The article synthesizes research findings from studies examining how principals and teachers contribute to shared instructional leadership and the relationship of shared instructional leadership to teacher and student learning. Principals and teachers contribute to the leadership equation in each school in different ways, according to school…

This paper presents findings of a study that investigated factors that contribute to the engagement of students. Based on the theoretical model of Newmann, Wehlage, and Lamborn (1992), the study examined the effect of instructional approaches of teachers, contextual features of classrooms, and attributes of student experience on students'…

This paper focuses on investigating the purposive design of learning environments to counter the erosion of social capital in communities and schools in contemporary society. Can schools intentionally replenish stocks of social capital by creating normative systems conducive to the optimal academic and social development of students, and by…

This chapter reviews the research on school composition and peer effects from three comparative perspectives--Catholic and public schools, single-sex and coeducational schools, and small and large schools. Most of the research is sociological, focuses on high schools, and draws on national samples. The chapter seeks to discern cumulative trends in…

Data from 24 restructuring elementary, middle, and high schools are used to examine teacher empowerment in schools with at least four years of experience with decentralized or school-based management. Findings suggest that empowerment is an important but not sufficient condition of change that does affect teaching quality and student performance.…

Uses sample of 24 nationally selected restructured elementary, middle, and high schools to examine the relationship of transformational and instructional leadership to school performance as measured by the quality of teaching and student achievement. Finds that principals integrating transformational and instructional leadership have substantial…

One of the most widespread restructuring reforms involves decentralizing decision making to schools and sharing decision making with a variety of groups. This paper presents findings of a study that examined the organizational conditions in schools using School-Based Decision Making (SBDM) where there is higher quality instruction and greater…

The need for students to experience affiliation and membership is a strong theme in recent thinking on school reform. But affiliation without concern for students' intellectual work and growth defeats the purpose of schooling. This study investigated the sources and mechanisms that sustain intellectually focused affiliation among students, defined…