles of both the superintendent and school board member have contributed to the…

The positions of the school board and superintendent have been in place for years and in that time not only have the dynamics of education changed, but the societal structures have also evolved. This quantitative study examined the relationships that exist between the school board's engagement in training and professional development and their…

By the time a child graduates from high school, they will have spent an estimated 15,600 hours at school. Because a significant amount of children's daily water intake comes from school water fountains, ensuring their access to safe drinking water at school is essential for their overall health. And one key health challenge that schools across the…

In keeping with the provisions of Tennessee Code Annotated 49-1-201(12), this Annual Statistical and Financial Report for fiscal year 2019-2020, provides an array of information providing statistics about the public school systems in Tennessee. Sections include: (1) Public School Officers; (2) Statistical Summaries; (3) Financial Summaries; and…

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented education equity crisis in California. K-12 schools continue to remain closed and it is yet unclear if they will re open in the fall. Similarly, the University of California and California's Community Colleges have not yet announced a systemwide decision, but the California State University's…

This phenomenological study provides insight into the experiences of public-school board directors as they experience, cognitively process, and respond to religious-based reasoning during deliberations on controversial issues while serving in their elected role at school board meetings. Understanding how elected public-school district directors…