The public school superintendent's role has changed substantially over time, and the work of superintendents is more complex, demanding, and challenging than ever before. Recent studies indicate that 70% to 80% of the nation's superintendents will leave their positions over the next five years, suggesting the imminent entry of many new…

The 2015 edition of the "Annual Condition of Education Report" includes a rich set of information about the status of Iowa's K-12 education system. The report provides valuable feedback about Iowa's students, educators and school districts across a number of statewide measures. They include changes in student populations and…

The strength of leaders' identification with education accountability language framed by Conceptual Metaphor (Lakoff & Johnson, 2002) was evaluated across California PreK-12 and Higher Education groups. Survey and short-answer data from 549 California college deans, college presidents, PreK-12 superintendents, and PreK-12 school principals…

The intent of this study was to identify and examine the policies and practices of Pennsylvania School Boards, and identify what relationship these might have to patterns of district-level student performance. This study utilized a sequential mixed-methods approach in collecting data. First, quantitative data were secured using surveys sent to a…

In the United States, parents have been homeschooling their children since the colonial ages. Back then, homeschooling was a way of life, and parents provided education at home because there was no such thing as compulsory education or mandatory attendance of any kind. Homeschooling continued as a practice until Horace Mann, in 1850, helped…

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine what research-based and federally recommended practices in the area of school crisis response planning and management were being implemented in K-8 school districts in Northern California, as well as the degree with which the recommended practices were being implemented. Finally, the study…

Why another book on decision making? In this increasingly complex world, there are many tensions inherent in the daily practice of educational leaders. This book illuminates these tensions, and acknowledges the reality that there are already multiple approaches to decision making in any educational context. The authors offer a guide to integrate…

The 2010 EdSource Forum, held on March 19 in Santa Clara, focused on the obstacles and opportunities in the road ahead for public schools and community colleges. The Forum included four sessions. Two are covered in this report: (1) A sobering discussion of California's fiscal crisis by Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor; and (2) A lively Q&A…

As noted in "School Referenda in Indiana", the contributing factors to school referenda outcomes are often subject to the individual communities; while a referendum with a high requested tax rate increase might fail in one community, the same referendum might pass in another. Despite this factor, there often are notable trends and…

Leadership is a discipline that has been studied to improve organizational effectiveness and efficiency. Owing to the attention and emphasis that education has been subject to in recent decades, the study of successful school leadership presents an area worth examining (Smith & Piele, 1997). Therefore, the research underpinning this article…

In the final sprint to polish Race to the Top applications, hundreds of school districts shunned a shot at a share of $4 billion in grants by refusing to sign on to their states' plans for the federal competition. California officials had secured the signatures of 790 local education agencies (leas) late last week, including most of the state's…

This article profiles Margaret A. Smith, superintendent of Volusia County School District in Florida. In the six years since her appointment as superintendent of Volusia County--a district that has 63,000 students in 16 cities, including Daytona Beach--Smith has had her share of success. But what makes her so different from other superintendents…

This study on leadership for second order change and improved student achievement represents interview and observational research with 62 leaders at the district and school levels in 10 states. Seven consistent leader action themes emerged across all participants regardless of demographics of the school, demographics of the leader, or position…

Purpose: This article considers the perspectives of superintendents who attended all-Black segregated schools and examines how their lived experiences informed their views on desegregation policy, programs, and practices. Research Design: This empirical, qualitative study used critical race theory as a methodological and analytical framework for…

The May primary election added seven school district referenda to the total number occurring in Indiana since 2008, three of which passed and four of which were rejected by voters. In the 2011 primary election, there were five General Fund referenda and two construction referenda. Of General Fund referenda, two passed (Crown Point Community School…