Purpose: This article explores the possibilities for reciprocal dialogue between educational decision makers and Students of Color. Such dialogue--defined as interactions in which participants build on each other's words--may provide the means to develop creative ways to address manifestations of systemic racism in education. The article uses…

Purpose: This article presents findings from a study of six schools in the Together Initiative (TI), which facilitates increased school autonomy from districts and expands teacher decision-making authority. This study aims to understand how TI's theory of action changed structures, cultures, and agency as the concepts of "site-based…

Purpose: Given the increasing role of the principal in the administrative and supervision of special education programs and services, this research examines how elementary principals interpret their experience of leadership decision making as a moral activity in relation to the Ethic of the Profession and Model for Students' Best Interests.…

Purpose: Performance evaluation informs professional development and helps school personnel improve student learning. Although psychometric literature indicates that a rational, sound, and coherent standard-setting process adds to the credibility of an assessment, few studies have empirically examined the decision-making process. This article…

Background: In Ohio, levy campaigns are a burdensome task for district administrators and stakeholders alike. To date, there is little research on the districts' role in crafting school budget referenda campaigns. Purpose: This study asked three research questions: How did the macropolitical contexts shape stakeholders' decision making in terms of…

Previous qualitative studies show that when the formal organization of a school and patterns of informal interaction are aligned, faculty and leaders in a school are better able to coordinate instructional change. This article combines social network analysis with interview data to analyze how well the formal and informal aspects of a school's…

Purpose: The article reports on a study of school leader decision making that examined variation in the validity of teacher evaluation ratings in a school district that has implemented a standards-based teacher evaluation system. Research Methods: Applying mixed methods, the study used teacher evaluation ratings and value-added student achievement…

Background: Accountability demands are increasingly pushing school leaders to explore more data and do more sophisticated analyses. Data-driven decision making (DDDM) has become an emerging field of practice for school leadership and a central focus of education policy and practice. Purpose: This study examined principals' DDDM practices and…

Background: The No Child Left Behind legislation creates an increased need for new school-based empirical studies whose implementation will depend largely on researchers' access to various school populations and records. Access decisions are typically made by superintendents, or their designees, functioning as gatekeepers who control right of…

This study assessed policy actors' influence on state reading policy and compared the structure of reading policy networks across eight states. Data for the study came from structured interviews and archival documents and were analyzed using social network analysis methods. This study found that state reading policy networks were heterogeneous in…

Reports results of research designed to assess whether specified attributes of the principalship influence the decision-making of men and women, as prospective job applicants, differently. Finds that both men and women are likely to make their job choice decisions based on salary. (Contains 4 tables and 63 references.) (Authors/PKP)

Examines the relationship of teacher professional and organizational commitment with participation in decision making and organizational citizenship behavior in Israel. Finds, for example, that teachers with high commitment to their organization and/or their profession report that they are more engaged in organizational citizenship behavior than…

Exploratory study uses components found in social-influence theory and social style to examine the school board presidents' perceptions of the district superintendent's ability to influence the construction of the board agenda and voting decisions made by school boards in 131 randomly chosen school districts. (Contains 106 references.)…

Examines principals' leadership style (transformational or transactional), decision-making process (autocratic or participative), and teachers' occupation perceptions on teacher job satisfaction in Israel. Finds that teacher perceptions of occupational prestige, self-esteem, autonomy at work, and professional self-development contribute the most…

Examines the politics of year-round education in Brownfield, California, in the 1970s. Findings showed that Mexican Americans challenged the proposed 45-15 plan because they were excluded from the decision-making process and because the plan conflicted with migrant workers' employment patterns. Formal mechanisms must be activated to guard all…