Education Commons^™

An Investigation Of The Attitudes Of Catholic School Principals Towards The Inclusion Of Students With Disabilities, Michael J. Boyle, Claudia M. Hernandez

Michael Boyle

Catholic school principals typically serve as the prime decision-makers in admission and enrollment issues. A key factor in this decision-making can be the principals’ perceptions and attitudes about servicing students with disabilities within a Catholic school context. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of Catholic school principals toward inclusion of students with disabilities in Catholic schools. Overall, a majority of surveyed principals reported a positive attitude toward including students with disabilities. Some significant relationships were found between principal’s pervious experiences with students with disabilities and the principals’ willingness to enroll students with disabilities. …

Developing A Professional Certification System For School Principals: The Principals Australia Institute Certification Project, Lawrence Ingvarson

Dr Lawrence Ingvarson (Consultant)

In 2014, the Principals Australia Institute (PAI) decided to develop a national system for providing professional certification to accomplished school principals, based on the AITSL Australian Professional Standard for Principals (the Standard). ACER has been assisting the PAI in the development of valid and reliable methods whereby principals can demonstrate how they meet the Standard. This work has included conceptualising the system, developing an assessment and evaluation framework for certification, and developing guidelines for three portfolio initiatives linked to the Australian Professional Standard for Principals. The portfolio initiatives were field-tested in 2015 and a group of principals was trained to …

Creating Inclusive Learning Communities For Ell Students: Transforming School Principals' Perspectives, Kathryn Brooks, Susan R. Adams, Trish Morita-Mullaney

Kathryn Brooks

School-level administrators are often concerned about tertiary supports for English language learners (ELLs), such as translating signs and school documents or offering Spanish classes for their teachers. Although modeling and learning the heritage language(s) of the ESL population can be helpful, its focus on language differences can limit our considerations of broader systemic challenges that impact the success of ELLs in our schools. This article shares the dialogues that school administrators are having about ELL students and discusses the use of social justice and equity focused professional learning communities as a way to transform this discourse to address the broader …

Supporting Leadership Preparation In Indonesia, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle (consultant)

Kathryn Moyle reports on an evaluation of a professional learning program for aspiring school principals in Indonesia.

Inclusive Leadership: Preparing Principals For The Role That Awaits Them, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Donna Sobel, Connie Fulmer

Dorothy Garrison-Wade

Preparing administrators with the capacity to improve instruction for all learners is critical for recruiting and retaining special education teachers. However, recent research points out the need to improve skills of current and future administrators for this role. To address these concerns the special education and administrator preparation programs at a western university designed and conducted research to determine how well preservice principals were being prepared to improve instruction for all learners. To determine program improvement and training needs, researchers collected focus group and survey data from current and alumni students from both programs. Findings of this research are organized …

Leaders Of School Improvement Share The Journey, Sharon Clerke

Sharon Clerke

ACER's evaluation of ‘turnaround’ schools has revealed that strong school leaders do not undertake leadership alone, but build leadership capacity around them. Sharon Clerke reports.

Creating Inclusive Learning Communities For Ell Students: Transforming School Principals' Perspectives, Kathryn Brooks, Susan R. Adams, Trish Morita-Mullaney

Susan Adams

School-level administrators are often concerned about tertiary supports for English language learners (ELLs), such as translating signs and school documents or offering Spanish classes for their teachers. Although modeling and learning the heritage language(s) of the ESL population can be helpful, its focus on language differences can limit our considerations of broader systemic challenges that impact the success of ELLs in our schools. This article shares the dialogues that school administrators are having about ELL students and discusses the use of social justice and equity focused professional learning communities as a way to transform this discourse to address the broader …

Case Study: Promoting Indigenous School Leadership And Governance. Yirrkala School, Yirrkala Homelands School And Yambirrpa School Council East Arnhem Land, Northern Territory., Kathryn Moyle, Kevin P. Gillan

Professor Kathryn Moyle (consultant)

National School Improvement Tool, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Research is revealing the powerful impact that school leadership teams can have in improving the quality of teaching and learning. Effective leaders create cultures of high expectations, provide clarity about what teachers are to teach and students are to learn, establish strong professional learning communities and lead ongoing efforts to improve teaching practices. The National School Improvement Tool brings together findings from international research into the practices of highly effective schools and school leaders. The Tool assists schools to review and reflect on their efforts to improve the quality of classroom teaching and learning. It supports school-wide conversations – including …