Purpose: This study aims to understand how to develop, support and utilize professional learning community (PLCs) to build organizational capacity to support teacher learning and collaboration. Although literature highlights the importance of leadership in creating a PLC, there is little research on specific actions leaders can take to create an…

The preparation of future scientists, the technical workforce, and informed citizens will require continued transformation to the ways we approach STEM teaching and learning. Undergraduate STEM education is rapidly emerging as a focus of faculty scholarship, but new models for reform need to be developed and tested to accelerate changes in…

A growing number of states are launching community school initiatives to ensure family and community engagement, provide enriched and expanded learning, and offer integrated supports for students. Several states are providing technical assistance to support the high-quality implementation of community schools, either through the state education…

This qualitative study explores the early implementation of a university school leadership preparation program and school district collaborative effort to develop school leaders and sustain leadership capacity in nine rural school districts. Emerging findings drawn from survey, focus-group, and participant observation data include (a) the…

School leadership is a critical factor in school improvement. The Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) and Region 4 Comprehensive Center (R4CC) have strengthened school leadership through implementation of the Delaware Leadership Network and the Delaware Principal Supervisor Leadership Program. These two major efforts, collaboratively designed…

In the ESSA Leadership Learning Community (ELLC), education agency leaders, community organization leaders, and others have together taken on challenges facing schools and school leaders in their states. They have produced advice to state agencies on policy design and rollout, for example on official definitions of equity, on requirements for…

Singapore is a centralized--decentralized education system which recognizes that learning needs to integrate content--disciplinary understandings with twenty-first-century orientations and outcomes. Schools are given autonomy for innovations. One such initiative is FutureSchools. FutureSchools are exemplar schools with successes in…

Systems, structures, and practices perpetuate disparities because they reinforce barriers that sort and separate students based on assumed success or failure. When students are disadvantaged in this way, the implicit message is that their learning doesn't matter. The counterpoint to these discriminatory systems is an asset-based approach, which is…

This paper investigates early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions' opportunities to build a learning organization and master future innovations by focusing on core components, implementation drivers, leadership, and collective collaborative systems. The paper is based on results from semi-structured interviews with ten ECEC leaders…

As originally conceptualized, Early Colleges were small schools focused purposefully on college readiness for all students. Frequently located on college campuses, Early Colleges targeted students who might face challenges in postsecondary education, including students who were the first in their family to go to college, economically disadvantaged…

There is growing interest in the ability of improvement science--the systematic study of improvement strategies to identify promising practices for addressing issues in complex systems (Improvement Science Research Network, 2016)--to spur innovation and address complex problems. In education this methodology is often implemented through…

College and career pathways represent a significant national educational reform movement supported by federal, state, and philanthropic funding. High school pathways combine career and technical education with rigorous academics, work-based learning, and student supports to provide equitable access to postsecondary opportunities. Strong research…

In the wake of the Bologna process, many European universities are undergoing comprehensive educational reform. Our attention in this paper is focused on how a medical university came to terms with the challenges presented therein. We wished to explore how educators identify, understand and deal with opportunities for change at a medical…

A growing body of work has emerged regarding the responsibilities required of district leaders in establishing plans that initiate and create conditions for sustainability of continuous improvement achieved through a systemic reform structure such as professional learning communities. However, limited research exists in respect to sustaining…

In January 2012, the West Virginia Governor's Office released an influential report, "Education Efficiency Audit of West Virginia's Primary and Secondary Education System," written by Public Works (2012), a management consulting company headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Based largely on this report, the West Virginia…