Purpose: This article presents a professional development partnership which has grown together through collaboration resulting in increased capacity to engage mentor teachers (MTs), nurture teacher candidates (TCs), partner in university coursework and professional development, innovate teacher preparation practices and place new teachers with a…

School leaders, specifically principals, play a pivotal role in shaping student learning outcomes. The benefits of strong leaders extend beyond academic achievement, such as reductions in absenteeism and exclusionary discipline. While quality principals are critical for creating and sustaining quality schools, the staffing pipeline is facing…

After a white supremacists' rally which fomented terror and death in Charlottesville, VA, a group of local educators came together to reflect on what happened and determine what they could do to push for racial justice in their community. "Reframing the Narrative" (RtN) was created, a years-long grant-funded project to produce and…

NAME declared, "… we must all rise up against the current tide of white supremacy to defend multicultural education." Yet, fearful educators omit curriculum and conversations deemed 'divisive.' In response to these challenges posed by white supremacy and the consequential pressure on educators to avoid "divisive" topics, this…

This article describes the PDS partnership between George Mason University and Daniels Run Elementary School, which are located in Fairfax, Virginia. In the spring of 2020, during their fifth year together, the partnership was awarded the National Association of Professional Development Schools Exemplary PDS Award. The Mason PDS program structure…

In today's educational landscape, state and local educational agencies (SEAs and LEAs) often experience challenges connecting large-scale accountability data with actual school improvement initiatives. These challenges tend to be rooted in incoherent design and use of data systems for continuous improvement. As we aim to support SEAs in…

This article describes the Mason Elementary PDS Network (PDS Network), a multi-district network of clinical field sites, embracing collaboration with key stakeholders as a means to broaden its impact on the education profession and the larger community. The Mason Elementary PDS Network includes 30 elementary school sites with a shared commitment…

When done reliably and efficiently, measuring school climate can help improve schools' vital signs and help state boards of education realize their goals and objectives for the system as a whole. Moreover, because it is as consequential to schools as checking heart rates and blood pressure are to humans, schools should always use climate measures…

Ongoing professional development is critical even for the very top executives at community colleges. While many community college systems focus on the onboarding of new presidents, professional learning should be a never-ending process. The best institutions recognize this and devote time and resources to the continuing development of their…

Developing and sustaining comprehensive school mental health systems should be a shared endeavor between schools and community partners; the task should not rest solely on the shoulders of the K-12 education sector. Community partners, including health and behavioral health providers, can augment the continuum of services available to students and…

States play a role in fostering an environment that develops and supports effective school leaders. Prior research has highlighted opportunities to enhance state involvement in supporting school leadership through a range of policy levers, especially by promoting improvements to principal preparation (Manna, 2015; Davis, 2016). The Wallace…

Many Americans identify as religious or spiritual, with a large subset of these individuals identifying as Christian. However, many doctoral training programs neglect to incorporate religion and spirituality into their curricula in an intentional and integrated way. Past national research has documented that many professionals report feeling…

The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) administration identified the need for adequate and proactive advising programs to foster student success. This paper presents a review of "best practices" in advising to determine commonalities, provides a comparison with current VCCS advising practices, and offers recommendations that…

Every community in the United States has the potential to transform itself into this kind of ecosystem that supports families and promotes digital inclusion. Resources for Digital-Age learning already exist in libraries, schools, multimedia spaces, and through parents' personal smartphones, but localities are not often tapping into them to help…

"Opening Doors, Changing Futures" tells the story of the collective impact the Appalachian Higher Education (AHE) Network had on postsecondary education attainment in 10 of the 13 states in Appalachia during school years 2011-2016. It depicts the current economic and education contexts in the region and highlights why increased post-high…