This research focused on the context of educational leadership, which sought to explore the possibilities of leadership opportunities for students with disabilities in a Malaysian secondary school. We utilized a phenomenological case study approach. We were keen on exploring this niche area as often leadership opportunities for students with…

This case study shares the lessons learned from the data collection phase of my research project, specifically the use of online interviews with stimulus material. My research explores secondary school teachers' perceptions of and experiences with moral education in the United Kingdom and uses current government policies regarding the moral…

This case study reports my experiences of a PhD project applying the microgenetic approach to study changes in students' conceptual structures as they developed understanding of topics in physics. The microgenetic approach involves sampling (referring to the frequency of application of data collection probes) a phenomenon at a rate which is high…

During the 2014-2015 academic year, WestEd hired us as research interns at the West Comprehensive Center in Phoenix, AZ. As PhD students, our task was to conduct a collective case study on two local education agencies in Arizona that participated in a 2-year school turnaround specialist program. The goal of the project was to gain a deeper…

Schools are awash in data, and teachers are being asked to gather data in a myriad of high-tech and low-tech ways. But gathering is not analyzing, and without analysis there is little reason to gather the data in the first place. Teachers need data-collection systems that lend themselves to rapid analysis and action. This article presents several…

This project was a qualitative longitudinal research study into cultural and structural change in an English secondary school. The schools' consistent underperformance led to its conversion to "academy" status as part of a development under the Labour administration of 1997-2010. The Labour policy for academization was designed, first,…

The topic for my PhD project is assessment of music performance by social moderation in upper secondary school. My aim with the study is to develop knowledge of how teachers perceive and meet the challenges of performance assessment, with specific focus on the intersubjective teacher team. Research in the field of music performance assessment has…

Rubrics are commonly used to assess individuals in the field of education. Although rubrics are frequently used as data sources for research studies, the creation and validation of rubrics have not been common experiences for most researchers. There are many practical issues, such as requiring ongoing training by the evaluation team, in order to…

In 2014, we embarked on a research agenda focused on raising up the voices of urban youth who had disengaged from school before graduating high school. The youth communicated events that not only contributed to their disengagement but also to a sense of mistrust for individuals in traditional "helping roles" (e.g., teachers or parents).…

In winter 2014, I came upon an opportunity to conduct a case study on a team of middle school math teachers who initiated a study group to examine how a set of learning progressions could help them with their planning, instruction, and assessment. Learning progressions are research-based hypotheses about how students develop more sophisticated…

My PhD research asks why UK high school mathematics teachers who probably love mathematics do not always fully share this with their students. Currently, I am completing my data collection at the end of my second PhD year. I think that researching this might inform new teachers and classroom practice. There is research in mathematics education…

This case study describes how the method of thematic analysis was used in a research project examining the phenomenon of cyberbullying in the United Kingdom, from the perspectives of students between 13 and 16 years of age and their teachers. In this case study, we focus on the methodological steps underlying the data collection (sampling, ethical…

Grounded theory methodology allows researchers to generate theories that answer research questions that existing theories do not adequately explain. This methodology involves the use of the constant comparative method in an iterative cycle of data collection and analysis. To understand the data and make decisions that drive the cycle forward, the…

In my PhD research, I explore the reflective schooling experiences of recently graduated First Nations students in New Brunswick (Canada) provincial schools. Improving educational experiences and academic outcomes for First Nations students is currently considered a priority across Canada; however, most previous research focuses on quantitative…

Strategies for understanding the effect of negative life events on the psychosocial development of youth have focused on the aggregate association between risk factors and poor developmental outcomes. However, there is a strand of research in developmental psychology that has pushed for understanding the contextual nature of negative life events;…