The local problem is that literacy in the target school district continues to rank below the state average and the fidelity of implementation (FOI) of balanced literacy (BL) has not been addressed since BL was initiated in 2014 to address student literacy achievement. Teachers reported limited professional development (PD) and lack of motivation…

In this qualitative study we sought to understand the experiences of K-12 school personnel serving on Comprehensive, Integrated, Three-Tiered (Ci3T) leadership teams. We conducted 22 semi-structured interviews and five focus groups across three states and five school districts to determine team members' perceptions regarding facilitators and…

Service-learning is recognized by colleges and universities for its benefits to students; however, locating partners for course-specific service-learning projects and ways to manage these projects within a class can be a complex challenge for faculty. This challenge is magnified when faculty strive to maintain course-specific objectives while…

Studies investigating the effectiveness of professional development (PD) programs have provided no conclusive findings on what exactly makes a PD effort effective. Using an observation-based coaching PD program, we explore which features in the PD implementation process facilitated or impeded teachers' meaningful engagement in and learning from…

Background: Sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) are at high risk for adverse health outcomes. Safer schools decrease this risk. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified 6 practices that can make schools safer for SGMY, yet few US schools implement them all. We apply a structural competency framework to elucidate factors…

This article contains a review of relevant research concerning the implementation and operation of a professional learning community (PLC). The term "PLC Lite" is defined as the ineffective operation of a team acting under the umbrella of a PLC. Although many schools operate under the term PLC, daily operations do not produce evidence of…

Over the last decade, interest in nature-based educational programs has been growing in Canada, yet there has been little research on the nature of these programs and how they are being implemented. This small-scale study provides baseline information on the characteristics of Canadian Forest Schools, the challenges that educators face in starting…

Systemic change is far more difficult than piecemeal reforms because it requires far more interrelated and interdependent sets of changes to occur. Systemic change has two potential areas of failure: (1) the change process (action) may never reach full implementation of the new system, and (2) the new system (vision) may not be well designed. This…

Drawing on the literature on infrastructure for implementing instructional improvement, the authors explain the role of three infrastructural pillars for reading instruction. They discuss how curriculum, professional development, and leadership are mutually supportive, thus illuminating the pillars for reading reform at the classroom, school, and…

The implementation of inclusive education in South Africa must be seen in the context of the country's broader political, social, and cultural developments since 1994, particularly the systematic and progressive transformation of education in congruence with Constitutional values and ideals. As a result, the move towards inclusive education has…

Fidelity of implementation (FOI) refers to the level of adherence that a project keeps to its design. The evaluation of this project, a school-based arts implementation project, used a "fidelity to structure" design to determine how well the schools in the project followed the project design in the fourth and fifth years of the project…

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a widely-used multi-tiered prevention framework that embeds a systems approach for establishing behavioral supports for all students, across all levels of need, to achieve social, behavioral, and academic success. A growing body of research has documented the effectiveness of PBIS in schools…

As part of its project on instructional leaders at the middle tier, International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) and Education Development Trust (EDT) conducted case studies in five jurisdictions, exploring the professional practices and perceived impacts of instructional leaders and the enabling factors present in the systems in which…

The Working Group on Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Learning Differences was launched in 2021 as an initiative of the Global Cities Education Network (GCEN). Fourteen school districts each worked to implement a unique action plan designed to strengthen SEL supports in their district, including for students with learning differences. Districts…

Evidence-based programs (EBPs) delivered in elementary schools show great promise in reducing risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs). However, efforts to sustain EBPs in school face barriers. Improving EBP sustainment thus represents a priority, but little research exists to inform the development of sustainment strategies. To address…