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…

School principals have complex jobs. To better understand the work lives of principals, this study uses observational time-use data for all high school principals in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. This paper examines the relationship between the time principals spent on different types of activities and school outcomes including student…

Much has been written about the importance of school leadership, but there is surprisingly little systematic evidence on this topic. This paper presents preliminary estimates of key elements of the market for school principals, employing rich panel data on principals from Texas State. The consideration of teacher movements across schools suggests…

While the importance of effective principals is undisputed, few studies have addressed what specific skills principals need to promote school success. This study draws on unique data combining survey responses from principals, assistant principals, teachers and parents with rich administrative data to identify which principal skills matter most…

The BRIGHT program was designed to improve the educational outcomes of children in Burkina Faso. It focused on girls in particular and was implemented in 132 rural villages throughout the 10 provinces of the country in which girls' enrollment rates were lowest. It consisted of constructing primary schools with three classrooms and implementing a…

This study examines from a geographical perspective the factors that impact the performance of public elementary schools in New York City during 2001-2005, a period when its schools were undergoing major reforms at both the local and national level. Education reforms have focused their attention on schools by increasing their responsibility and…

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…