The intent of this study is to determine whether there was a difference between school board members' perceptions of their own behaviors and beliefs related to student achievement in California's high-performing poverty districts as opposed to such perceptions in low-performing poverty districts. Due to the findings of this study, the…

Social media has become common ground for many high school and college students, and its use has the potential to impact learning. With fast response times and immediate availability of ideas and data, students change their perceptions about how education should be experienced. This study explored how high school and college students view the…

This study brings together the theoretical and empirical practices of traditional informative education, radical transformative education, and sustainable education reform. An analysis of learning disability and constructivist learning are used to elucidate the socio-complexity of historic academic constructs concerning educational leadership for…

California legislature made a policy change with Senate Bill (SB) 1644 (2000), shifting Cal Grant Programs to focus on entitlement; counter to the national trend of merit based grant programs. This article describes a study examining effectiveness and extent to which SB 1644 is meeting its legislative objectives: increase in higher education…

This article describes the experiences of school personnel working with undocumented immigrants in public schools and the opinions and attitudes of school personnel. The resulting propositions are: (1) Undocumented students and their parents live with a great deal of psychological stress on a daily basis; (2) Undocumented students face multiple…

School leaders must design and lead equitable learning environments for all children, and administration preparation programs must build entry-level administrator capacity to do so. This article describes a study examining social justice/critical consciousness curriculum (intended, implemented, assessed) and instructor demographic characteristics…

This qualitative study of ten elementary veteran teachers used Hargrove's single, double, and triple-loop thinking to understand their perceptions regarding knowledge new principals need to be social justice leaders working in impoverished schools. Findings in three categories revealed the importance of principals learning to identify their…

In the following study, the researcher, an experienced leadership coach and former principal, observed the leadership practices of a first-year principal over the course of one year as student achievement at his school increased dramatically. Employing participant observation, document analysis, interviewing, and administration of a teacher…

This study utilizes Symbolic Interactionism to explore perspectives of neophyte principals. Findings explain how these perspectives are modified through complex interactions throughout the school year, and they also suggest preparation programs can help new principals most effectively by teaching "soft" skills such as active listening…

With all of the pressures placed on public schools today including competition from school choice, charter schools, and vouchers, as well as achievement gaps, state testing, sanctions, growing negative press, changing demographics, social demands placed on schools, etc., one might wonder why anyone would choose school leadership as a career.…

This article discusses the decisions that school leaders must make to reclassify students as fluent and proficient in English and the implications that reclassification decisions could have for the future achievement of those students. The study examined the achievement gap between English learners and the overall student population and the…

A preservice teacher learning community at California Polytechnic University was created to guide adult learners in being able to effectively teach diverse learners. From the spring quarter of 2008 to 2009, these preservice teachers engaged in working with each other to write their own lesson plans and teach mathematics and literacy to English…

The purpose of this study was to identify educational leadership programs' procedures for the identification and assessment of leadership dispositions. The findings of this cross sectional survey indicated that there is little consistency in practice in defining and assessing dispositions of leadership candidates. While findings indicated that the…

To creatively and competently utilize community resources and to work successfully for the benefit of all students requires that educational leaders develop positive diversity dispositions. This study explores the effect of school community relations instruction in enhancing educational administration candidates' skills, beliefs, and connections…

For nearly twenty years the educational community has utilized portfolios as a method of monitoring the growth and development of candidates earning certification as educators and as school leaders. Professors in the field of education have encouraged their students to share these portfolios with public school hiring officials. There is a belief…