The job of the school principal has become much more complex and demanding over the past several decades. Many university-based principal preparation programs--which prepare the majority of school principals--have struggled with how to make the fundamental changes needed to prepare principals for today's schools. To test a path forward, The…

Critical consciousness is a crucial component of social justice leadership. This quantitative research focused on the perceptions of social justice leadership of principals and assistant principals in Central Appalachia as measured by the Social Justice Leadership Questionnaire (SJQ2). The research was inspired by the theoretical framework of the…

Students in Appalachia have a heritage of problem-solving. We explore how computational thinking (CT) relates to and complements this heritage by analyzing 34 local ingenuity stories, and perspectives from 35 community members about the relevance of CT. We found the two problem-solving approaches are meaningfully different, but can be used in…

The Institute for Citizens & Scholars (C&S) is fundamentally rethinking how young people prepare to be productive lifelong citizens. A critical element of this work is engaging youth at the intersection of community and civic life. C&S' work has proven that significant civic learning takes place in after-school programs, on the sports…

Community colleges constitute a special type of higher education organization: their complex mission, dynamics, personnel structures, and values require a distinct set of understandings and skills to lead and manage them well. Most of the research on leadership in community colleges focuses on leaders in positions of power (presidents, provosts,…

Since the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) launched the Voluntary Framework of Accountability (VFA) in 2011, accountability measures have sprung up in just about every corner of higher education. There is the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), the National Governors Association's Complete to Compete program,…

Almost three-fourths of the American public has lost confidence in the nation's schools, but the recent passage of the Proposition 30 shows that the majority of voters in California hold on to their hope for their schools. School administrators need to build on that vote of confidence, starting at the local level, so they can help the public…

This article challenges policymakers, school leaders, and teachers to implement wide-scale and systematic teaching of character education in every classroom. In support of the idea that student character development should be a priority in all classes, I explain that youth need "decision-filters" to negotiate life's challenges. Further,…

Geographical, economic, social and cultural barriers to accessing services in rural areas are widely reported. Less widely discussed are dilemmas posed by individual and community reluctance to address sensitive health issues. This article, focusing on the highly sensitive area of mental health, and employing a participatory action approach,…

Across the country, cities and regions have used community-wide partnerships to improve the educational attainment of their citizens. The most established of these partnerships have seen substantial education gains during their tenure. The community of Louisville, Kentucky has embarked on a similar effort to improve educational attainment. Nearly…

This article features "STOP (Students Taking on Prevention) the Violence," a peer-to-peer outreach initiative that empowers young people to recognize, report, and reduce the potential for youth violence. It is a national Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) program that provides young people with the attitudes, skills,…

This report explores the true position of public libraries today, in the minds not only of library users, but of the people who run libraries and those who provide oversight and funding. This study is the first step in the development of a national agenda for libraries and library funding in the 21st century. Findings from this study indicate…