African American males are three times more likely than their White male counterparts to be suspended or expelled in public schools. Changing these odds requires not only addressing disparities in discipline practices, but also lifting up a new narrative of hope, possibility, and brilliance so that young Black men can see and realize their…

States, school districts, and schools across the country are increasingly implementing multi-tier systems of support (MTSS) to improve outcomes for all students. Kansas is no exception. The Kansas MTSS is designed to improve outcomes for all students by instituting system-level change across the classroom, school, district, and state. Such…

The 2004 California Mental Health Services Act requires large-scale system change in the public mental health system through a shift to recovery-oriented services for diverse populations. This article describes an innovative strategy for workforce recruitment and retention to create and sustain these systemic changes. The California Social Work…

American public education is in a constant state of experimentation, with new waves of reforms and education initiatives unveiled routinely--many recycled and some reinvented. Yet few are truly innovative. The newest and most promising reform thus far are the Common Core State Standards, which are rigorous standards in English language arts and…

The accountability measures for student achievement have increased over the last five years for New York City Public Schools. In addition to existing local, state and federal accountability systems, yet another evaluative tool has been added--a "Progress Report". The report indicates a letter grade of "A" to "F" for a…

The purpose of this paper is to present a qualitative secondary analysis of two empirical studies that focused on the leadership practices of female practitioners at the secondary level engaging in discourse and practices to disrupt educational inequities. The guiding research question is, "How do school leaders engage in courageous…

The integration of art and instruction at the secondary level has not been promoted as a school reform as much as it might be. One reason for the lack of attention paid to the integration of arts and academics may be that the relationship between leadership traits and this interdisciplinary approach has not been defined. The purpose of this study…

Siedentop and Locke (1997) proposed three critical elements that must exist in our profession to make a difference and achieve systemic success in physical education (SSPE): (a) quality PE in the schools, (b) effective physical education teacher education (PETE)programs, and (c) a working relationship between the two. Using Cuban's (1992)…

The purpose of the case study is to describe how one large school district in the United States has expanded their expectations for students based on the perceived need for graduates to compete in an increasingly global job market. The study "summarizes" the processes for establishing districtwide systems to support these expectations. The case…

The case study discussed in this article investigated how the district leadership team of one high-performing school district utilized the Baldrige model to implement a system of continuous improvement. Data sources included the district's Baldrige application and feedback report, interviews of the district leadership team, focus group interviews…

This article presents a longitudinal case study of an urban high school as it transitioned from one comprehensive reform model to another over a 10-year period. The study is based on qualitative interview data and quantitative data on student outcomes. Despite evidence of improved student outcomes during this reform period, the school could not…

Describes the results of telephone interviews with 10 former directors of state systems-change projects focused on supported employment in the context of the rapid growth of supported-employment programs for people with severe disabilities. Results are discussed in terms of the ongoing nature of dynamic change in social systems. (Author/DB)

This qualitative case study reports on processes and outcomes of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded System-Wide Change for All Learners and Educators (SCALE) project at the California State University, Northridge (CSUN). It addresses a critical challenge in studying systemic reform in complex organizations: the lack of methodologies that…

Norway's career guidance system and policies were evaluated. The review team met with policymakers and guidance practitioners in the public and private sectors, analyzed data from a national questionnaire, and reviewed pertinent documentation. The evaluation focused on the following areas: splitting educational/vocational guidance from personal…