Response to intervention (RtI) is a multitiered system of support framework that focuses on best practices for intervention. Because many secondary students exhibit weak literacy skills, the focus of this study is reading interventions. This qualitative study examines administrators' perspectives of implementing literacy interventions within a…

To address disparities in post-school outcomes for students with disabilities, federal legislation mandates appropriate education programs to include transition planning and programs for students with disabilities. Because administrators are held responsible for ensuring appropriate educational programs for all learners including those with…

As secondary school leaders consider a shift toward standards-based grading (SBG) practices, they are no doubt weighing the odds of a successful implementation process. This research followed up on a study from 2014 to identify the challenges secondary school leaders experience when changing the currency of the classroom from points to learning.…

Teacher perceptions after 5 years of implementing evaluation protocols that were initiated under Race to the Top revealed attitudes about the evaluation instrument used and the nature of their relationship with the evaluator. This study surveyed middle and high school teachers in nine Eastern Tennessee school districts. Data indicated unintended…

The daily demands on school principals require clear and consistent feedback, and without a mentor, a new principal may not have this type of assistance. This phenomenological study explores the perceptions of new principals and their assigned mentors in one legislated initiative, named by the researcher as the Vermont mentoring…

The authors describe how teams of faculty and district leadership development directors used an appreciative organizing in education (AOE) framework using appreciative inquiry (AI) scholarship to promote a more sustainable architecture for the preparation and development of leaders. The AOE framework is introduced and a description is provided of…

The Collaborative Project (CP) began as a pilot project in five North Carolina school districts in 2007 featuring a performance incentive initiative for teachers and administrators. The objective of this study was to document principals' perceptions of the performance incentive initiative to determine challenges encountered during implementation.…

Despite the successful implementation of the Response to Intervention (RtI) framework in many elementary schools, there is little evidence of successful implementation in high school settings. Several themes emerged from the interviews of nine secondary principals, including a lack of knowledge and training for successful implementation, the…

Although research has established links between the principal's instructional leadership and student achievement, there is considerable concern in the literature concerning the capacity of principal preparation programs to prepare instructional leaders. This study interviewed educational leadership faculty as well as expert principals and teacher…

This study reports on four urban middle- and high school principals' emotionally shaped sense making of Race to the Top policies and their ability to balance the competing demands of teachers' emotional needs with the charge to implement mandated, accountability-driven, instructional, and evaluation changes in their schools. Despite the pressure…

The recent policy focus on the turnaround of persistently low-achieving schools has generated considerable debate about the reforms needed to dramatically and quickly increase school performance. The purpose of this article is not to focus on specific turnaround interventions, but rather on the identification of schools slated to receive these…

This article discusses a qualitative case study examining one middle school's response to intervention (RtI) efforts. Study participants included the principal, assistant principal, and members of the school's leadership team. A description of the RtI consensus and infrastructure-building processes, consideration of the RtI facilitators, and a…

While collegiate fraternity and sorority hazing are well documented problems that receive prominent attention, hazing at the high school level is also a serious issue. Across the nation, media headlines offer a continual reminder that high school hazing is not a phenomenon of the past. As high school principals seek ways to discourage and…

Traditionally schools in the past were mostly homogenous, but with demographic shifts, schools are becoming more ethnically diverse, disadvantaged, and multilingual. In contrast, the teaching population still reflects that outdated homogenous template: "predominantly white and female," middle-class, and unilingual. This exploratory study examined…

Full-service community schools may be the most popular examples of public school transformation. The success formula features interventionist, "wrap-around services" for individuals, children, and families. From this model and its lessons arises another model that stresses interdependence, collaboration, and enlightened self-interest.…