Raven Elementary teachers collaboratively adhered to a systematic reading program, administered frequent assessments, and their students' test scores improved over time. Our findings indicate that, though effective for improving certain outcomes, such a tightly designed and narrowly focused system created a limiting learning environment for…

There is evidence that school leaders are using test score data for decisions about everything from the curriculum to what is served for lunch. Research suggests that staffing too is data-driven, with principals using test score data to hire, assign, and develop their teachers. Semi-structured interviews with principals and other school actors in…

Since the mid-1990s, teacher professional community has achieved increasing influence as a strategy for facilitating productive change in schools. This study investigates the impact of principal quality and leadership on the development of teacher professional community in Hong Kong primary schools. More specifically, we examine the means by which…

This article presents the results of a statewide survey that examined the perceptions and needs of elementary school principals in North Carolina who have prekindergarten classrooms on their campus. The survey examined principals' knowledge about early childhood education and their attitudes towards prekindergarten. Results suggest that few…

The purpose of this study is to determine the validity of common assumptions about the rate at which school decline manifests. From a population of 981 elementary schools in the state of Virginia, the author uses three operational definitions of school decline to identify samples of declining schools: Absolute (n = 217), Relational (n = 510), and…

In a study of Ontario, Canada's province-wide Primary Class Size Reduction (PCS) Initiative, school districts' ability to direct and support schools was related to their experience with planning and monitoring, interest in innovation, and its human and fiscal resource base. Districts with greater "resource capacity" were able to coordinate local…

This article reviews the literature base on class size reduction and proposes a new analytic framework that we believe provides practically useful explanations of how primary class size reduction works. It presents descriptions of classroom practice and grounded explanations for how class size reduction affects educational core activities by…

This empirical study of the practice of five elementary school principals whose student achievement gains were three times the expected rate of progress redefines some capabilities identified in the literature as central to leadership for learning. These principals were a source of knowledge about teaching and learning and assisted their teachers…

This article argues that the processes of enactment and justification comprise two key, underdeveloped aspects of sensemaking theory as applied to educational organizations. Enactment and justification are illustrated using examples drawn from a school that significantly changed the way in which it coordinated reading instruction. Examples drawn…

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how school principals combine instructional and entrepreneurial aspects of leadership in their effort to build capacity for student learning. Four cases of successful school principals in rural primary schools in Cyprus are described as part of the International Successful School Principalship Project…

This case study follows the work of principal Laura Martinez as moving from leading Stevens Elementary for 9 years, and now opening a new P-8th grade academy in the same south Texas urban, inner-city district. The purpose of this case study was to observe successful leadership and the principal's strategies both in her previous and present school,…

This article arises from research in one school district (utilizing the Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education, VAL-ED) into the relationships among the perceptions of elementary school leaders of their learning-centered leadership, and student achievement on state-mandated tests of reading in Virginia. Beyond the percentage of students…

This article presents the results of research into the impact of principal turnover on schools, and the ability of schools to mitigate the negative effects of frequent turnover by distributing leadership in the schools. The findings from this qualitative and quantitative analysis show that rapid principal turnover does indeed have a negative…

Although we know that family involvement is associated with stronger math performance, little is known about what educators are doing to effectively involve families and community members, and whether this measurably improves math achievement at their schools. This study used data from 39 schools to assess the effects of family and community…

This article examines principal leadership and teacher motivation in schools under accountability sanctions. The conceptual framework is grounded in research on expectancy theory and transformational leadership. The study involves a survey of Chicago teachers and indicates that principal instructional leadership and support for change are…