In 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into law, replacing No Child Left Behind as the statutory education policy of the federal government of the United States (US). Building on prior shifts in accountability policy at the state level, ESSA focused attention and resources on building school leadership capacities. Five years on,…

This paper explores ideas about the role of the school principal embedded in New York State education policy. Many public schools across the state fail to deliver equitable opportunities and outcomes for an increasingly diverse student population and improving school leadership offers the potential for substantial returns. Drawing on concepts of…

This paper summarizes research on the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Leadership Learning Community (ELLC) and the University Principal Preparation Program (UPPI). The Wallace Foundation created these efforts and supported them financially to test ideas for improving the work of principals and enhancing the supports they receive on the job.…

Despite calls for evidence-based decision making, the field has a limited understanding of how educational leaders actually engage research. This study draws on a nationally representative sample of 368 district and school leaders who named pieces of research that were useful to their work. Educational leaders found frameworks and practical…

This qualitative study compares the instructional leadership practices of rural and non-rural principals, seeking to understand contextually based differences in how principals create a focus on teaching and learning. Principals across settings report similarities in instructional leadership tasks; however, they reported significant contextual…

The Every Child Succeeds Act of 2015 signaled a shift toward the recognition of the importance of school leadership, reflecting a growing body of literature that demonstrates principals are second only to classroom instruction in supporting student success. This influence is the greatest when principals focus on teaching and learning, or…

One requirement put forth by national and state-level policy (e.g., Every Student Succeeds Act) is that practitioners use educational research to inform their decisions and instruction. Mathematics district leaders have been identified as pivotal individuals for enacting change within school districts. Using a design-based research approach, an…

As part of the Every Student Succeeds Act, the teacher evaluation system includes qualitative and quantitative data to measure teacher quality. Today, school administrators are expected to interpret classroom observation ratings and student growth data to make decisions for instructional improvement. The goal for using an interpretive qualitative…

Anecdotal evidence points to the importance of school principals, but the limited existing research has neither provided consistent results nor indicated any set of essential characteristics of effective principals. This paper exploits extensive student-level panel data across six states to investigate both variations in principal performance and…

School leadership is a key component of successful school environments and academic performance strategies. Among school-related factors, school leadership is second to teaching in its impact on student learning. In addition, research shows that strong leaders contribute significantly to successful school turnaround. To ensure that school leaders…

The purpose of this study was to determine how school principals in the Cumberland region of Tennessee use online courses as a part of a curriculum program to help make students ready for postsecondary pursuits. The problem investigated was whether the use of online courses is meeting the college and career readiness standards in this region. The…

Now more than ever, school principals play a critical role in the effective implementation of inclusive education programs in their schools, as inclusive practices are becoming tightly embedded in a school's culture (Sailor, 2016; Shogren et al., 2015). The success of inclusive education programs has been primarily supported by school principals'…

Imagine a public K-12 school system where Native students and communities can thrive. The Washington Tribal Education Sovereignty then Justice Toolkit is designed to support Tribal leaders engaging in consultation and government-to-government communication with local and state education agencies. The toolkit includes: Part 1: Applying educational…

By aligning factors that most commonly influence the achievement of Black and Hispanic students with the type of resources inside the black box of schooling, this study differentiated the achievement effect of school resources from what was brought by students to schools. The hierarchical regression results showed that minority students'…

The Community School Standards are designed to engage and support the community schools movement as a standards-driven, evidence-based strategy to promote equity and educational excellence for each and every child, and an approach that strengthens families and community. The standards have three objectives: (1) to help new community schools more…