This dissertation study was a descriptive case study of a minority community service organization whose members were actively involved in local school decision-making and activities in a rural Northeast Georgia community. Rural schools face unique challenges in light of current educational trends. To address the challenges, rural schools must…

Facing a superintendent change in 2006-2007, Decatur Public School District 61 in Illinois was already confronting the major challenges of a widening student achievement gap, increasing dropout rate, and schools not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). From the beginning, Superintendent Gloria J. Davis professed several simple beliefs that…

There is a short supply, yet tacit demand, for creative and effective communication training for educational leaders. A field of literature indicates that a leader's identity is a potent communication tool. A leader's image can frame expectations for followers, symbolically evoking a family of concepts and patterns of meaning (receiving). The…

The purpose of this study is to describe the perceptions of superintendent search consultants as they relate to the selection of superintendent candidates. The synergistic leadership theory (SLT) developed by Irby, Brown, Duffy and Trautman (2002) provided the theoretical framework needed to analyze the characteristics search consultants perceive…

"Replication" is the practice of a single charter school board or management organization opening several more schools that are each based on the same school model. The most rapid strategy to increase the number of new high-quality charter schools available to children is to encourage the replication of existing quality schools. This policy guide…

A new report by the Centre for Civic Governance of the Columbia Institute sheds light on why districts are struggling to balance their budgets while the Minister of Education claims they received the "highest funding ever." The $122 million increase in the current 2008-09 operating grant fell $15 million short of the $137 million…

The politics of rural educational leadership are both intense and concentrated. Rural educational leaders need to be savvy and politically skilled if they are to inspire educational stakeholders and accomplish organizational objectives. The local school system is an organization with a political culture that can be characterized as a competitive…

Almost 40 percent of all public school students in the District of Columbia (D.C. or District) were enrolled in charter schools in the 2010-11 school year. The D.C. School Reform Act established the Public Charter School Board (PCSB) for the purpose of authorizing and overseeing charter schools. Congress required GAO (US Government Accountability…

The author discusses bringing her perspective as an early childhood educator and developmentalist to her policy-making position as a Board member of the Pasadena Unified School District. Noting that the higher education standards adopted in many states as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 have impacted kindergarten programs and…

The evaluation of superintendents is one of the most important school board functions as it encapsulates expectations for the superintendent's performance and advancement toward district goals. Current and past literature devote little attention to the processes and outcomes of superintendent evaluations despite an apparent connection between…

Over the last 15 years, the Latino population has expanded at a rapid pace in the United States. This national trend has been mirrored in Indiana. As a result, school districts within the state have developed structures and supports for the growing number of Latino students arriving in their schools. This study highlights some programs developed…

Community, higher education, and business partnerships are often touted as critical links to helping students graduate from high school and making sure that they are college- and career-ready when they do. Now a panel of state board of education members from across the country has found common ground for partnerships with the country's single…

The purpose of this document is to provide information and guidance for Nebraska School districts in creating new, or revising existing policies and procedures related to the use of physical restraint and seclusion in school settings. The goal is to create policies that are informed by national policy directions, research, good practice and…

In 2003, the Illinois State Board of Education launched a school designation program for all public schools in Illinois. Based on a combination of test scores, student demographics, and a school's ability to make adequate yearly progress (AYP), schools in Illinois are assigned one of five designations. One of the designations that a public school…

The purpose of this essay is to examine and respond to Tom Glass's (2000) assertions about the dearth of women in the superintendency using the lenses of new data (from two large national studies) and analysis--an analysis that primarily focuses on women superintendents' and central office administrators' formal, experiential, and personal…