This article presents a 2-year critical case study of an urban high school innovating to enhance the academic performance of low-income Latina/o students, highlighting high-leverage practices that promote boundary crossing between school and community. First, we highlight foundational elements of school logic, mission, and community ethos that…

This paper describes several innovations to an early field experience emerging from a community, school, and university partnership focused on a middle school serving diverse students from low-income neighborhoods. With the primary goal of utilizing teaching candidates to provide direct academic, social, and instructional support to the middle…

Policymakers and researchers increasingly recommend aligning educator evaluations and professional development to improve instruction and student learning. However, few empirical studies have examined the relationship between new educator evaluation systems and the professional development in which teachers engage following their evaluation. This…

The five states in the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Northwest Region have many rural schools that have been designated as in need of improvement. And all five states had rural schools in the first cohort of federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) recipients. To address school improvement, the majority of those schools implemented the…

In northern Botswana, conflict between subsistence farmers and elephants can result in destroyed agricultural crops and death for both species. In June of 2016, students and faculty mentors from four universities traveled to the Okavango Delta region of Botswana to participate in a community education project designed to develop locally relevant…

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to examine rural high school teacher leader perceptions of roles, characteristics, and skills as well as identifying the various motivations these teacher leaders have for assuming teaching and leadership roles in rural schools. Specifically, the study explores the perceptions of teachers and…

President Obama created a White House Task Force in January 2014 that revealed many colleges were not complying with several federal mandates regarding safety of students/employees when reporting sexual assaults on campus. This doctoral comparative case study analysis looked at the statistics of sexual violence on college campuses, the mandates…

This brief describes findings from a study of teachers who were rated less than proficient on one or more standards on a large urban district's newly developed educator evaluation system. Evaluators prescribed professional development activities, such as courses, workshops, coaching, and mentoring, and professional practice activities, such as the…

This brief summarizes the findings from a study that surveyed principals of rural schools nationwide that were designated as in need of improvement and that used the transformation model under the federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) program. It provides information about the use of SIG funds in rural areas and is designed to help state leaders…

This case study describes a 20-year journey of educational transformation from 1985 to 2005 in a bellwether, or highly developed, instance of one school, family, and community partnership--the Kileely Community Project--situated in a large social housing project in Limerick City in the Midwestern region of the Republic of Ireland. The study is a…

Background: The ability to effectively teach culturally and linguistically diverse students is critically important. Research has shown that providing teacher candidates educative experiences through critical service-learning can better prepare future teachers and can foster a social justice stance. Purpose: This study examines teacher candidates'…

I Ola Kohala is an educational pilot project that strengthens opportunities for middle and high school students in North Hawai?i to explore opportunities in higher education and health professions through strengthening cultural identity and civic responsibility. The program is also focused on delivering quality rural health education for health…

Communities in Schools is one of the nation's oldest and largest providers of integrated student supports, also known as "wraparound services." Started in New York City in the 1970s, the agency now works with more than 2,300 schools in 25 states and the District of Columbia. The model is straightforward: Communities in Schools recruits,…

An exit survey performed for graduating students is an economical way to assess the outcomes of teacher education. In this study, exit survey data were collected from eight cohorts of Finnish student teachers who graduated between the years 2008 and 2015. A final sample consisted of 1102 preservice primary and subject teachers. A 10-item scale…

The Creative Learning Initiative (CLI) is a community-wide effort to bring creative learning and the arts to each and every student in Austin. Lead by MINDPOP, the City of Austin, and Austin Independent School District (AISD), CLI designs systematic and sustainable programs that integrate creativity, creative teaching strategies, and the arts with…