School leaders are constantly challenged to be everything for everyone as student populations become more diverse and the needs of students become more complex. The classroom environments and instructional practices that have been utilized in public school settings are no longer rendering growth for all students. Principals are challenged with…

Quality in early childhood education (ECE) is central to equitable child development and preparation for formal schooling and has been widely studied by researchers and of interest to policy makers. As the federal pre-k program, Head Start is a key ECE context to understand quality and its implications for equity. One central measure of classroom…

This study was conducted in two phases. The first phase was a deep descriptive analysis of the schools who received the United States Department of Education Green Ribbon School (ED-GRS) award over the first three years of the program: 2012, 2013, and 2014. In addition to a descriptive overview, the Ecological Democracy for Whole School…

Although the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires all American public schools to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), many fail to meet this standard each year. Effective Schools Research has revealed several correlates, such as a clear mission, a safe climate, strong instructional leadership, monitoring of student progress, strong…

Teachers and administrators are faced with managing the behaviors of students while preparing for the high stakes testing associated with the No Child Left Behind Act. One program that has demonstrated positive results at the elementary and middle school level is the school-wide positive behavior support model (SWPBS). Limited research is…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify conditions that are favorable in promoting the academic achievement of children living in poverty by comparing perceptions of teaching and learning conditions in Title I high schools in Alabama that achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and Title I high schools that did not achieve AYP. The…

The present study was designed to examine factors that led to the academic success of two rural secondary schools in New Mexico. The primary focus was on the characteristics and behaviors of leaders in two high-achieving rural schools and how these factors might have contributed to achievement of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in school year…

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…

Many universities grapple with Latino student retention issues. Latinos are the largest and fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States, yet they also are the group that has the least amount of formal education. The literature suggests that parental support helps Latinos succeed academically in elementary, middle, and high schools. However,…

The purpose of this mixed method, Case Study research was to explore the teacher's perceptions, efficacy, and belief systems. The researcher using a primary survey and a collection of secondary extant data endeavored to uncover the teachers' responses for efficacy, beliefs and perceptions of student achievement. The Effective Schools (Edmonds,…

The purposes of this study were to (a) identify how leadership in a successful rural school districts has helped raise student achievement levels beyond those of comparable school districts as measured by state and federal mandated test scores, (b) investigate the district leadership that aligns with identified effective practices, and (c)…