This qualitative study considers which aspects of school climate support or inhibit student achievement as each aspect relates to school leadership and school reform efforts. Due to the increased responsibility and accountability which schools face during these challenging times, school climate and the role of the school principal formed the basis…

School improvement is admittedly the main business of school leadership. However, while there is agreement on the importance of school improvement, sustaining this improvement remains a challenge. The challenge seems to lie in the disconnection between the leader and the context in which the school operates. This chapter presents contextual…

During the summer, we interviewed Tony Bryk, Author of Learning to Improve: How America's Schools Can Get Better at Getting Better and head of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. His work was seminal in the creation of the Framework for Great Schools, which has spurred New York City schools to rethink the structures and…

The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) represents a sea change in the way California funds public education. By directing resources to the students in greatest need, freeing districts from the constraints of categorical programs, and inviting stakeholder participation, the new funding system creates the conditions for districts to advance goals…

How can basic research on mathematics instruction contribute to instructional improvement? In our research on the practical rationality of geometry teaching we describe existing instruction and examine how existing instruction responds to perturbations. In this talk I consider the proposal that geometry instruction could be improved by infusing it…

During the past quarter century, conceptions of leadership have evolved in concert with breakthrough discoveries in science and generative learning. "Liberating Leadership Capacity" captures these new ideas through the integration of the authors' earlier works in constructivist leadership and leadership capacity. What emerges is a…

Institution and system leaders play a critical role--perhaps the most critical--in promoting student success in higher education. At most institutions, change begins at the top, with the president and other senior leaders, as they set and implement the strategic direction for their institutions. In recent years, the role that data play in…

Improving classroom teaching improves children's learning outcomes. In pursuit of those goals, the early education field has made substantial investments aimed at increasing the quality of classroom environments and teacher-child interactions. Yet, in publicly funded programs across the country, the quality of instruction remains low and…

"The Every Student Succeeds Act" (ESSA) was signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 10, 2015. ESSA reauthorizes the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act" (ESEA), which was first enacted as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "War on Poverty." Since 1965, ESEA has represented the federal government's…

The purpose of this exploratory investigation is to examine whether the use of the two strategies "Stop and Jot" and "Learning Ally" delivered as part of tier-2 Response to Intervention model, will improve the reading comprehension deficits of fourth grade students with reading difficulties. Participants in this study varied in…

The purpose of this study was to identify considerations that influenced teachers' implementation of principals' evaluative feedback to improve instructional practices. The research question for this study was: What considerations contribute to teachers' applications of principals' evaluative feedback? Participants in this qualitative study…

The article examines the standardization of primary education as one of the development trends of the British school at the present moment in the context of improving its efficiency and quality. It analyses the positive results of the standard-based reforms (modernization of primary education content, improvement of younger students' outcomes,…

Church-related small private liberal arts baccalaureate minority-serving institutions like Wesley College have modest endowments, are heavily tuition-dependent, and have large numbers of financially-challenged students. In order to sustain the level of academic excellence and to continue to build student demographic diversity in its accessible…

California's new accountability system originated in the radical decentralization of power and authority from Sacramento to local schools and their communities brought about by the Legislature's adoption of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) in 2013. Under California's previous accountability policies and the federal "No Child Left…

For excellent teachers and those aspiring to excellence, and for administrative or education policy leaders, this brief provides an overview of how an Opportunity Culture can help teachers have the well-paid, empowered profession they deserve--while helping many more students succeed. [For the full report, see ED560179; for the summary, see…