This paper examined leadership practices which supported the diffusion of an innovation in a cluster of schools in Singapore, through the lenses of complexity leadership theory (CLT) and ecological leadership. The approach is a qualitative case study, with the unit of analysis bounded by the innovation and a cluster of schools involved in the…

This study aimed to contribute to knowledge about research on educational superintendents as decision-maker through a systematic review of research on this topic undertaken between 2000 and 2022. A literature search followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach. Of the 313 articles identified, 36…

This mixed-method study examines Michigan's Partnership policy for school turnaround, which positions the district and superintendents as key policy implementation actors. We first interviewed 21 of 35 Partnership superintendents/leaders across Michigan and surveyed teachers to understand the initial response to the turnaround policy and the…

When it comes to equity and access through culturally proficient practices, what schools intend to do versus what they actually do can be incongruous by defaulting to traditional accountability metrics over change and innovation. Utilizing the Conceptual Framework for Culturally Proficient Practices, the purpose of this study was to investigate…

This qualitative study explores the early implementation of a university school leadership preparation program and school district collaborative effort to develop school leaders and sustain leadership capacity in nine rural school districts. Emerging findings drawn from survey, focus-group, and participant observation data include (a) the…

School climate is important for continuous improvement. California's LCFF requires districts to report on school climate and use data to inform decision making. Qualitative data, derived from an explanatory sequential mixed-methods study, explored three belief constructs and sub-groups by response patterns. Education leaders have a range of…

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…

Effective implementation of educational reforms requires collaboration between stakeholders. The current paper describes and analyzes the findings of a qualitative research, which examined the perceptions of the three hierarchic levels of stakeholders, assigned by the Israeli Ministry of Education in 2010 to introduce and implement a new policy…

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…

One of the fastest growing, most discussed, and most expensive technology initiatives over the last decade has been one-to-one (1:1) computing initiatives. The purpose of this study was to examine key factors that influenced implementing and sustaining 1:1 computing initiatives from the perspective of school superintendents. Nine superintendents…

This case was developed for use with future school and district leaders in an educational setting. There are several topics of discussion that can be developed, including but not limited to decentralization as a large-scale reform, policy implementation, the superintendency, and urban schools. The setting is a fictional southwestern urban school…

This case study followed the implementation of the co-principal leadership model in a K-8 school district for three years. A district superintendent implemented the co-principal model to (1) resolve issues around merging existing schools with well-established principals; (2) provide leadership stability and succession planning; and (3) serve as a…

In the fall of 2018, all school superintendents in a state in the southwest were invited to take part in a survey which included a section related to superintendent perceptions of the board's evaluation process for superintendents. The present article addresses the factors perceived to be important in evaluations of superintendents by governing…

Though scholars agree that professional development (PD) is a key mechanism for implementing education policies that call for teacher change, and that PD generally needs to be content-focused, active, collaborative, coherent, and sustained, the application of this framework has yielded mixed results. In this qualitative study, we employed…

Purpose: Educator evaluation systems have recently undergone scrutiny and reform, and district and school leaders play a key role in interpreting and enacting these systems. This article uses framing theory to understand district leaders' interpretation and advancement of a state's new educator evaluation policy. Research Methods: The article…