While there is a link between the work of school boards and positive outcomes for K12 students, some elected boards and superintendents continue to struggle with effective governance practices, a dynamic which can contribute to diminished public confidence. This article explores the most common challenges, their impact, and the role of…

In 2019, almost all governors spoke on education concerns in their "state of the state addresses," including school funding, career and technical education, postsecondary funding and financial aid, early childhood education, and teacher pay. According to this National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) analysis, in…

This article analyses the narratives and counter-narratives which characterised the struggle between the Chicago Public School Board (CPS) and the Chicago Teachers' Union (CTU) preceding the 2019 Chicago teachers' strike. This was an extraordinary event which has received little scholarly attention. The paper explores the types and uses of the…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) emphasizes that state and local education agencies (SEAs/LEAs) must provide sufficiently trained staff so that English learners have equal opportunities for attaining English language proficiency and academic achievement across content areas without being "unnecessarily" segregated from non-ELs, thus…

This case study examines the intersection of rural education, new leadership, and supervising teachers when a power imbalance exists. Using a real-life example of supervision and professional interactions, this case study focuses future administrators on the real-life conflicts inherent in supervision and employee rights. The case study examines…

Internationally, major policy reforms seek to deepen parent and community engagement in schools. Whilst pervasive in policy documents, however, discourses surrounding 'parent engagement' are often elastic and imprecise, ultimately gaining meaning through the technologies of governance that shape policy enactments in schools. In this paper, we…

Initiatives to integrate technology into teaching and learning often lack a long-term follow up to gauge if those same initiatives set the stage for teachers to easily adopt the next stage of learning technologies. Using the ten-year anniversary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Classroom for the Future grant, where $200 million were allocated…

The Maryland State Board of Education and Maryland State Department of Education are developing a multiyear Strategic Plan that will be released in three phases leading up to June 2023. The Strategic Plan will anchor the vision, mission, values, priorities, enablers, goals, and flagship programs, initiatives, and strategies to realize the…

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…

A growing body of research shows that private tutoring is a globally pervasive phenomenon. A common way in which tutoring provisions are defined is with the use of the metaphor "shadow education", signifying that tutoring centres "shadow" formal schools. Despite the popularity of this metaphor in the field, how…

Successful implementation of computer science standards may hinge on one thing: teacher capacity. Without enough qualified teachers and the resources to support them, states will be hard pressed to make computer science a part of every student's education--something that industry leaders say is critical to career readiness. Maryland and Arkansas…

Critical scholars have asserted for decades that effective educational programming for black students and communities requires the guidance, governance, and leadership of African American professionals who can understand and affirm the identities of those being served (DuBois, 1935; Lomotey, 1989; Lomotey, 1993; Lightfoot, 1983; Sowell, 1976;…

Extracurricular programs, which tend to be both highly institutionalized and popular with parents, were hard hit by cutbacks during the Great Recession. This study uses conceptual research on organizational routines and institutional processes to examine this case of controversial policy making. Observing school district policy making in two…

The role of the public school superintendent, with its increasing challenges and demands, can be considered one of the most daunting roles in American public education today. Consequently, frequent turnover in the top leadership position inhibits many public schools from reaching set academic, financial, and organizational goals. As a result, any…

In the United States, sex education in schools varies significantly across districts. Many schools operate without state-guided health education curricula, leaving decisions up to individual districts. The purpose of this study was to explore what type of sex education is being offered in U.S. high schools in addition to assessing the frequency of…