Parent involvement has been the focus of many educational research studies since the release of "Equality of educational opportunity" (1966), which concluded that parents and home environment determine students' academic success. Since that time, educators have worked toward identifying effective strategies to increase home-school collaboration in…

This paper examines a burgeoning network of organizations that is inventing new forms of community renewal and citizenship education. Their names vary--some call themselves public policy institutes, others centers for civic life--yet they share a common methodology, one aimed at tackling tough public issues, strengthening communities, and…

A rich literature--both within education circles and in other kinds of labor markets--links teachers' sense of efficacy and collective responsibility to their teaching effectiveness and improved student achievement. Prior research has found that a teacher's self-efficacy as an instructional leader is strongly and positively associated with…

This action guide is intended to assist in the reading of and reflection upon "Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work, Second Edition" by Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Richard Eaker, and Thomas Many. The guide can be used by an individual, a small group, or an entire faculty to identify key points,…

This paper reports on a comprehensive evaluation of the Advance programme by Victoria University in 2007/08. Advance is a flexible school-based programme for young people to volunteer or implement a project of benefit to their communities in the state of Victoria, in Australia. It is a partnership between the Office for Youth, Victorian government…

Imagine showing cops and robbers the blueprints to the campus. Then, letting them keep the detailed blueprints to review--over and over again--at their leisure. The robbers would memorize every nuance of the campus layout, and at some point, they'd likely plan a break-in. But on the flip side, the cops would identify security weaknesses--and help…

A co-principal leadership model, where two individuals serve in one leadership position, is considered a special case of distributing leadership (Gronn & Hamilton, 2004). The co-principal leadership model has been suggested as an alternative organizational form that re-structures the role of the principal by enhancing the positive aspects of…

School change efforts to develop schools as learning communities result in schools that are constantly learning and thus changing. This collective case study of four schools involved in a 4-year reform effort begins to examine the ongoing sustainability of a learning community. The study draws insights about the sustainability of learning…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover leadership practices that integrate social justice and democratic community for student learning. Data were gathered through focus group discussions with school principals. The responses were transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed for emerging themes. Leadership practices that were…

What is the nature of middle leadership in primary schools? What are middle leaders' understanding and experiences in leading learning and teaching? Set against the policy context of decentralised centralism in Singapore and an emerging worldwide trend of decentralisation as a means to encourage school-based development and innovation, this study…

Purpose: The aim of this article is to bring together ideas from the authors' review of the Web 2.0 literature, the data and their insights from this and other technology-related projects to produce a framework for strategies on Web 2.0 focusing on the implications for human resource professionals. Design/methodology/approach: The authors discuss…

This paper examined the debate on a reform of school-based management in Hong Kong, which was to set up the Incorporated Management Committee (IMC) to manage the subsidized school. The nature of the debate during legislation and the characteristics of the reform were examined. The advantages, disadvantages and the implications of the reform were…

This short article explores some of the challenges and complexities of engaging with school communities, particularly in diverse urban contexts. The author argues for a new relationship between schools and communities which is developed by grappling with the concept of community; developing tools to "read" and make sense of the community context;…

In this study we examined whether and how youth learned life skills through their involvement on a high school soccer team. We collected data from fieldwork and interviews with 12 male student-athletes and the head coach from one team. Results showed that the coach's philosophy involved building relationships and involving student-athletes in…

The purpose of this study is to further the examination of involvement, perceptions, and experiences of faculty in shared governance, with an emphasis on the differences between men and women. Moreover, this study seeks to understand potential gender disparities in the experience of women faculty while involved in shared governance, with a focus…