Although correlated with student achievement, strong family and community engagement is often at the margins, separate from the central work of school districts. This has previously been true in San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD), a district of over 131,000 students, the second largest in California. However, Superintendent Cindy Marten…

Special education programs vary in the quality of services provided across states, cities, and school districts. There are three major components necessary for a quality special education program for children with complex learning needs. These components include systems level analysis, capacity building for staff, and strong individual student…

In this study I used complexity-thinking, ecologically-based sustainable capacity-building, narrative methodology, and pragmatism to explore the relationships among mentoring, conflict, and novice retention. In order to explore these relationships, I constructed stories from my interviews with six mentor-novice dyads in a southeastern 9-12 high…

How prepared are central office administrators to lead school districts in the face of changing standards and changing student populations? The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the responses of central office administrators in the top 5% performing school districts in Washington State with the goal of identifying common attitudes…

Understanding antecedents to superintendent leadership development is crucial for the continued improvement of schools. This qualitative study seeks to identify skills superintendents consider critical to their position, antecedents that developed those skills, and provide an increased understanding of the methods needed for developing current and…

The purpose of the dissertation is to gain insight into how higher education policies can influence institutional performance in Latino postsecondary degree completion; specifically, through an examination of the college readiness efforts of two Hispanic-Serving Institutions in Texas. Over half of all Latinos in postsecondary education in the…

Educational research over the past 15 years shows that schools and school districts have, on a large scale, failed to translate reform goals into improved teacher practice and student learning. Although classroom teachers are central to successful school reform, research has rarely examined how teachers experience reform initiatives and how that…