The United States has undergone a revamping of education standards in an effort to systematize rigorous learning standards across the country and prepare students to be college- and career-ready. In addition, new accountability requirements have been put in place to determine the effectiveness of the school leader. Certainly, educational reforms…

The "Quality Practice Project" (QPP) is the National Association of Charter School Authorizers' (NACSA's) multi-year research initiative to identify what high-performing authorizers do to achieve stellar student and public interest outcomes. Participants and researchers collaboratively investigated the perspectives and practices of…

The well known 1983 report "A Nation at Risk" recommended that individuals preparing to teach should meet high education standards and demonstrate an aptitude for teaching and competence in an academic discipline--adding also that college and university teacher preparation programs should be judged by how well their graduates meet these…

This paper considers why the International Baccalaureate--a prestigious international education program--is currently being incorporated into magnet schools in the United States. Since the mid-1980s, when school choice policy took root the number of magnet schools climbed and a growing number of them incorporated the International Baccalaureate…

An urban Pre-K through 5th grade school referred to as Westvale Elementary School was the focal point for this research study. Westvale was located within an urban district in New York State that was host to approximately 20,000 students. Both the school and the district were labeled as failing under the No Child Left Behind Act. Foucauldian…

This article traces how the work of instructional leadership in the urban high school embodies a response to particular pressures in the school's environment. Based on evidence from multiple-case study research in four urban districts, the article demonstrates how supervisory and nonsupervisory leaders fashioned responses to the district (and…

This quantitative study used the Schools and Staffing Survey of 2007-2008, a school-based stratified probability-proportionate-to-size sample of all American schools, to explore the relationships of professional development to teachers' self- and collective efficacy by school accountability status as measured by adequate yearly progress (AYP). In…

This report by the Council of the Great City Schools to the Rochester City School District presents the organization's findings and recommendations for improving the special education program in the school system, placing special emphasis on the organizational structure of the program, accountability, and how the instructional program generally…

Hispanic-Serving Institutions have the opportunity to be trendsetters in higher education. As Latino representation in higher education continues to increase across all states and institution types, Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs)--public or private nonprofit degree-granting colleges with enrollments of 25 percent or more Hispanic…

Although the No Child Left Behind Act was intended to help "all students meet high academic standards," it is focused on subgroups of low-achieving students. The authors analyze the possible impact of the legislation's requirement for performance reporting by racial subgroup in light of the considerable racial segregation in U.S.…

"Policy and Performance in American Higher Education" presents a new approach to understanding how public policy influences institutional performance, with practical insight for those charged with crafting and implementing higher education policy. Public institutions of higher learning are called upon by state governments to provide…

Almost half of Latino students in higher education are enrolled at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). While there is documentation of Latino participation in higher education, there is little research focused on Latino student success. One approach to study Latino student success is to focus on these institutions. This Brief describes the…

In 2003-04 representatives from six baccalaureate-granting Hispanic-Serving Institutions in three state public university systems participated in a project entitled, "Latino Student Success at Hispanic-Serving Institutions." These institutions include two from California State University--(Los Angeles and Dominguez Hills), two from City…