This case study of one "no-excuses" charter management organization (CMO) uses teacher surveys and interviews with principals, central office staff, and teachers to examine how a realistic job preview is enacted during the hiring process, and how newly hired teachers perceive their fit with the job and the organization before and after…

Currently there is a gap in research literature that displays examples of how central office and building level administrators interact, collaborate, and make decisions concerning dual language immersion programs. This qualitative single case study attempts to answer the following questions concerning this problem of practice: What are the forms…

Data use has become a priority in educational systems throughout the world under the belief that rational instructional decisions can be tailored to individual learner needs. Despite increasing expectations for school principals to be instructional leaders, there is little evidence that they -- or other system or school leaders -- are responsible…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test the effects of nine district characteristics on student achievement, explored the conditions that mediated the effects of such characteristics and contributed to understandings about the role school-level leaders play in district efforts to improve achievement. Design/methodology/approach: Data for the…

Principal supervisors often find themselves drawn into managing logistical and operational matters, instead of helping principals become more effective instructional leaders. Yet Meredith Honig and Lydia Rainey contend that principal supervisors need to make principals' instructional leadership their primary focus. Drawing on their work with…

In large school districts, principal supervisors oversee groups of principals. Principal supervisors commonly have titles such as Area or Regional Superintendents, Leadership Directors or Network Leaders. They are situated in the organizational hierarchy between top district leaders (Chief-level positions) and principals, and serve as the link…

This study involving superintendents from four states sought to identify the nature and quality of help provided by outgoing superintendents to their successors, and to capture data regarding differences in the helpfulness of that support, depending on whether the superintendent moved to a new superintendency, retired from the position, or was…

The purpose of this replication study was to examine the leadership practices, instructional practices, and high expectation beliefs employed by school district superintendents in Texas with the aim of eliminating the performance gap between Hispanic and White students in the state. The research employed a qualitative approach, consisting of…

Understanding how Illinois school district leaders craft acceleration policy and procedures in compliance with the Accelerated Placement Act has not been studied yet. The Accelerated Placement Act was adopted into law by former Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner on August 25, 2017. The Accelerated Placement Act had a mandatory implementation date for…

Principal professional learning is shifting in many districts in the United States of America away from didactic, central office-managed workshops to include more peer-led learning opportunities. Yet researchers have largely failed to examine issues of positionality and authority in principal professional learning, despite international…

Purpose: Research on principal supervisors (PSs) is an emerging field, and principal supervision for racial equity has not yet been studied or theorized. Conducted in partnership with practicing district leaders, the purpose of this paper is to examine current PS leadership in three districts at various points of engagement in equitable leadership…

California has a notable history of investing in educational leaders' professional learning. In 1983, the state launched the California School Leadership Academy (CSLA), which it funded until the academy was discontinued due to statewide budget cuts in 2003. Research showed that CSLA was a source of high-quality professional development. In 2019,…

Purpose: Existing research on loosely coupled educational systems has largely ignored the social and affective dimensions of such systems. Drawing on literature from organizational behavior, this study examines how "human" factors, including role identity dynamics, power dynamics, and stereotyping, shape the implementation of state-led…

A formal partnership between a state-level umbrella association of educational administrators and one of its constituent associations, the association of gifted education administrators, has resulted in successful legislative and policy advocacy for gifted education. The formal partnership encouraged leaders of the gifted education professional…

The main aim of this paper is to explore an approach to beginner teacher induction in a Johannesburg, South Africa education district's induction programme. It focuses on how the idea of beginner teacher induction is conceptualised by examining the district induction programme's teaching form and foci. Data were collected through interviews with…