Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Enlightened Public Policy and includes: (1) Texas Education Policy: Prospects for 2009 (Albert Cortez); (2) Bilingual Education in…

Research (Goodman, Fulbright, & Zimmerman, 1997; IEL, 2001) supports that the most critical decision a school board has to make is its selection and appointment of a superintendent to lead the district toward its mission of effective schooling for all students. Given that board members hold influential power in this regard, what competencies…

The social and political role of Black college presidents in the 1930s and 1940s via annual radio addresses is a relevant example of how the medium of the day was used as an apparatus for individual and institutional agency. The nationalist agenda of the United States federal government indirectly led to the opportunity for Black college…

This report summarizes results from the 2007 Austin Independent School District summer school program at those Title I schools that provided summer services to students who did not attend other district summer school programs.

The "School Administrator's Guide to Implementing Language Programming" serves as a starting point to plan for and implement language programming. It provides a general overview; suggests practical strategies for working with students, parents, teachers and the surrounding community; and includes details on areas to address in selecting…

This document provides three resources in support of "Approaches for Sustaining and Building Management and Leadership Capability in VET Providers" (ED499670), which examines the existing and potential strategies for sustaining and building greater levels of management and leadership capability in training organisations. The resources…

Numeracy develops and evolves through experiences that require students to creatively and flexibly use mathematics to solve complex problems that often involve competing constraints. Making room in the curriculum for these types of experiences is a challenge in secondary schools because of the pressures of a tightly packed mathematics curriculum;…

This case study describes processes in an urban high school, which contribute to excellence in urban pedagogy, and investigates teachers' and educational leaders' perceptions of the factors influencing their commitment to school success. Six themes related to excellence in urban pedagogy were identified. Data in the form of semi-structured…

Purpose: This paper aims to demonstrate that students' self-evaluations contribute to improving academic results and life skills. Design/methodology/approach: Taking as reference a group of previously validated scales (part 1: measurement), a causal model is developed. Hypotheses are tested through the structural equations methodology by using the…

This article discusses walk-throughs as a valuable source of instructional data for teachers and administrators. Data gathering and analysis can be a dynamic and exciting process when walk-throughs are incorporated into a school's improvement plan as an instructional snapshot. At Norris High School in Firth, Nebraska, the principal uses…

Purpose: The objective of this article is to provide an analysis of articles in "Education Administration Quarterly (EAQ)" over the 25-year period 1979-2003. Approach: The approach is document analysis. Findings: Information is presented on four key themes: (a) types of articles published; (b) methodologies employed; (c) topic areas emphasized;…

In this article the authors examine evidence pertaining to the implementation of a national programme of school-based decentralization, the Quality Schools Programme ("Programa de Escuelas de Calidad"). The main argument of this article is that high levels of inequality in the institutional capacity of different schools and in the…

Equity in education relies on equal access to learning experiences and fair play during those experiences. Too often policy makers, voters and even some educators define equity only in terms of equal access. Equity is less about the same treatment for all and more about holding everyone to the same high standards and high expectations. All…

Many countries around the world have become what might be called "multiethnic" societies. They have to respond to various and diverse culturally based challenges and traditions, which are part of the "flow of nations". Slovenia, as a member of the European Union, has opened the door of the State to the European labour force but…

This book is designed to help administrators broaden their skills to create new and exciting learning organizations. Chapter 1 describes six visionary leaders who shared three attributes--the ability to communicate clearly, the capacity of caring for others, and a commitment to persistence. Chapter 2 presents an overview of futurism as a field of…