Although there is considerable anecdotal evidence that the scale of private tutoring is substantial in the Philippines, attempts to document its existence is limited. Using phenomenological inquiry, this study aimed to provide a more eidetic portrait of private tutoring transformation in the Philippines from the perspectives and collective…

Similar to Dickens's "Tale of Two Cities", this research study is about a tale of two schools. The first type of school is a dysfunctional school. Dysfunctional schools are schools in a state of chaos (Shipengrower & Conway, 1998). The second school is that of order. The researchers refer to this school as a functional school.…

This study investigates the legal literacy of urban public school administrators in Malaysia. Data were collected from 109 school administrators. The instrument that was administered to the respondents comprised two parts: Part 1, the background information of the respondents; and Part 2, items on the law related to schools, such as teachers'…

This article, based on qualitative interviews conducted between 2007-2008 with 12 middle-career educators in the greater Boston area in Massachusetts, details teachers' career and leadership aspirations in a context of educational change. The findings suggest that teachers who presently are in midcareer struggle with the move toward the…

This article describes how schools shape family engagement practices in the context of the New Latino Diaspora. Building on critical scholarship that has called for more culturally appropriate definitions of family engagement, this study seeks to develop a theoretical understanding of how school practices influence immigrant families' access…

The purpose of the study was to compare and contrast influences principals have on staffing, curriculum issues, and discipline policies in high- and low-performing urban high schools. The data for the present study were drawn from the first year follow up of the Educational Longitudinal Survey of 2002-2004 (ELS: 02), administered by the National…

We explore the efficacy of one increasingly familiar strategic intervention designed to disrupt antigay school environments--Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs). Despite the increasing popularity of GSAs, there has been little research on the ways in which they do--and do not--impact school climate. The ubiquity of antigay and homophobic attitudes…

Often research on the professional development (PD) of staff is framed within a problem-based context that focuses on the PD-related problems experienced by staff. This study pursued a different approach by using the appreciative inquiry (AI) theoretical perspective to study the positive experiences of staff in respect of PD and their desire to…

This qualitative study of teachers in three low-performing elementary schools in Chicago reveals that transformational leadership behaviors were important to teacher motivation, affecting whether they believed that they could improve student performance as the accountability policy required. The findings suggest that principal leadership is…

Principals' understanding and skills pertaining to diversity are important in leading diverse schools and preparing all students for a democratic and multicultural society. Although educational leadership scholars have theorized about exemplary leadership of and for diversity, a developmental perspective on principals' diversity or cultural…

Scholars argue or imply that schools should build transformative school visions that promote equity, diversity, and social justice. However, little empirical research has investigated the principal's role in this endeavor or analyzed the practical dimensions of transformative vision statements. This study re-examined relevant data from two…

As the U.S. population grows more varied, public schools are faced with the challenge of meeting the needs of an increasing population of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Schools in the United States are often the first point of contact for new immigrant students as they work to facilitate their integration and socialization into…

This study examines educators' perspectives of the American Excellence Association (AEA). Using interviews with 16 educators (teachers, counselors, and principals) from 10 high schools, we explored their perceptions regarding AEA's impact on student participants as well as the potential for this type of culturally relevant programming for closing…

This study investigated how school leaders recognize and validate cultural and social capital of hyperghettoized at-risk students. Two primary research questions drove this research: (1) Did traditional school leaders recognize the social and cultural capital of at-risk, African American students? (2) How did an effective school leader validate…

Poor matriculation results in South African urban schools have resulted in the implementation of professional development programs for principals who wish to improve their qualifications and practice. This article studies principals' perceptions of the efficacy of using portfolios to assess their professional growth. Using a poststructural lens to…