In December of 2011, a team of eight consultants authored a report to the Ohio Board of Regents and Central State University titled "Accentuating Strengths/Accelerating Progress (AS/AP)." AS/AP provided a road map for the administration, faculty, and staff of CSU to achieve the excellence it has sought under the leadership of President…

On May 31, 2012, Central State University submitted the Phase I Report detailing progress made in support of the plan to increase enrollment, improve course completion and increase the number of graduates. The report detailed accomplishments made in support of the following Phase I action items: (1) Identification of Three Degree Partnerships in…

In 2004, The U.S. Department of Education stated, "Great schools have great leaders" (p.1). Research supported their declaration as our nation actively pursued educational reform. School systems across the country searched for good school principals to lead, believing they were the "cornerstones of good schools" (DiPaola &…

Foundations must encourage rigorous debate over objectives, strategies, and outcomes as they become more engaged in policy-focused giving. In doing this, they must make it abundantly clear that they won't blacklist critics. The value of skeptics is that they raise unpleasant issues and make it possible for those inside an organizational bubble to…

Improved student achievement requires the distribution of leadership beyond one individual. Given their daily connection to students, leadership opportunities distributed to classroom teachers are key to school improvement. Complicating the development of classroom teacher leaders are attrition rates and low teacher efficacy among novice…

Extending the chance for people from diverse backgrounds to participate in Higher Education (HE) is a priority in the UK and many countries internationally. Previous work on widening participation in HE however has focussed on why people choose to go to university but this vital new research has focussed on looking at why people choose not to go.…

This article is based on a study that explored the professional lives of eight leaders of continuing education in Canadian universities, with a focus on their administrative role, to provide a deeper understanding of how they live within their practice (lived experience). A practical listing of 56 horizons of experience was identified, useful as…

In exchange for the autonomy they have been granted, schools are required to evaluate the quality of the education they provide. Self-evaluation initiatives are a frequently chosen method. The present article reveals the underlying processes which have an impact on the results of such self-evaluations. It is based on research which demonstrates…

Including students in school governance isn't just a way to teach them about civics, it's a smarter way to run a school. Schools tend to govern themselves as a single-loop learning organization. The better model is a double-loop organization that would promote greater participation, deliberation, feedback and, ultimately, more buy-in from…

The involvement of persons with disabilities in formal decision-making processes is thought to have a range of benefits. However, research suggests that participatory processes may fail to match normative ideals. This study examines the participation of persons with disabilities in the development of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of…

Purposes: This study investigates the role of formal and informal leaders in the diffusion of external reforms into schools and to teachers' practices. Formal leaders are designated by their roles in the formal organization of the school (e.g., principals, department chairs, and instructional coaches) and informal leaders refer to those who do not…

Research has indicated that schools should be developed as inclusive learning communities that would support collaborative learning and problem solving in order to address learner diversity more effectively. This article explores school leadership as one determining factor which either affords or constrains collaborative teacher learning for…

A growing body of literature has highlighted the affordances of distributive forms of instructional leadership as a means to broaden and deepen instructional leadership capacity within schools. Yet, specifically how the capabilities of such key leaders as high school department chairs can be fostered to realize enhanced instructional capacity…

The purpose of this study was to determine the decision-making and problem-solving approaches most frequently used by school superintendents in two mid-western states when confronted with district dilemmas. The research replicated a study conducted by Polka, Litchka, Caizi, Denig and Mete (2011) in five Mid-Atlantic states. The survey used in both…

Teacher transfer requests interfere with the stability and continuity of teaching thereby causing low student performance. The purpose of the study was to investigate how teacher transfer requests can be minimized. The study employed a descriptive survey design. The population of the study included 16 head teachers, 126 teachers and the provincial…