This case study explores the challenges faced by incoming principals who encounter unexpected situations along with the impacts on multiple stakeholders of leadership transition on a middle school campus. Leadership shifts are felt throughout organizations in diverse ways and may even have a personal impact on individuals in a school community.…

Predominantly white institutions (PWIs) struggle to attract and retain underrepresented faculty. Despite aspirations for diversity, the reality remains that underrepresented faculty are not hired and retained in numbers sufficient to change the institution's demographics. The leadership of PWIs strives for solutions to ameliorate the trend in…

As gentrification changes the racial and socioeconomic composition of many neighborhoods across the United States, the enrollment of local schools in gentrifying communities may also change. While gentrification may provide opportunities for creating more diverse schools, challenges often accompany such changes. In this case, Principal Miller…

Schools in the United States continue to be vastly inequitable, particularly in disciplinary practices for Black and Latinx students. This case examines one school's attempts to alleviate disproportionate disciplinary practices. Teachers are encouraged to interrogate themselves, practices, and policies through equity professional learning to…

This case study explores a county-wide initiative to improve school attendance through a successful network collaboration among organizations within Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The network was a collaboration between nonprofit, for-profit, governmental, and educational leaders who sought to raise awareness about the effects of chronic…

Teacher retention rates continue to plummet at schools across the nation. A principal at Sunnyside Elementary watches firsthand as the revolving door of teachers increases significantly in her brief 3 years of leadership at this school. Once well-known and highly regarded at an award-winning school in the northeast, the principal struggles to…

Twelve Muslim intermediate student leaders at have shared their request for afternoon prayer space with Ms. Lidd, their white principal. Aware of the school board mandate to nurture the identity of students and build social capital through bridging opportunities, Ms. Lidd reviewed the policy for religious accommodations in schools. Principal Lidd…

Schools often experience rapid turnover among teachers of color. Yet research and practice highlight the importance of teachers of color in the K--12 education system. As such, school and district-level administrators, educational leaders, and students need to conceptualize and develop new approaches aimed at sustaining Indigenous and Latinx…

Low teacher engagement and retention are challenges faced by many schools, especially in high poverty contexts. In this case study, readers will draw on feedback and reflections provided by teachers that reflect realistic concerns current and aspiring school and districts leaders are faced with today in an endeavor to respond to these challenges.…

This case study, framed within a school-university partnership, highlights the tensions inherent to employing design-based approaches for educational change. The case illustrates core tensions between an abductive, open-ended, design-based approach to change versus more traditional (deductive/inductive) approaches to managing change in schools.…

Gifted identification and services, like many aspects of education, are inequitable and disproportionate in favor of White students. Obama Elementary School serves 421 students: 29% are Black and 58% are White; the school's gifted program is 10% Black and 86% White. Rebecca Johnson, the gifted teacher, brings this to the attention of her…

This case study follows a district racial equity initiative from policy formulation through implementation, and finally to the review of a high school discipline measure. The initiative had a consistent theme of addressing implicit bias. However, over time, district equity champions expanded the definition of implicit bias beyond its conventional…

This case study presents a fictionalized narrative account of a university-industry partnership across a 5-year period. The case presented involves a hypothetical public research university and their partnership with a Fortune 500 company. A brief background on the history of university-industry partnerships is provided with highlights of key…

Through widespread "opt-out" efforts over the past several years, parent and student activists have pressured schools, districts, states, and the federal government to reconsider the extent and limits of state-mandated assessments. This case study focuses on the ethical questions faced by a principal in a school divided over state…

Data use is considered a key lever in school improvement processes, but the punitive pressure of high-stakes accountability can influence whether or not data use is enacted in ways which facilitate improvement. School leaders must learn to respond to high-stakes accountability in ways which lead teachers to feel safe, efficacious, and agentic with…