The overall purpose of this dissertation was to examine how school climate, leadership, and teachers' belief systems are interrelated and how they jointly influence teachers' classroom practices and students' learning and development. This dissertation is structured as follows. In chapter 1, the overarching themes of the dissertation are…

A growing body of research on character education offers the opportunity to derive lessons on effective practice. While there is little focused research on the effectiveness of specific practices, reviews of effective programs have been mined for well over a decade to reach conclusions about "what works in character education." More…

Over the last decade, Denver Public Schools (DPS) became one of the fastest-improving large districts in the country--achieving significant improvement across all student subgroups. Unlike many city districts, DPS included charter and innovation schools as integral parts of their system and improvement strategy. DPS' journey demonstrates how much…

Background: Both education policies and curriculum documents identify the personal development of students as a key objective of modern education. Physical education (PE) in particular has been cited as a subject that can promote students' life skills development and psychological well-being. However, little research has investigated the processes…

The Education Resource Strategies (ERS) School System 20/20 is a framework to guide district transformation so that every school succeeds for every student because of the system--not in spite of it. This summary presents highlights from a case study that uses the framework School System 20/20 to examine how Denver Public Schools is transforming…

The HighScope Summer Camp for Teenagers founded by David P. Weikart in 1963, and operated until 2002, was an international, inclusive gifted education program that aided many young people, including those from disadvantaged social strata, in their personal development and shaped them in a special way. The six-week program stood for a high degree…

Building leadership capacity in college students is both an art and a science. Knowledge of college student development and specifically college leadership development, as well as research in leadership theory and practices, can help college leadership educators become more effective. International Leadership Association (ILA) Guiding Questions…

This research project uses the constructive-developmental tradition, in the self-authorship framework of intercultural maturity (King & Baxter Magolda, 2005), to examine the extent to which 12 specific educational experiences may be associated with international undergraduates' learning, development, and perception of campus climate. The study…

Educators must take a critical look at all factors that may affect student outcomes. The No Child Left Behind Legislation (NCLB) was proposed to help ensure that all students have fair and equal access to educational programming. It is important for secondary school educators to be aware of environmental factors that may inhibit student success.…

Each year staff members in the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Division of School Improvement, conduct onsite visits to each of the most improved schools, K-12, as identified by the ABCs of Public Education. Using a structured-interview process, staff members talk with administrators and teachers to determine what strategies…

Today is an opportune time for school administrators to exercise leadership in curriculum development for school achievement. Effective schools research has found a school's culture and its strategies and tactics to be foundational to an excellent school. These are explored in this article. (DCS)

The need for new thinking in the world, both official leadership and for all participating members of society has been a glaring reality in recent times. To Berenice Bleedorn, the idea of teaching students how to use the full potential of their thinking apparatus is not absurd--simply logical and timely. Creative expression is central to the…

THIS REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE OF THE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATION FOCUSES ON THE FORCES (I.E. SOCIAL CLASS, PARENTS, PERSONALITY, CURRICULUM PURSUED, AND FRIENDS) WHICH INFLUENCE STUDENTS TO REMAIN IN SCHOOL OR DROP OUT. IN THE CLASSROOM SITUATION, THE TEACHER, THROUGH THE USE OF POWER, AND THE PEER GROUP, THROUGH GROUP NORMS, HAVE THE MOST…