The purpose of this qualitative case study is to identify how PLCs influence the high school English teachers' practice in response to key instructional shifts within teaching standards in the Southwest United States. Legislation from the last two decades puts expectations in place that raise the bar for American students and their teachers…

This study examined the effects of John Kotter's Eight Steps for Successful Change framework and strategies in systems implementation in a secondary educational environment. Teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of Kotter's strategies used by their administrative team to support positive change were examined. The study evaluated data provided…

In the 21st century, increased school accountability has sharpened the focus of school and district leaders on improving instructional practice to raise student achievement. The implementation of professional leaning communities (PLCs) is one improvement effort in which schools establish collaborative cultures focused on increasing student…

This study investigated administrators, college faculty, K-12 teachers, and pre-service teachers' perceptions of PLCs and their organizational environment as it relates to self-efficacy. The connection between educators' perceptions of PLCs is their learning environments and their willingness to change. The challenge is encouraging and…

The present study investigated the district-wide characteristics of relational ties among a sample of K-12 teachers implementing the Common Core comprehensive education reform. This study addressed deficits in current scholarly understanding of the social influences in schools that impact delivery of educational reform efforts such as the Common…

Today's grading practices mirror those of the early 1900s, and despite myriad research suggesting they are invalid, unreliable, and a hindrance to student learning, many teachers continue detrimental practices such as using 100-point percentage scales averaging all academic and nonacademic factors together into a single grade, and using grades to…

In the study reported here, I explored the notion of teacher leadership as described by individuals participating in a district-wide school reform initiative, the Accelerating Student Achievement Project. Through the district-wide project, teacher leaders were identified at each of the middle and high schools to further develop the schools'…

This qualitative critical multi-case study examines the nature of resistance as it emerges within the work of two urban secondary teachers acting as teacher educators, each teaching a secondary teacher preparation course within their own respective school context. Both research sites are discursively and functionally similar in terms of their…