Music education scholars have questioned the effectiveness of isolated workshop and conference experiences on improving music teacher practices in the classroom. A model of professional development that potentially addresses these concerns is the professional learning community (PLC). In previous investigations of music teacher PLCs, the…

The following document represents a Problem Based Learning Project (PBL) focusing on school leadership practices leading to increased student achievement. Current research findings indicate effective principals recognize the importance of building teacher capacity through promoting collaborative team work. School principals effectively leading…

Teaching is an ever-evolving profession, one in which teachers must stay abreast of recent research and trends to continually deepen their knowledge and refine their skills. Therefore, teachers need high quality professional learning opportunities to help them master the content they teach and strengthen their teaching skills. Professional…

Age related demographic changes, within public school organizations are resulting in leadership challenges in leveraging organizational knowledge across four unique generational cohorts. Competitive success within schools has linkages to organizational cohesiveness and knowledge management (KM). Generational cohorts maintain values affecting…

This study investigated leadership supports provided by an elementary principal of 15 years in a high performing diverse school. Employing document analysis and interviews, the researcher gathered and analyzed data in an effort to identify those leadership strategies that could be replicated at other school sites. The study identified the…

This two-phase sequential mixed methods study examined the relationship between professional development, whether in the form of traditional professional development, a professional learning community and/or lesson study, and teacher self-efficacy and self-directed learning in order to gain a greater understanding of the role professional…

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify and describe the strategies that California public high school principals utilized to develop a growth mindset in classroom teachers. Methodology: This qualitative case study used interviews from 12 high school principals to gain an understanding for how they supported a growth…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the implementation of a structured professional learning community model referred to as Learning Team Meetings (LTMs) on teacher practice and student achievement from the perspective of teachers and instructional leaders at high-need schools. To accomplish this purpose, a multi-site case study…

Literacy is a key component to success in school and in life. Literacy has been a focus of education since 1965 when President Jimmy Carter announced a "war on poverty." Since then, history has shown that educators should place an emphasis on literacy within schools. Because literacy is so important, I set out to explore how…

Recent teacher evaluation reforms instituted across the country have sought to yield richer information about educators' strengths and limitations and guide decisions about targeted opportunities for professional growth. This study describes how results from new multiple-measure teacher evaluations were being used in 2014/15 in five school…

Traditionally, school principals across the United States have been entrusted with the responsibility to conduct the daily affairs of managing schools. However, with the ever increasing demands of accountability for increased student achievement, the principals' roles and responsibilities are continuously evolving. Principals are being challenged…

Researchers from MDRC and Johns Hopkins University partnered with Florida's Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) in 2009 to launch an independent evaluation of the district's initiative to implement Ninth Grade Academies (NGAs) in every district high school. An NGA is a self-contained learning community for ninth-graders that operates as a school…

Effective professional development for school principals is crucial to the successful administration of schools, especially during periods of change resulting from policy mandates. The Louisiana Legislature has passed legislation in an attempt to reform education in the state. During this same period, the Board of Elementary and Secondary…

The purpose of this study was to discover the ways that central office and school level leaders initiate and advance a culture of continuous professional learning in high schools. The conceptual framework for this study was built from a synthesis of literature related to professional learning and leadership for continuous improvement. Relying…