Recent attention to youth activism for school reform reveals positive student outcomes. Yet educators may object to the use of social actions in schools, diminishing opportunities for these benefits to accrue. This paper analyzes educators' conceptions about the proper exercise of student voice within schools and how these coincide with…

This study investigated why and how principals selected members for their instructional leadership team (ILT) and how this selection criteria and process may have impacted team members' understandings of, and behaviors on, the team. Qualitative methods, specifically interviews and observations, were used to explore team members'…

This article targets local school improvement in Sweden and temporary systems as a model to organize improvement work. These data are based on a qualitative case study of teacher groups constituting a temporary system representing the different subjects in comprehensive school in a medium-sized urban municipality. A total of eight interviews were…

This mixed-method study examines Arizona principals' capacity-building skills and practices in Tier III schools aimed at developing potential for sustained improvements in student outcomes. Data sources included surveys (62 individuals) and semistructured interviews (29 individuals) of principals and staff (e.g. teachers, instructional…

This article explores the use of protocol-structured dialogue in promoting reflective practices and shared theories of action within a district leadership team. Protocols have been used to make individuals' theories of action visible and subject to evaluation. This is important for leaders trying to establish coherence across a system; in…

Of late, teachers unions have worked together with district management in new and notable ways. This paper examines the role of teachers unions in shaping the Together Initiative (TI), which seeks to increase autonomy and broaden decision making in urban schools in one northeastern state. In general, state-level union leaders have taken more…

This study identifies and analyses professional norms as a means of illuminating school cultures and how norms are distributed in the system. Of special interest is the role of school leaders and how they lead, organize and realise school development. The study research question is: What professional norms do school leaders highlight in change…

International research documents a variety of approaches for fostering the professional development of principals. These studies mainly draw upon survey and interview data. Less attention has been paid to observing professional development processes. This article aims to examine how professional learning is played out empirically in the…

This paper reports on a case study of schools in Vietnam wherein teachers are engaged in school reform activities known as professional teacher meetings (PTMs), which is based on an approach called lesson study for learning community (LSLC). The PTMs under LSLC were introduced in 2006, but the teachers involved are still conducting the activities…

Since the late 1990s, broad discussions on education and educational quality have given impetus to the implementation of many new measures aimed at the improvement of schools in Germany. In this context, school inspections have been introduced in all 16 German federal states during the last 6 years. In the meantime, scientific research into the…

This paper presents the results of a study of interviews (N = 17) conducted with members of a community of practice (CP) comprised of school principals, vice principals, and department heads responsible for teacher supervision in their respective schools. This CP met once a month over the course of 2 years to work on adapting the New Brunswick…

This study examines the perceptions of public school principals in New Orleans, Louisiana during the period of extensive decentralization in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Using the frameworks of systems theory and chaos/complexity theories, iterative interviews with 10 school principals form the core data which examines leaders' experiences…

Three organizational learning mediation processes are proposed as mechanisms for organizational change in this article. These include instructional leadership, tight coupling and boundary spanning. Whilst each of these processes has received attention in the research literature, we propose that their power arises from their particular combination…

This paper presents a secondary analysis of survey data focusing on role conflict and job satisfaction of 102 female principals. Data were collected from 51 female traditional principals and 51 female co-principals. By examining the traditional and co-principal leadership models as experienced by female principals, this paper addresses the impact…

Schools in England have been required to adopt and adapt an ongoing series of policy initiatives: some however are offered on an "opt-in" basis. This paper examines one such "offer," that of Creative Partnerships, a programme which provides schools in designated deprived areas the opportunity to work with creative practitioners in order to change…