In the debate about urban school effectiveness and teacher quality, one proposition has emerged as indisputable: The success of urban schools depends heavily on the quality of the teachers who serve the schools and the administrators who support the teachers. Unfortunately, urban school district recruitment policies are often not aligned with…

"Good" schools are typically defined as environments in which good students attend, good teachers teach, good parents participate, and good communities exist. This definition suggests that students maintain high test scores with the focus on going to college. In other words, good schools are typically exclusive in maintaining high…

This article explores how principals and teachers view their organizational communication processes, in successful and less successful schools. By dividing the organizational communication process into three dimensions--information, affirmation, and interpretation--different actions and expressions are visualized. To meet organizational needs, all…

When a survey of students at Eisenhower Middle School in Everett, Washington indicated that they spent a good part of the school day feeling tired and hungry, that they felt unsafe in some areas of the school, and that worn-down facilities left many of them feeling depressed, the author and his staff concluded that, in order to improve the…

Background: For over a hundred years, there have been efforts to change the way that schools transmit knowledge. Most of these efforts have failed. The most common explanations found in educational research for this are either: 1) macro-social, according to which social interests and powers hinder these changes. 2) teacher-oriented, according to…

Given dismal achievement results, Holland Elementary School in the Fresno Unified School District was determined to improve. Six years ago, in the statewide and similar school listing, the school ranked 1 and 1. Under the instructional leadership of their newly assigned principal and through their schoolwide and grade-level professional learning…

California policy-makers clearly have ambitious goals for arts education. However, beyond developing rigorous standards and calling for instruction in the arts as part of the required course of study, California historically has done little to develop, implement, and sustain comprehensive arts programs that provide all students with access to and…

The National Institute of School Leadership's (NISL's) Executive Development Program (EDP) was established to provide professional development to school leaders to drive their schools to high performance. The program emphasizes the role of principals as strategic thinkers, instructional leaders, and creators of a just, fair, and caring culture in…

The International Handbook of Teacher and School Development brings together a collection of research and evidence-based authoritative writings which focus on international teacher and school development. Drawing on research from 18 countries across 7 continents, the 40 chapters are grouped into 10 themes which represent key aspects of teacher and…

One of the ultimate goals of policy makers is to enable citizens to take advantage of a globalised world economy. This is leading them to focus on the improvement of education policies, ensuring the quality of service provision, a more equitable distribution of learning opportunities and stronger incentives for greater efficiency in schooling.…

Underrepresented racial minorities (URMs) earn college degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields at lower rates than do their majority peers. The term "underrepresented minority" refers to Black, Latina/o, Native American, and Southeast Asian American (Cambodian, Hmong, Lao, and Vietnamese) students. Statistics…

As one of the largest school districts in the country, Dallas faces unique challenges in improving education and has developed a system for ranking schools based on achievement outcomes. This paper presents findings of a study that compared groups of effective and ineffective Dallas public schools in order to identify factors for success. Data…

Over the past 10 years, New York has more than doubled its spending on elementary and secondary education, in a fervent attempt to produce greater student achievement and prepare our young people for the fast changing world in which they will have to earn a living. Better results have not been produced as the education system has focused on more…

This guide advocates making strategic decisions about instructional practices and focusing all school staff on aligning every aspect of school operations--from professional development to parent and community involvement--in order to support and sustain student achievement. The guide discusses how to set high standards for performance and presents…

Growing demands for accountability and useful measurement of educational outcomes have contributed to increasing efforts to develop or refine more valid and reliable methods of educational assessment. More states are designing high-quality indicator systems for evaluation at the school, district, and state levels. Seven recommendations derived…