Discussions charting the changing role of local government in education have often focused extensively on "concrete" policy changes over time, but have provided less detail on the contribution to changing power relations of less tangible shifts. Drawing on Foucauldian notions of discourse and governmentality, in this paper, detailed…

This article reports on the efforts of Christopher Cerf, the state-appointed superintendent of Newark Public Schools (New Jersey), to protect reform and build collaborative relationships. His tenure followed the controversial leadership of the former superintendent that had enacted a series of unpopular initiatives, including a new citywide…

The paper identifies three tools that support the administrative instrument of a state-based curriculum commission: compartmentalization, licensing, and segmentation. These tools channel the state's curriculum-making towards forms of symbolic rather than regulatory action. The state curriculum becomes a framework for the ideological governance of…

In Canada, only 44% of members of academic governance bodies at universities feel that their boards are effective decision-making bodies (Jones, Shanahan, & Goyan, 2004). In this study, we examined the views of senators at a British Columbia university regarding their senate's effectiveness in decision-making, including structures, processes,…

This chapter presents data from a 15-year, mixed-methods school improvement effort. The High Reliability Schools (HRS) reform made use of previous research on school effects and on High Reliability Organizations (HROs). HROs are organizations in various parts of our cultures that are required to operate successfully "the first time, every…

Governing multi-level education systems requires governance models that balance responsiveness to local diversity with the ability to ensure national objectives. This delicate equilibrium is difficult to achieve given the complexity of many education systems. Countries are therefore increasingly looking for examples of good practice and models of…

It is not a surprise that presidents of American colleges formed an association. What is cause for wonder is why it took them so long. By 1869, there were 563 colleges in this nation. Yet not until 1914 did a handful of presidents feel the need to band together and found the Association of American Colleges (AAC). The Association of American…

How do policymakers craft policies, particularly centered on the Common Core State Standards, to be more resilient and less likely to disintegrate during enactment? Researcher Jonathan Supovitz in "Slowing Entropy: Instructional Policy Design in New York City, 2011-12" examines the design of a New York City Department of Education policy…

Self-efficacy is a perceived judgment that one has the ability to execute a course of action that brings about a desired result. Principal self-efficacy describes a set of beliefs that enable a principal to enact policies and procedures that promote the effectiveness of a school. Principal self-efficacy beliefs are also important because they…

The purpose of this study was to examine the way in which school boards use data when making decisions, specifically their orientations, perceptions, concerns and priorities around data. This study sought to understand how school boards use data when setting or tracking progress toward goals and aimed following the process of board use of data to…

All schools have the capacity to become great schools. All they need is the focus and leadership to create the proper conditions for the board, school leadership team, staff, and constituents to do so. In this article, the author presents 25 elements that are central to great independent schools. These include: Create and perpetuate an intentional…

This chapter recounts the first 3 years of the Student Voice Collaborative (SVC) in New York City, a district supported student leadership initiative that engages high school aged youth in school reform work at school and district levels. Based on his experiences developing and running the SVC, the author identifies nine design and implementation…

When policy is made in a particular area, not only does one have to decide what to do but why he/she is doing it. Any plan for action is like a house of cards. At the bottom, there are assumptions. They hold up the next layer, which is the definition of the problem. At the top is the response, what is to be done. If any of the lower cards is not…

Strategic planning is a common practice at higher education institutions. Furthermore, it is assumed that identifying organizational values is an essential part of the planning process. Values are often construed as foundational elements of strategic thinking that serve to "drive the plan". However, there is little conceptual or applied…

To protect the welfare of students, staff, and other clients in housing and residence life (HRL), administrators must understand what behaviors are unacceptable. Professionals might make idiosyncratic and unconstrained decisions when there is no conduct code or set of informal rules. Informal rules may become norms comprising normative structures…