This study examines teacher professional development as part of the required K-12 continuous school improvement process. Through semi-structured, open-ended interviews and data (school improvement plans, PD agendas), this qualitative case drew from organizational theory to identify and describe information to better understand the role teacher…

Discretion is ubiquitous in both public and business administration. Public programs, laws, regulations, and rules cannot be self-implemented, and their implementation usually involves the exercise of discretion. Research on discretion in public administration, to date, has focused predominantly on normative considerations, particularly, the…

This qualitative study adopts an analytical autoethnograhic approach to present an exploration of school culture and pedagogic effectiveness as experienced by a casual relief teacher in six P-12 public schools in Victoria, Australia, 2022-2023. Organisational culture theory, as presented by Schein, and culture and effectiveness theory, as…

For years, policy implementation scholars have recognized the trend of school improvement policies converging on public schools in such a way that these policies create a paradox -- policies aimed at school improvement have often been represented as in such a state of incoherence, that they have been unmanageable. This convergence of reforms asks…

Achieve is corporate America's direct connection to national education policy. Mainstream business leaders seem to trust it, and their foundations give it money. Whether Achieve actually achieves its mission is open to debate. Over two decades, it has grown substantially and spun off several other organizations that extend its reach. Has Achieve…

Chronic absenteeism in K-12 schools is strongly associated with critical educational outcomes such as student achievement and graduation. Yet, the causes of chronic absenteeism are complex, with environmental, family/individual, and school factors all affecting the likelihood of a student attending school regularly. This exploratory study examines…

Previous research focusing on major philanthropic foundations suggests that these actors have collectively converged around a set of jurisdictional challengers promoting market-based education reforms. Using correspondence analysis, network analysis, and geographic information science, this article empirically tests whether this convergence has…

The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) educates over 71,000 students in pre-school through grade twelve and impacts the lives of thousands more through the Non-DoD School Program (NDSP) and Local Education Agency grants program. This annual report represents an essential tool for communication and accountability. The purpose of this…

Strategic planning and performance management are not new concepts; however, education agencies and other nonprofit organizations have struggled to embrace and use the concepts, especially in unison. The strategic performance management (SPM) process provides a mechanism to bring performance management to state education agencies (SEAs), local…

Research-Practice Partnerships (RPPs) have emerged as a promising strategy for bridging the current gulf between research and practice by bringing together experts from both fields to address problems facing K-12 U.S. education. Education RPPs provide the organizational structure to facilitate sustained collaboration between researchers and…

The expansion of the school choice movement and greater flexibility allowed by Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) means that education governance is emerging as an important issue for school effectiveness. This longitudinal case study sought to gain an understanding of the implementation of a new governance structure, Policy Governance, in a…

A growing number of organisations--universities, non-profits, independent consultants--are emerging as partners to school systems pursuing systemic improvement. This proliferation invites questions probing the interaction between school systems and their consulting partners. Drawing on a cross-disciplinary review of literature, this theoretical…

In 1983, after the "A Nation at Risk" report came out, National Education Association (NEA) president Mary Hatwood Futrell attempted to mobilize the teachers union to lead the reform movement in American public education. This author states that Futrell failed at that task, as did Bob Chase, as did his successors, as will future NEA…

"The SEA of the Future" is an education publication series examining how state education agencies can shift from a compliance to a performance-oriented organization through strategic planning and performance management tools to meet growing demands to support education reform while improving productivity. This volume, the fifth in the…

"The SEA of the Future" is an education publication series examining how state education agencies can shift from a compliance to a performance-oriented organization through strategic planning and performance management tools to meet growing demands to support education reform while improving productivity. This is the fourth volume in the…