Fullan (1998) stated, "Student achievement increases substantially in schools with collaborative work cultures that foster a professional learning community among teachers and others" (p. 8). Vandevoort, Amrein-Beardsley, and Berliner (2004) also found that the quality of the teacher in the classroom is the single most important factor…

Church documents and scholars affirm that traditional pedagogies are ineffective in preparing students for the demands of the 21st century (CCE, 2014, p. 13, Darling-Hammond, 2010; Hartley, 2003; Kampylis, 2010; Skiba, Tan, Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2010). A review of the literature revealed that a gap in research on the Catholic elementary…

Educational leaders often search for professional development opportunities that are within the context of the classroom where new research-based instructional practices can be observed and incorporated into the teachers' practices. Instructional coaching and co-teaching have been recognized as means for accomplishing this, while at the same time…

The purpose of this multiple-case study was to explore and describe intentional spiritual formation practices used with third and fourth grade students enrolled in Association for Christian Schools International (ACSI) member schools. The study took place in four elementary school settings in two different states, using a replication design with…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perceptions and reflections of former and current superintendents of suburban public school districts throughout the state of New Jersey regarding their districts' use of classroom walkthroughs as a means to improve instructional practice. Comprehensive, in-person, semi-structured interviews…

Over the last three decades, a significant amount of research has sought to relate educational institutions, policies, practices and reforms to social structures and agencies. A number of models have been developed that have become the basis for attempting to understand the complex relation between education and society. At the same time, national…

This chapter surveys the status of educational systems and assessment practices across eight European countries that are part of the ASSIST-ME project. First, variations in the country's educational systems are examined to identify possible connections between systems and educational practices. Such associations are useful both for understanding…

Nearly half of students enrolled in colleges and universities today are adult learners, who often must balance their education with other family or work-related priorities. However, institutional policies and practices continue to be largely developed based on the needs of traditional students. Drawing on national research findings, widely cited…

Little research exists that centers the experiences of African American women student affairs administrators in higher education. The challenges and barriers that exist for African American women student affairs administrators are complex and directly connected to the history of slavery, race and racism in the United States. Concepts such as…

This integrated collection of perspectives on the spaces of teaching and learning uses 'learning space' to place educational practice in context. It considers the complex relationships involved in the design, management and use of contemporary learning spaces. It sheds light on some of the problems of connecting the characteristics of spaces to…

A university-school district partnership program designed to increase recruitment and retention of science and mathematics teachers in schools identified as low performing by the school district, paired potential or novice teachers with veteran teachers in elementary or secondary schools. All participants received mentoring to build instructional…

There has been a long-standing call for the participation of young people in decision making in school. However, research to date has mostly focused on pupil councils and is rarely conducted in areas of socio-economic deprivation -- the contexts for this study. In national examinations, the schools chosen had higher than average attainments given…

This study aimed to provide an empirical typology of a diffused school change movement in South Korea, known as the Hyukshin School movement. This movement has been diffused by a combination of bottom-up practices and top-down measures, employing a communitarian whole-school change strategy that promotes collaborative learning, students' voices,…

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to identify the role of the principal in establishing a whole school approach for health and wellbeing. Two questions are asked: (1) What do successful Swedish principals do when they take on a whole school approach? (2) How do these results relate to previous research on successful school leadership?…

Drawing on a multi-sited global ethnography of elite schools across the world, this article explores how elite schools prepare students for an increasingly interconnected world characterised by difference and competition through global citizenship education. In this exploration, I identify the four domains that give meaning to global citizenship…