Improving school climate takes time and commitment from a variety of people in a variety of roles. This document outlines key action steps that district leaders--including superintendents, assistant superintendents, directors of student support services, or others--can take to support school climate improvements. Key action steps are provided for…

Several years ago, the Legislature adopted significant amendments to the basic conflict of interest statute for local elected officials, primarily in the area of financial thresholds, but also in the area of scope of enforcement. This is an important area of the law for board members and superintendents, so a current and thorough knowledge of the…

This book explores ways in which educational leaders can apply the wisdom of the Tao in their day-to-day work in schools. It offers an alternative to the standard ways of western thinking to give the leader more possibilities when confronting a situation. We tend to value immediate and decisive action, winning, directing, and getting one's way.…

This report argues that requiring faculty members to sign confidentiality agreements as a requirement to serve on university committees is in most cases inconsistent with widely accepted standards of shared governance and with the concept of serving as a representative. This argument does not apply to faculty serving on promotion and tenure…

A freshman student posts on her social media account remarks that reflect intolerance and bigotry. Fellow students and faculty are upset, and disciplinary action follows. Was the student's right to free speech ignored or were the rights of others to a welcoming and inclusive environment infringed upon? This case guides the reader through some of…

Many articles about school improvement talk about data-driven instruction and statistics. In the barrage of evaluative numbers, school leaders can forget that teaching and leading are arts, not sciences. Positive outcomes depend on the ambience of the school, which is a direct result of the leadership style of its principal and assistant…

Presidents, governors and mayors are often publicly assessed on what they accomplish in their first 100 days in office. This is a traditional measuring stick for public officials. Starting off on the right foot also is viewed as a factor in how superintendents are remembered or whether there will be sufficient reasons for being remembered at all.…

It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that the delegation of nursing tasks in the school setting can be a valuable tool for the school nurse, when based on the nursing definition of delegation and in compliance with state nursing regulations and guidance. Delegation in school nursing is a complex process in which…

Many principals use harassing supervision to encourage low-performing teachers to leave. Principals are driven to this tactic because teacher evaluation systems don't systematically identify low-performing teachers, principals don't understand the teacher removal process, principal training programs don't build principal expertise in hiring and…

The first year as a principal is filled with self-doubt. As one already knows, there is no book or guide that can fully prepare someone for what the principal's position entails. All first-year principals have to learn by doing. In this article, the author discusses five keys to success that will guide and help first-year principals with the…

The 21st century has brought many technological, social, and economic changes--nearly all of which have affected schools and the students, administrators, and faculty members who are in them. Luckily, as some things change, other things remain the same. Such is true with the fundamental legal principles that guide school administrators' actions…

In the race to be internationally present, colleges and universities seek increasing ways to partner across boundaries. Sometimes, arrangements are loose configurations including ways in which individual student or faculty study-abroad activities have traditionally been initiated; sometimes, they are more integrally connected to core institutional…

Across the country many schools and communities are trying to create and support efforts to institutionalize partnerships for learning, including those that rethink the use of time across the school day and year, and across the developmental continuum. Referred to by different terms--integrated, expanded, or complementary learning--the concept has…

This guide is intended to give individual school board directors an introduction to some of the legal issues they may encounter in their board service. This material is not intended to answer every question, even in the subject matter areas they cover. This guide is merely intended to alert directors to the legal issues that they will encounter…

"Building Institutional Capacity for Data-Informed Decision Making" is the third installment of the Cutting Edge series, which aims to help colleges engage faculty, scale successful interventions, and create a strong culture of evidence through use of data to strengthen their institutional change and student success efforts. Though the…