In this article, Walter Parker brings structure and agency to the foreground of the current tumult of public schooling in the United States. He focuses on three structures that are serving as rules and resources for creative agency. These are a discourse of derision about failing schools, a broad mobilization of multiculturalism, and an enduring…

Purpose: This policy brief, the second AERI-NEPC eBrief in the series "Understanding validity issues around the world", focuses on validity as it applies to test-based models of evaluation employed for schools, instructional programs, and teachers around the world. It discusses validity issues that could arise when data from student…

This paper analyses the relationship between Norwegian school reform implementation and the use of special education. After the introduction of the national reform programme called the "Kunnskapsloftet" ("Knowledge promotion") in 2006, the use of special education has increased dramatically in Norway. As part of the national…

Findings of an initial case study revealed that a principal had used the core leadership practices of setting direction, developing people, and redesigning the organization. The enabling principles of "accountability," "caring," and learning were also present. This paper is based on a follow-up qualitative research study…

"The Redesign of Urban School Systems" provides a uniquely valuable resource for anyone involved in preparing education leaders for the political and practical realities of district-based school reform. Edited by two leading experts in education reform, this absorbing volume brings together twelve teaching cases on urban school…

Over the past fifty years, the "special status" of education decision-making has been eroded. Once the province of local and state school boards, decisions about schools and schooling have begun to emerge in every level and branch of government. In "The End of Exceptionalism in American Education," Jeffrey R. Henig traces the…

In January 2014, as part of a multicity study, researchers from the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) met with a dozen parents in Detroit to learn about their experiences with education in the city. Parents struggle to navigate the city's complex education marketplace. A lack of information, confusing paperwork, and transportation gaps…

This article focuses on the increased power of venture philanthropy to shape education in urban communities of color in the USA. The author situates venture philanthropy's expanded influence in urban school districts in the nexus of urban disinvestment, neoliberal governance, wealth concentration, and economic crisis. The author argues that…

As countries struggle to transform their education systems to equip learners with the knowledge and skills needed to function in rapidly changing societies, the roles and expectations for school leaders have also changed. School reform initiatives that are continually taking place necessitate new ways of thinking with regard to our concept of…

How can principals and teachers use available data to plan school improvements? How can principals and teachers gather and analyze data that are useful for school reform? Karen Levesque and her colleagues sum up the problem of data use in schools this way. Most school districts and schools in this country are routinely involved in data collection.…

Many school systems across the United States have begun redesign efforts by investing in smaller high school settings (Cawelti, 1999). Transforming schools into structured academic or career-themed academies has been associated with increased student achievement and more personalized learning environments. Ongoing collaboration of district level…

Americans live in a great nation, one in which every child is entitled to an education that will help that child reach success. But the debate has raged for years about whether the nation's education system is fulfilling the promise of not just an education, but an education of the highest caliber. Whenever the issue of school reform is addressed,…

Urban high schools are in trouble--high dropout rates, low student academic achievement, and graduates who are unprepared for college are just some of the disappointing indicators. However, recent research points to a select number of approaches to improving student outcomes and reforming underperforming schools--from particular ways of creating…

Project-Based Learning (PBL) serves as an instructional approach to classroom teaching and learning that is designed to engage students in the investigation of real-world problems to create meaningful and relevant educational experiences. The causal-comparative study compared 7th and 8th students who had utilized the PBL with a comparison group in…

Today's education technology holds immense promise, but what matters more than the tools themselves are how they are used in schools and in classrooms. In "Breakthrough Leadership in the Digital Age," Frederick M. Hess and Bror Saxberg argue that educators have tended to think of adopting technology as a way to "reform" or…