Over the past decade, there has been an increase of 1:1 laptop schools across the United States. Yet, minimal research exists which examines the experiences of school site administrators as they lead the implementation of a 1:1 laptop school initiative. This case study investigated the roles of principals and assistant principals leading 1:1…

Across educational settings, leaders in the field are recognizing a need to support students' social-emotional development in order to improve educational outcomes (CASEL, 2020; Collie et al., 2015). Social emotional learning (SEL) is one approach which educational communities can collectively employ to improve students' cognitive, affective, and…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates that special education students receive free appropriate public education instruction in the least restrictive environment. Special education students often receive a disproportionate number of suspensions in schools. It is the disproportionate number of suspensions received by…

Purpose: School improvement planning has been a central part of school improvement initiatives for decades. Evidence suggests, however, that traditional planning processes are regularly superficial. In the USA, some principals have begun developing short-cycle planning designed to encourage school leadership teams and staff to develop, monitor and…

Although comprehensive school counseling programs are implemented widely across the country, school counselors face myriad barriers to implementation. As such, we conducted a multilevel, descriptive case study to examine a school counseling cohort preparing to apply for the American School Counselor Association's Recognized ASCA Model Program…

Beginning in 2009, the United States (US) federal government spearheaded a nationwide teacher evaluation reform effort, encouraging states to change their process of evaluating teachers. School principals, the primary evaluators of teacher performance, act as middle leaders in the sense they must attempt to balance messages from federal, state,…

This research describes the perceptions of school principals in the context of their role in leading the professional development of the teaching staff. Their perceptions were examined in reference to three educational ideologies: socialization, acculturation and individuation. Data analysis of semi structured interviews conducted with 20 school…

Formal collaborative structures for teacher teams as professional learning communities (PLC) have long been a supported practice aimed at changing instructional practice and increasing student outcomes in a cycle of continuous improvement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of PLC teams at the middle school level in a…

Education thought leaders highlight the need to expand access to high-quality STEM learning for students historically underrepresented in STEM fields, and project-based learning (PjBL) is often seen as a key strategy. Introducing PjBL to classrooms typically focuses on building teacher capacity, but principals also play a key role in effective…

School-based physical activity can promote health and improve learning outcomes, but efforts to increase school physical activity have had limited success. This study evaluates the sustainability of a multicomponent school-based physical activity intervention and identifies important factors for implementation and sustainability. Results are based…

School staff was concerned that disruptive student behaviors at an urban, middle school in central Ohio had continued even with positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) implementation and professional development (PD) for more than 4 years. The purpose of this study was to explore teachers' perspectives of school training on the…

Mississippi counselors serve in a variety of roles in order to meet the needs of all students. The role of the school counselor is to execute efforts to address each student's academic, personal/social, and career development needs (ASCA, 2005). Middle and high school counselors are often tasked with activities that do not align with national and…

The reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 spurred sweeping changes in how special education students are identified in the United States. IDEA encourages instructional models that are research-based, and emphasizes the analysis of student progress data prior to special education identification. Response…

The Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2004 allowed schools to use a Response to Intervention (RtI) model as opposed to the discrepancy model to qualify students as learning disabled. The incorporation of the RtI model provided earlier interventions for students and reduced avoidance of special services and false diagnosis. With the success of…

For a school improvement initiative to succeed, education leaders must do more than adopt a new program and train staff. This issue of "SEDL Insights" explores steps that leaders can take to ensure the successful implementation of a new program or practice.