Set in a collective bargaining state in the Northeastern U.S., this exploratory case study investigated how a sample of 12 public school principals interpreted new teacher evaluation processes required by Race to the Top (RTTT). Principals reported that the RTTT evaluation system disrupted established routines and contractual guidelines for…

Grounded in the sense-making literature, this study explores the discourse around and sentiment toward the newly passed Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) as discussed on the social media platform Twitter. The study explores the characteristics of and connections between users, the content of posts, and the sentiment toward ESSA. Data consisted of…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) changed federal teacher policy in a number of important ways. This article uses No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Race to the Top, NCLB waivers, and ESSA to detail these shifts. Since ESSA is in the early phase of implementation, we analyze the policy through the lens of previous empirical work as a way of…

While education research has explored the role of the principal in the advent of No Child Left Behind (2001), quantitative and qualitative studies fail to describe and explain the ways in which principals' leadership practices are shaped by their conditions. These conditions include the school culture and climate in which they work; their own…

This research targets student expectation levels in school districts across Texas and seeks to identify and measure differences according to demographic data obtained from the Texas Education Agency. Specifically, this study investigates whether school districts in Texas hold varying levels of expectations for different racial and ethnic groups…

Educational professionals have the challenging responsibility of serving a highly diverse population of students. Laws such as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2001), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004), the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the…

This article focuses on the broader political sphere as it affects superintendents and other constituents of rural districts. The current landscape of education reform focuses on accountability--particularly at the policy level of both state and federal education agencies. This article draws on the literature and an empirical study that examined…

This article traces how the work of instructional leadership in the urban high school embodies a response to particular pressures in the school's environment. Based on evidence from multiple-case study research in four urban districts, the article demonstrates how supervisory and nonsupervisory leaders fashioned responses to the district (and…

The third pillar of No Child Left Behind emphasizes determining which educational programs and practices have been proven effective through rigorous scientific research. This study addressed Davis, Darling-Hammond, LaPointe, and Meyerson's (2005) call for a "need for additional research to determine the impact and relative importance of…

The goal of this article is to explore the various ways that superintendents have responded to accountability-based educational reform efforts such as No Child Left Behind, the factors that have influenced their responses, and the implications of these responses for current and future educational leaders. With respect to the first issue, empirical…

This study outlines the relationship between teachers' and principals' perceptions of their influence over policies within their school and teachers' actual employment decisions--specifically, teachers' decisions to stay (continue their affiliation with their school), to move (transfer to a different school), or to leave the teaching profession.…

This article examines the intersection of teacher unions, school reform and the No Child Left Behind Act. Specifically, this article highlights the legal challenges that school leaders are likely to experience as they attempt to implement No Child Left Behind Act's reconstitution mandates in failing schools, while not infringing on teachers' legal…

High school exit exam requirements are affecting a growing number of U.S. students--particularly low-income students and students of color. This article examines the policy and legal landscape of exit testing policy to shed light on some of the key issues facing local school leaders charged with implementing these policies. The article first…

A number of scholars are exploring the district context in which schools are embedded. These studies suggest the importance of the district office as a support or constraint to the work of schools and offer strategies for building relations between district and site leaders. While this is an important task, what is frequently overlooked is that…

This study examined the characteristics of performance-related pay (PRP) for teachers in the United States. From 1999 to 2007, the percentage of districts offering PRP and the percentage of teachers receiving PRP increased significantly. Large and ethnically diverse districts in urban areas with less union influence were more likely to offer PRP.…