Purpose: This study replicates and extends prior research on principal hiring preferences and conceptualizations of teacher "fit." We investigate the specific fit dimensions principals value, the contextual factors informing their fit conceptualizations, and the implications of fit-based hiring for schools and candidates. By shedding…

The purpose of this Delphi study was to explore the potential for district leaders to leverage Liberatory Design to interrupt systemic inequities and redress bias in K-12 school systems. A purposeful, heterogeneous sampling of twelve experts, who were identified as effective practitioners of transformative leadership or as academic scholars…

This was a case study of the principal succession planning practices of a large school district in Oregon. For the study, the researcher interviewed nine principals and nine central office administrators and surveyed 17, K-12 assistant principals within the studied school district. The findings from this study reveal many strengths and weaknesses…

Urban school districts are often tasked with turning around poor school performance. Research, however, tends to focus on the school's role in reform and sustaining change, rather than the role of the school district, particularly the central office. This study of a mid-sized Midwestern urban K-12 school district attempts to address the gap in the…

In spring 2024, the authors surveyed 156 American School District Panel member districts about principal pipeline activities across seven domains -- leader standards, principal preparation, selective hiring and placement, on-the-job support and evaluation, principal supervision, leader tracking systems, and systems of support -- to estimate the…

District and building administrators in the United States are struggling to integrate academic and career and technical education (CTE) as required by Every Student Succeeds Act and Perkins V legislation. One solution school district leaders have developed to address this legislation is the creation of CTE magnet high schools. However,…

As our education systems continue to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic we urge the next administration to prioritize investing wisely in the future of our nation through federal programs and policies that support the nation's 50 million K-12 public school students. A comprehensive and significant investment in the education of our public school…

This case study was conducted to explore how school district leaders can foster the development of effective school libraries in which school librarians serve as instructional leaders of multiple literacies. Participants included district-level personnel and building-level school librarians. The district-level personnel consisted of those who held…

As a thirty plus year Black American educator in the Midwestern United States, I have experienced racial bias. I felt it affected my career advancement. As a current educational administrator, I wondered if others have experienced racial bias and if they felt it affected their career as well. In this phenomenological study, the voices of…

Federal entitlement policies like Title III and the IDEA help grant multilingual learners (MLs) and students with disabilities (SWDs) access to public schools. Yet they have operated in ways that continue to "other" the very student populations they intend to integrate. Drawing on social network surveys and semi-structured interviews…

Black students attending US K12 school districts have predictable results (Darling-Hammond, 2007). These schools demonstrate disproportionate results in all indicators of school success. Leaders of these schools are expected to improve student outcomes that disrupt and dismantle systems that have historically perpetuated these results by leading…

The purpose of this replication study was to examine the leadership practices, instructional practices, and high expectation beliefs employed by school district superintendents in Texas with the aim of eliminating the performance gap between Hispanic and White students in the state. The research employed a qualitative approach, consisting of…

California has a notable history of investing in educational leaders' professional learning. In 1983, the state launched the California School Leadership Academy (CSLA), which it funded until the academy was discontinued due to statewide budget cuts in 2003. Research showed that CSLA was a source of high-quality professional development. In 2019,…

Strategic resourcing is an important goal for K-12 policymakers hoping to better ensure that financial investments result in high-quality instruction and student achievement. But it's a topic where research evidence and district practices are still evolving. Given the emergence of new practices and challenges, data on districts' purchasing…

This paper explores the evolving landscape of K-12 education in the aftermath of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and the "racial awakening" following George Floyd's murder. Despite the return to in-person learning, persistent pre-pandemic barriers hinder academic opportunities, particularly for minoritized students. The study focuses on…