This paper draws from research on individual and organizational learning to explore the opportunities for creating new models of schooling and to explain why many reform efforts end up producing incremental rather than radical changes. To do so, the study documents the evolution of two organizations that have worked to launch new, alternative…

In many school districts, rural life in British Columbia continues to be a geographic and economic fact. Delivering equal school services and ensuring equal educational opportunities to areas with thinly scattered populations continues to be a challenge for the provincial government and school districts. Rural schools offer many positive benefits…

Bridges Institute is a small public urban high school founded in 1994 as part of the restructuring of a failing comprehensive high school. Part of a network of "critical" small schools in New York City, Bridges aims to interrupt the educational neglect of their students through carefully designed student-centered instruction and…

This article offers insights into the overall program development process and--institutional obstacles and constraints notwithstanding--successful introduction of a new national security program at a small liberal arts university at a time of growing institutional prioritization of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs.…

Stagnant growth on national standardized tests in mathematics and reading and a focus on disciplinary literacy in the Common Core State Standards in ELA, history/social studies, science, and technical subjects has prompted a resurgence in utilizing literacy strategies in the content areas in high school. While literacy standards in mathematics are…

As school choice expands in different states and districts, it appears in several different forms: (1) open enrollment policies among traditional public schools; (2) charter schools available to students regardless of their neighborhood (including online charter schools); or (3) school vouchers that families can use to enroll in other districts or…

Sociocultural perspectives on learning highlight varied conceptions of what it means to know and do mathematics, and in turn what it means to be mathematically competent. This work presents a dynamic conceptualization of competence--what counts as competent mathematical activity is negotiated and constructed within learning environments, and…

This research brief is Part 4 of a four-part study of decentralization in Houston Independent School District (ISD). This part examines the impact of decentralization on funding equity. It looks at the general fund budgeting strategy in Houston ISD from 1999-2000 through 2015-16 to see how much money schools got and use human resource data from…

In this ethnographic case study, the researcher examines the school-wide and everyday practices of two social justice educators situated within a school designed around social justice and equity. Findings suggest that fundamental to the social justice work permeating the school is an emphasis on solidarity and connection. Social justice educators…

Background: The purpose of this study was to measure the impact of interactive technology in the form of mathematical applications (apps) delivered using iPads on kindergarten children's learning of number sense in a play-based learning environment. Secondly, factors influencing the use of interactive technology in a play-based environment were…

In a 2006 report, MDRC comparatively analyzed its evaluations of three comprehensive interventions -- Career Academies, First Things First, and Talent Development -- to identify strategies that address five critical challenges to reform: (1) creating a personalized and orderly learning environment; (2) assisting students who enter high school with…

The aims of the study were twofold: (a) to investigate how school size affects absentee rates in physical education (PE) and (b) to examine the experiences of students and teachers at a small rural high school in relation to attendance in PE at their school. The absentee rates in PE among all students (N = 6928 students) in a county in Norway were…

Beginning in 2002, with the election of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City's Department of Education undertook an unprecedented overhaul of the largest school district in the United States. Over the next 10 years the Department of Education closed more than 25 large, underperforming high schools, and created almost 200 new, small high schools,…

Restorative practices statistically replicate racial inequality in discipline, even while reducing overall school suspension rates and improving school climate. To understand why, the researcher conducted a year-long, multi-case ethnography examining restorative practices at three public secondary small schools in New York City. All three school…

Small schools are often the hub of many rural communities. In the school space, a multiplicity of social, economic and political relationships are sustained, which enhance the vitality of the community. As such, the relationship between small schools and communities is often presented as a powerful one; however, too often as a harmonious, natural…