Based on work with elementary grades teachers in mathematics professional development to prepare for the implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, we offer a set of recommendations for school leaders who wish to assist teachers in adjusting their instruction to meet the challenges that the new standards present.

For the purposes of this article, I am advocating for a set of creative educational practices that are artistic in process and product, which are established with the intent of resisting, refusing, and revolutionizing the ways in which we conceive of, or embody, education praxis in public schools. As predatory reformers attempt to colonize public…

Metaphors play a powerful role in arguments about education. It is common to say schools are broken, and that the school system is failing. Here I take the metaphor seriously and briefly review an historical episode where airplanes failed seemingly for no reason at the dawn of the jet age. The responses to these failures at first with public…

The authors' purpose for this article is to describe a K-12 public school district's journey to internalize and actualize its mission, strategic planning and vision as one coherent engagement using Lean principles and tools. Lean jointly comprises an organizational philosophy and management toolkit prominent in private, government, and nonprofit…

The emergence of the SuperPACs in American politics is a major issue in the current election. SuperPACs, and the media campaigns they fund, also present a major challenge for media and democratic education. This article explores the issues surrounding SuperPACs and the rise of media in elections and politics in general, and presents some starting…

A disconnect exists between principal leadership expectations and the actual practice of supervision and evaluation of principals. Increased principal responsibilities and rigorous standards require that a new approach to principal evaluation be considered. The authors provide a framework for a multi-dimensional approach to principal supervision…

The focus of this commentary is the possibilities for learning communities in dropout prevention and their interventionist role in this problem. Educators are urged to develop advocacy for adolescents at risk of dropping out and failing to graduate. High school dropout has been described as a national epidemic, yet urban youth continue to be…

Alternative routes to the licensure of school principals are controversial. These researchers found that superintendents, as gatekeepers in the employment of principals, consider a complex set of conditions surrounding the candidate, the superintendent, and the school district in their decisions to hire principals who gained credentials through…

One of the more controversial reform efforts, concerning efficient school systems, is teacher compensation linked with student outcomes. However, absent from the public discourse and empirical research literature concerning systemic reform is the probative value of pay structures which connect the compensation of school executives and student…

Based upon the words of small school-district superintendents, this article explores how superintendents might lead in these complex contexts. In national focus groups, thirty-five participants described their decision-making processes as resting upon "doing what's best for students," acknowledging the unique challenges of small school district…

This article describes a cohesive theory of classroom management, developed by the author. This "three Fs" theory, predicated upon extant empiricism and scholarship vis-a-vis classroom management, was devised and implemented over several semesters within a field-based course at the University of Texas at Austin for preservice mathematics majors…

Given the negative implications of unmanaged teacher attrition for student learning and the potential of leadership actions to affect this dynamic, this article highlights the practices of one principal in the Chicago Public School (CPS) system who used teacher attrition to her school's advantage. Her actions reveal leadership practices that can…

Since September 2002, business leaders and educators have been examining the differences in business and educational leadership in a professional development partnership, titled, The Academy for Leadership in Education (ALE). This organization was created as a program to encourage the study of leadership and develop the capacity for mentoring new…

This article offers superintendents five assessment propositions for their consideration, each of which would likely provoke spirited and productive discussions at district administrative councils or at school staff meetings. These propositions are: (1) Teachers should anchor lessons and activities to specific outcomes (e.g., expectations,…

Decision-making about English as a Second Language (ESL) programs is especially challenging in educational contexts where a rapid influx of an English language learner (ELL) population has immigrated into a community that is not accustomed to ethnic and linguistic diversity or; where the ELL population constitutes a sizable (between 15 and 25 %)…