The structure of US public education is changing. Rather than exclusive district management of schools with standardized programs, new types of systems have emerged. In the case of "portfolio" systems, advocates argue that choice, performance-based accountability, and autonomy challenge traditional schooling and foster a diversity of…

Students with special needs are being educated alongside their general education peers at a growing rate. With this increase and the movement towards inclusive classrooms, teacher perceptions are critical to analyze to ensure that they are equipped with the knowledge and skills that are needed to instruct students with and without disabilities.…

This dissertation includes three chapters on industrial organization and the economics of education, centered around New York City's public high school choice procedure. In the first chapter, I document evidence of informational frictions in the usage of the public high school choice in New York City and the patterns of racial disparities. The…

The current study seeks to identify a possible connection between the consolidation and reorganization of public school districts and schools and state-level legislation throughout the United States from 1993 through 2012. A mixed methods approach was utilized. Quantitative analysis of statewide public school district data identified states…

Despite evidence supporting the importance of school climate, little is known about how practitioners understand and use data from climate surveys to guide schoolwide improvement. The expanded use of school climate surveys underscores the importance of understanding how schools and districts are utilizing this evidence both to drive improvement…

In almost any conversation about accountability for private schools, accountability for public schools is assumed. This is a dangerous myth. By assuming that the edifice that states and the federal government have created over the past several decades actually holds schools accountable, school choice advocates immediately find themselves in an…

This case positions the reader as the superintendent of Jefferson City Public Schools (pseudonym). Like many urban school districts in the United States, Jefferson City faces a complex milieu of fiscal challenges attributed to inadequate state funding and declining student enrollment. Within this case, the superintendent must address the failing…

The political and social rationale for the establishment of a national system of education in nineteenth-century Ireland has been the focus of considerable attention by scholars. Less attention has, however, been paid to teacher quality and school effectiveness within that system. Various efforts were made over the course of the century to address…

The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) examines what students know in reading, mathematics and science, and what they can do with what they know. It provides the most comprehensive and rigorous international assessment of student learning outcomes to date. Results from PISA indicate the quality and equity of learning…

In the past 50 years, the share of students enrolled in U.S. Catholic schools has declined from approximately 12% to 3%. In reaction, many urban Catholic schools have closed and subsequently reopened as public charter schools in order to receive governmental funding and to increase enrollment. As public schools, these Catholic- affiliated charter…

Every day in America more than 50 million children go to neighborhood public schools. Parents send them off with every hope they will be safe while there. And yet, as has been the case in too many cities, violence shatters that hope. The Council of Educational Facilities Planners International (CEFPI) seeks to lead in the effort to bolster schools…

School reform on a large scale has largely been unsuccessful. Approaches designed to document and understand the variety of organizational conditions that comprise our school systems are needed so that reforms can be tailored and results scaled. Therefore, this article develops a configurational framework that allows a systematic analysis of many…

This qualitative case study explores the experiences and perspectives of seven diverse adolescent youth who are gifted as they navigate the social and organizational structures of public schooling as participants in gifted programming. Recent trends in education and the historical exploitations of giftedness that service the few, rather than the…

As more and more school systems are forced to implement reduction-in-force, litigation over reduction in the number of professional personnel, as well as job security, will continue to increase. As a result, there is a need for school administrators to develop a better understanding of the issues, outcomes, and legal trends resulting from…

Purpose: To gather STEAM school experts' responses on (a) instructional delivery methods of arts education fostering achievement, innovation, and creativity in students; and (b) to examine support and facilities needed for these programs. Research Questions: Nine areas were addressed in the research questions regarding STEAM schools: (a)…