Leadership is integral for successful implementation of evidence-based programs and practices (EBPPs) in schools. However, as research is limited regarding school administrators' training, knowledge, and perceived barriers related to EBPP implementation, a survey was conducted to examine these areas. The majority of respondents reported (a)…

Governmental policies in the United States and beyond increasingly call for school leaders to involve local communities in decision-making, yet engagement practices have often centered the perspectives of White parents and marginalized the voices of racially minoritized families. In this comparative case study of seven school districts, we draw on…

This study investigates teachers' perceptions on PLC implementation within religious-based secondary schools in the context of Malaysia. Using a pragmatic mixed-method approach, quantitative data were obtained from 610 teachers about principals' implementation and support for PLC implementation. Then, 16 senior teachers who have successfully…

Wisconsin's teacher evaluation approach departs from most states by articulating principles for a learning-centered system and discouraging districts from using evaluation results for accountability purposes. This study presents findings from a longitudinal analysis of practices within fourteen schools across five districts. Findings demonstrate…

Although the role of leadership in school improvement is widely recognized, there is less understanding of what leaders can do to support (and mitigate barriers to) the implementation of mandated educational change. This systematic literature review analyzed findings from 191 relevant primary studies published between 2000 and 2020 and identified…

Understanding Consequential Assessment Systems for Teachers (UCAST) studied a large urban school district in the United States as it adopted a new teacher evaluation system. This project studied 1,000 principals as they were trained to use this new system, and followed them into their first three years of implementation. This article features a…

Education policies are rarely implemented as they have been written or planned. Instead, school principals interpret and apply these policies according to their professional role identity and sensemaking. This study highlights the importance of the micro-institutional context. Specifically, it addresses the professional role identity and…

Across many international contexts, more recent standards-based and other educational reforms have largely intended to transform teaching. Given the importance of teacher learning to such transformations, we argue that a learning-focused support approach will be essential if such reforms are to be productively taken up by schools and teachers. We…

This paper presents a case-study exploration of how federal and state government policy and Education Acts are interpreted and enacted at school level through the implementation of the International Student Program in Victoria, Australia. Understanding policy and its enactment as multi-layered and often "messy" to frame through our…

This qualitative study explores how 60 Israeli high school principals vary in their perceptions and enactments of shared sense-making processes while engaging in strategic activities to gain teachers' support during a national reform implementation. Data analysis has yielded three major themes: (a) a common language; (b) a collaborative learning…

Purpose: In times of reform and consequential changes, school superintendents act as mediators between government policies and those who implement them in the field. This article explores the perceptions of school superintendents in Israel concerning their professional development (PD) process, especially during the implementation of Israeli…

Entrepreneurship in school is a widespread issue within the school system and it is therefore important to problematise teachers and their role when entrepreneurship is emphasized in their school practice. The teachers in this study, from the secondary and upper secondary levels, were all participating in a Swedish three-year school improvement…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are required in most of the nation's public schools, and many superintendents have been tasked with implementing them in their school systems. Using leadership for learning as a conceptual framework, this case study examined the leadership behaviors of one superintendent in a Midwestern state, whose district…

The study's target is to analyze how field-level coalition leaders, namely, the founding principals of Israeli specialized schools, perceive a "high-ambiguity and high-conflict" symbolic educational policy that apparently opposes the basic values that underlie the foundation of specialized schools. Based on an analysis of qualitative…

Educational success stories are powerful tools that shape the decisions of policymakers. This study explores the ways in which these stories are crafted and how they differ among various educational stakeholders. Using administrator and teacher interviews from a school district which earned accolades for implementation of a 1:1 laptop program,…