Most states claim academic rigor and career readiness as goals for all their students. But as school systems continue tracking students into higher or lower levels of academic coursework and into career and technical courses that lack rigorous, real-world assignments, they reflect an apparent underlying belief that their students' abilities are…

By now, members of state boards of education will have heard the dire statistics about the rise in students' mental health struggles, which were exacerbated by exposure to added traumatic events during the pandemic. When they are prepared to do so, educators play an important role in helping these students. In this article, the authors discuss how…

District and school leaders face the challenge of designing and implementing supports for immigrant newcomers who have recently arrived in the US, speak little English, and are unfamiliar with the US school system. This study draws on 117 interviews with educators in six purposefully-sampled school districts across the country to examine the…

In this paper we match originally collected survey data from school board members in the state of Michigan with hard measures of school district outcomes to test two hypotheses regarding the relationship between strategic planning prioritization and organizational performance. We find that school board members who place a higher priority on…

Charter schools have thrust state boards of education into new roles. Some directly authorize charters, some do so only on appeal, and some do neither. This article examines a relatively recent addition to this task list: evaluation and oversight of charter authorizers, the entities charged with approving and monitoring charter schools.

Digital technologies provide new opportunities for increased participation by the general public in state and federal governance. In this article, we examine opportunities for public engagement in one type of state-level governmental body: the State Board of Education (SBOE). Limited research has focused on SBOEs, particularly the extent to which…

Across the globe, education quality has become synonymous with student performance. The shift towards test-based accountability (TBA) has changed what is required of schools and what it means to be a 'good teacher'. Different tools may trigger a performance orientation within schools, from administrative (such as the Inspectorate) to market…

Drawing on data from three levels of education policy-making in Canada, in this paper we identify variegated interactions of global circulations of sustainability discourses in education in relation to priorities and responses at subnational levels of government, including provinces and territorial ministries of education, local school divisions,…

COVID-19 school closures disrupted special education in numerous ways. During the summer of 2020, district leaders across the U.S. developed reopening plans; these plans addressed special education and a constellation of other elements of schooling, such as remote learning schedules and health protocols. By fall 2020, educational leaders sought to…

Purpose: The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed methods study was to identify the political styles of exemplary suburban elementary school district superintendents and school board members in Southern California as perceived by superintendents. In addition, it was the purpose of this study to identify and explain the political strategies…

Purpose: The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) reduced the role of the federal government in K-12 education, giving states more flexibility while maintaining protections for marginalized groups. Despite the potential to leverage flexibility, little is known about how states are addressing equity. Research Methods: Using a critical policy analysis…

As resegregation occurs across the country, some school districts are pursuing voluntary integration. This qualitative case study uses critical policy analysis to explore the political and social contexts surrounding the early stages of developing a voluntary integration plan in Wake County Public School System, North Carolina. Through analysis of…

The purpose of this phenomenological, qualitative study was to investigate how district leaders' support is perceived by district pupil personnel service (PPS) leaders in the areas of ethical leadership, district policies and practices for special education programs, and how that may contribute to a culture of inclusivity. One on one interviews…

This article is an edited transcription of a groundbreaking multi-sector presentation on "Critical Race Theory in Schools?" by a prominent panel of PK-12 school educators, education organization leaders, legal advocate, teacher educators, and academic researchers. The presentation took place virtually as a public seminar in response to…

Democratically elected school boards in the United States play a crucial role in school governance because they enable community voice in educational practices and programs. Research on locally controlled boards finds they can be undemocratic and unproductive. However, little research has been conducted in rural or small towns, where local control…