In this article, we report findings from two cases of rural, high-needs elementary schools in the Southeastern United States that successfully improved learning outcomes for their students. As illustrated by our findings, a combination of effective teacher professional development, focused student learning initiatives, and enhanced community and…

Initiatives to increase leadership accountability coupled with efforts to promote data-driven leadership have led to widespread adoption of instruments to assess school leaders. In this article, we present a decision matrix that practitioners and researchers can use to facilitate instrument selection. Our decision matrix focuses on the…

Schools are faced with increasing pressures from declining test scores and outcry from the public to improve the educational system. Efforts to reform the system have varied widely and produced inconsistent results. One school took a different approach by embracing the reform efforts through a systematic change process, led by a transformational…

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…

This qualitative study examines how accountability policies impact school principals' social justice commitment. The study involved semi-structured interviews with twenty-two Ontario principals. Findings show that principals responded to the accountability policies with strikingly mixed emotions. Some grudgingly accepted the mandates and…

In this article, we argue that ESSA provides a unique policy window for district-level leaders to advance an equity agenda by working closely with local community advocates. Drawing from a larger qualitative, multiple case study on the role of school boards in three U.S. Mountain West school districts, we focus on community advocacy committed to…

Over the last few decades, high-stakes accountability has become commonplace in education policy both in the United States and internationally. In this paper, we consider the role of school leaders and "accountability talk" in implementing this shift through a case study of one urban school principal's talk during a period of reform.…

In the field of educational leadership, there has been a proliferation of empirical and theoretical research on social justice leadership. However, a diluted and homogenized rendition of social justice has seeped into the discourse and practice, thus positioning social justice leadership to be reradicalized. As such, the purpose of this article is…

This article is based on a case study to explore a model of teacher governance and illustrate the distinct challenges of entrepreneurship in public education. In the Sedona Charter School, each classroom principal educator serves as instructional leader and resource leader. Principal educators adjust curricula, hire their teachers, determine…

This qualitative interpretivist research study focused on understanding perceived superintendent self-efficacy and instructional leadership in school districts that have persistently failed to serve students of color and that also may have contributed to persistent student achievement inequities and achievement gaps. This study yielded three…

The purpose of this Q-methodology study was to develop an understanding of the perceptions of assistant principals of their current and idealized leadership practices. Fifty-six current assistant principals sorted a set of leadership behaviors two times--first based on dispositions currently deployed in their practice and a second time based on…

This comparative case (Merriam, 2009) study explored two charter school principals' engagement in instructional leadership. Analysis of three data sources--interviews, observations, and documents--revealed that principals were almost exclusively focused on state accountability and possessed limited knowledge of pedagogical practices. In…

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…

Pressures on school leaders to reform are pervasive within the United States. Prior studies show that superintendents who provide clear expectations and goals, collaborate, ensure quality professional development, and attend to curriculum alignment develop effective building leaders (Marzano & Waters, 2009; Wahlstrom, Louis, Leithwood, &…

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…