A Title I elementary school in New York City faced a challenge in supporting students in Grade 3 to Grade 5 who did not meet state proficiency standards in mathematics. The student body of approximately 300 was 80% Black and Brown students, with 40% of students identified as English language learners or students with disabilities. The assistant…

This critical ethnographic case study explores the impact of Performance-Based Assessment Tasks (PBATs) on high school dynamics and instructional practices, particularly in schools serving immigrant communities. PBATs, considered alternatives to standardized testing, have shown promise in enhancing student engagement, critical thinking, and…

Morrisania College Preparatory Academy (MCPA) is a small middle school comprising Grades 6-8 located in the Bronx, New York, which offers full integrated co-teaching (ICT). MCPA struggled with mathematics achievement for the first 3 years of its operation. To improve student outcomes in mathematics, the vice principal assisted with all classroom…

In 2013, the NYC Leadership Academy (NYCLA) developed a leadership intervention--the Targeted Intensive School Support (TISS) program--in collaboration with the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) to support schools that were facing particular challenges. NYCLA asked the RAND Corporation to provide an independent evaluation of the…

This study examines how school-based personnel (i.e., principals, assistant principals, and school social workers) defined and engaged in collective leadership to support undocumented students. This instrumental, comparative case study explores their roles, relational processes, and the extent to which school-based personnel's relationships…

Assistant principals play a critical role in the success of any school. As the role of assistant principals has shifted from disciplinarian and task manager to instructional leader, it is important for principals to provide shared leadership opportunities to their administrative team. This qualitative study investigated principal practices of…

This paper examines the role of school leadership in centering the rights, wellbeing, and identities of Latinx, immigrant students and their families. It is guided by the following questions: How do school leaders envision and articulate their roles and responsibilities in sites serving immigrant youth? How does this orientation influence the…

This study sought to examine the manner in which Black school leaders perceive a relationship between their racial consciousness as Black Americans [double consciousness], and their thoughts, leadership and decision-making. A quantitative approach was employed to measure the instances in their practice that participants report that they…

At one time, finding an assistant principal for a public school in Denver entailed a search through "a gajillion résumés," in the words of one local school district administrator. Even then, some ideal candidates likely fell through the cracks. Those days are over, owing to the development by Denver Public Schools of a "leader…

The onset of the first decade of the 21st century has seen many district change initiatives within the New York City Department of Education. Several of these district initiatives have been instructionally-based and thus have made the role of high school supervisory assistant principals integral in their successful implementation. The purpose of…

Background: School officials and nurses play an important role in facilitating asthma management in schools. Little is known about their perspectives on in-school asthma management and barriers to physical activity (PA) at school. Aims: The goal of this study is to explore school officials' and nurses' perspectives on asthma care and barriers to…

Understanding the professional development needs of assistant principals is a key component in ensuring that schools are successful. This study provided the opportunity to investigate the professional development needs of New York City assistant principals. Assistant principals have been cited in educational research as feeling unprepared for…

School leadership is second only to teaching among school influences on student success, according to research. So what can a school district do to produce a large and steady supply of top-notch school principals--and support their effective supervision? This Wallace Update describes two related Wallace Foundation initiatives seeking answers to…

This is the fifth report from an evaluation of the Principal Pipeline Initiative (PPI), in which six large urban school districts have received support for strengthening novice principals' capabilities through specific strategies. Data for the evaluation were collected from late 2011 through spring 2015, using interviews with district…

The Academy for Promising Leaders of Urban Schools (APLUS) was designed (1) to prepare assistant principal for New York City's urban schools, and (2) as the foundation of a continuum of planned leadership development. Piloted during the 2006-2007 academic year, APLUS is a partnership effort among higher education, PK-12 public schools, and a…