School improvement can be a complex, messy business. At its most basic, school improvement is change--change that might require people to abandon long-held beliefs and practices, shift roles, and learn new skills. Kilgore and Reynolds (2011) suggested that successful change requires that people change their perceptions as well as their actions.…

In recent years, immigration has become a hot-button issue--so much that mere mention of the word almost guarantees an impassioned response. Whether that response generates ideas and hope, debate and frustration, or even anger, depends on seemingly innumerable factors. Everything from personal preferences, politics, and prejudices to ethnic,…

In his 2004 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush described drug testing as "an effective part" of an "aggressive, community-based strategy to reduce demand for illegal drugs" (as cited in Lineburg, Alexander, & Sughrue, 2006 [emphasis added]). His statement fueled debate about the role of U.S. public schools…

The question is not, Will religious controversy hit your school? but rather, Will you be adequately grounded in knowledge about the law when it does? As communities have become more culturally diverse, the number of disagreements regarding the role and place of religion in schools has increased. Consequently, every principal must know the current…

Complaints, hearings, legal opinions, and lawsuits on issues surrounding the training and supervision of paraprofessionals are increasing. Concern over the lack of preparation of paraprofessionals and the sporadic nature of the training that is available to them (Morgan, Hofmeister, & Ashbaker, 1995; Pickett, 1996) have led to the development…