A substantial body of research emphasises school leadership as a major influence on quality improvement in schools. Although numerous studies have identified the importance of the principal, fewer studies have examined the middle management level within schools, the deputy heads and assistant principals. Influenced by international trends, local…

While the role of leadership in improving schools is attracting more worldwide attention, there is a need for more research investigating leaders' experiences in different national contexts. Using focus-group and semi-structured interview data, this paper explores the background, identities and experiences of a small group of Jamaican school…

This article explores the dynamics of difference-making in a regional Australian town. Despite Australia's high levels of cultural diversity, many rural and regional areas remain predominantly "white" spaces, presided over by people of Anglo-Celtic ancestry but with small populations of indigenous Australians. Over the past decade,…

The current study examines the workings of a bilingual school for Jewish and Palestinian-Israeli students and its contribution towards the goal of educating for equal citizenship in Israel's multicultural society. The findings indicate that this school succeeds in advancing the notion of equal citizenship, as demonstrated in the fact that the…

Much of the current guidance on managed moves focuses on the benefits of the "fresh start" provided. This paper describes an appreciative inquiry to explore how schools in one local authority create a sense of belonging to facilitate a fresh start for pupils involved in a managed move to a new school. Six deputy head teachers with…

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…

This research focused on the school turnaround process in six turnaround elementary schools located in urban and rural areas of the state of North Carolina. The purpose of the study was to learn about the challenges facing the six schools, the process of improving student achievement, and, more specifically, the degree to which adaptive leadership…

Modern school leaders may fed uncertainty in their feelings of satisfaction given the complex and changing nature of the principalship. Reforms in administrative preparation and training programs attempt to provide professional growth experiences that address evolving administrative expectations while universities and school districts strive to…

The purpose of this study is to examine how a school-based leadership team identifies and alters school conditions to foster the development of TLCs. Many educators, school leaders, and politicians have embraced teacher learning communities (TLCs) as a vehicle for school reform. Despite the considerable documentation of the capability for TLCs to…

The purpose of this study was to conduct a formative program evaluation of a school district's multisensory reading initiative. The mixed methods study involved semi-structured interviews, online survey, focus groups, document review, and analysis of extant special education student reading achievement data. Participants included elementary…