Principal leadership is crucial to the success of a high school character education initiative. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory research was to identify the roles that high school principals play in developing, implementing, and sustaining a high functioning character education program. Data were collected through interviews and…

It has been six years since California adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). District leaders have been busy building capacity and developing infrastructure to support effective CCSS implementation, while teachers have been working hard to implement standards-aligned instruction that supports academic success for all students. In a state…

The state of Kentucky mandated College and Career Readiness as a part of the revised education accountability system. The new system is known as Unbridled Learning assessment and accountability. As a result of this mandate high schools in Kentucky are trying to understand the steps necessary to implement a successful College and Career Ready…

Researchers have concluded that policy implementation is a process of mutual adaptation between policies and implementers. Our study draws attention to that relationship, especially with respect to policies that challenge assumptions about sex, gender, and sexuality. We focus on how six administrators in one United States school district…

Purpose: Educator evaluation systems have recently undergone scrutiny and reform, and district and school leaders play a key role in interpreting and enacting these systems. This article uses framing theory to understand district leaders' interpretation and advancement of a state's new educator evaluation policy. Research Methods: The article…

The State of Michigan, as of 2012-2013, requires school districts to enroll students in full day kindergarten to receive full funding. This study investigated the decision-making process that was used by public school districts to determine kindergarten programs in their district. Specifically, how did administrators and staff members use the…

Over the past 50 years, living-learning programs (LLPs) have emerged as a dynamic curricular innovation in higher education. These programs are residentially based, seeking to seamlessly integrate the classroom and residence hall environments and blur the traditional boundaries between the academic and residential experiences for students (Kuh,…

The purpose of this study was to understand the decisions elementary principals have made during the Common Core State Standards reform. Specifically, (a) what decisions principals have made to support Common Core implementation, (b) what strategies elementary principals have employed to communicate with stakeholders about Common Core State…

In California, as in many other states across the nation, implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has been a complex endeavor impacting every public school educator. Not surprisingly, California districts have encountered bumps along the way in their efforts to provide much-needed support to all K-12 teachers as they continue to learn…

School-community partnerships have become one avenue for educators to invest in the child by partnering with sources beyond school walls. Yet, it has been argued that partnerships simply serve current interests and agendas (Anderson, 1998) and do little to offer authentic change (Auerbach, 2010; Popkewitz, 2004). Thus, school-community…

Purpose: This multiple case study investigated district leaders' orientations and strategies as their elementary schools proceeded with state-mandated implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). We identified differences between schools achieving above-predicted outcomes on state CCSS assessments ("odds-beaters") and…

The purpose of this article is to identify how principals shape the adoption and implementation of professional learning communities. The study employed a sequential mixed-methods approach in which interviews, observations, and document analysis informed survey design. Teachers were surveyed in four elementary schools about the practices and…

The purpose of this study was to explore teachers' perceptions of the influence of professional learning communities on teachers' professional practices. Research shows that the adjustment from college student to the teaching environment for new teachers has increased through involvement on committees, collaboration with peers, and hands-on…

This article focuses on the response of educational leaders to No Child Left Behind's (NCLB) market-driven and sanctions-laden reforms as part of a political spectacle in which discourses link accountability and educational effectiveness to the advance of capitalism. Drawing on data collected during a multiyear ethnography of NCLB, this article…

This qualitative multiple case study examines how principals contribute to the success of exemplar elementary PBIS schools in North Carolina and how their thoughts about PBIS informed their actions. Guided by the literature on principals and change efforts and sensemaking, this study used individual interviews, focus group interviews, field notes,…