Purpose: Despite increased focus on the importance of the time principals spend on instructional leadership, there is little research on practical ways to help principals manage their time to achieve this goal. The purpose of this paper is to examine the implementation of the school administration manager (SAM) process: a unique program designed…

Although education research has shown collaboration to be of the utmost importance, schools continue to lack the necessary means to help them incorporate communities of practice (CoPs) to facilitate and sustain their development and growth. We analysed the process by which CoPs were successfully implemented, under the guidance of a…

In 2013 the Iowa Teacher Leadership and Compensation planning grant (TLC) committed to providing 150 million dollars annually toward rewarding effective teachers with leadership opportunities and higher pay, attracting promising new teachers with competitive starting salaries, and fostering greater collaboration for all teachers to learn from one…

Driven by Race to the Top funding and quickly designed and deployed in 2010-2011, a new teacher evaluation policy in Tennessee altered principals' supervisory practices regarding their use of time for observation and reporting, their interaction with teachers, and the methods for giving teachers performance ratings. In addition, student test score…

This article examined the extent to which administrative decisions that affected the implementation fidelity of Direct Instruction programs were related to student achievement. Data from three studies showed that administrative decisions that disregarded recommended protocols regarding teacher training, teacher preparation, and student schedules…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe how elementary school principals adjust their leadership practice in response to Washington's new teacher evaluation policy. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a modified content analysis of open-ended survey responses collected from elementary school principals in Washington State.…

This research examines how public school principals in eight U.S. states perceive their teacher evaluation systems, which are based on Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Teaching (FfT). States were selected to represent high, middle, and low scorers in the annual "Education Week" "Quality Counts" report (Education Week, 2016).…

This three-volume report describes the "SAM (School Administration Manager) process," an approach that about 700 schools around the nation are using to direct more of principals' time and effort to improve teaching and learning in classrooms. Research has shown that a principal's instructional leadership is second only to teaching among…

This study examined how stakeholders in one school district located in a remote town perceived the instructional improvement efforts of the district, as well as the constraints and enablers of implementing instructional reforms. A qualitative approach, consisting mainly of interviews with teachers, principals, district administrators, and other…

Education reform has been on a new path over the last 15 years; a path that leads to more accountability, more choice for students and parents, highly qualified teachers, as well as, best practices in instruction. In an effort to move along the path of reform and as a result of previous reform, the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA reviewed the field…

The School Administration Manager (SAM) project, supported by The Wallace Foundation as part of its education initiative, focuses on changing the conditions in schools that prevent principals from devoting more time to instructional leadership. In schools participating in the National SAM Project, principals have made a commitment to increase the…

Based on his experience with the Copernican block scheduling plan used in British Columbia secondary schools, a principal identifies administrative challenges (abuse of tutorial time, uneven distribution of teacher-preparation time, teacher fatigue, pedagogical changes, and unrealistic expectations) and suggests ways to address them. Involving…

When created and operated appropriately, school-site councils can be a very useful component of school renewal. Councils are difficult to create, since members must shift roles, compromise strongly held beliefs, and invest considerable time, energy, and know-how. Advantages of group decision making are bringing diverse experience and expertise to…

A regional workshop was held in which educational researchers and practitioners shared their innovations, successes, concerns, and progress in using research and development to promote excellence in their state and local education agencies. This document reports its proceedings. "School Improvement: What the Research Says," by David P.…