Educational Leadership Commons^™

Dennis Littky, The Educational Activist: Can His Model Revamp The Public Educational System?, Dana Mitchell Barnes

School Leadership Review

When an individual observes a classroom of today, he will see many elements that are recognizable to anyone who attended school during the last one hundred years, students working from textbooks, repetitive worksheets, and rows of desks holding students completing tasks directed by the teacher. Even though societal and technological advancements are increasing rapidly, our school system has stayed stagnant. What this means for students is the lack of individuality, teachers’ non acceptance of personal interests, lack of personal voice, and in many cases, a non relationship between teacher and student beyond the classroom assignment (Castleman & Littky, 2007).

What Students Tell Us About School If We Ask, Nancy K. Votteler, Mary E. Robbins, Debra Price

School Leadership Review

This article examines what school climate factors students perceive as helping them be successful in school, and what school administrators can do to aid the process. Specifically, the questions that drove this inquiry were

• How does sociocultural theory impact student voice and student engagement in the classroom?
• How does caring pedagogy impact student voice and student engagement in the classroom?
• What school climate factors do students perceive as helping them to be successful in school?

Framework For Understanding The Legal Structure Of Texas Public Schools, Gary Bigham

School Leadership Review

Texas public school stakeholders consist primarily of students, parents, faculty and staff, administrators, school board members, business leaders, community members, and taxpayers. While each of these stakeholders has a vested interest in the local school district, many fail to understand how public schools came into existence and the legal rationale upon which they operate. The problem lies in the structural complexity of schools, which is prohibitive to a complete understanding by its entire constituency. While the multiple layers of politics and numerous laws and policies that define the Texas public school structure may be necessary for proper operation, the intricacy …

A Messenger For Change, Mary Ann Whiteker

School Leadership Review

It is now time for all educators to embrace the power of a social epidemic. Schools across Texas are embracing a “New Vision for Texas Public Schools”. This vision embraces schools where all students are engaged in relevant, rigorous, meaningful activities and where classrooms reflect innovation, creativity, problem-solving, collaboration, communication and critical thinking. In this new vision, daily standardized test preparation and boring fact-memorization skills are replaced with digital learning, curriculum standards relevant to real-world challenges, multiple assessments for student performance, and accountability that’s based on a combination of measures, not just one state mandated test. It is about creating …

Continuing To Step Forward Even If We Fall Backward, Timothy B. Jones

School Leadership Review

No abstract provided.

Mentoring New Faculty On The Road To Tenure, Fred C. Lunenburg, Beverly J. Irby

School Leadership Review

One of the first mentoring steps is to help new faculty members determine how many articles can be published from their dissertations. We contend that any dissertation of seminal importance can produce multiple journal articles. For example, the literature review may be suitable for publication if it is a critique of the literature with major issues raised on the specific topic of interest. If the new faculty member did not conduct a critique of the literature, then that may be a suggestion; and as that is done, references can be updated as well. The dissertation may have resulted in a …

Student Evaluation Of Teaching: The Inequity Of Faculty Scores In Online Versus Face-To-Face Courses, Sam L. Sullivan, Barbara Polnick, Lautrice Nickson, Robert Maninger, J. Yasmine Butler

School Leadership Review

Researchers have conducted a multitude of studies over the last century on Student Evaluations of Teaching (SET); however, very few have been conducted in the new digital age (Loveland, 2007). More work is in progress as researchers try to define the differences in student responses and thoughts about the online teaching environment. The unfortunate side of this can be the administrative decision to use a one-size-fits-all mentality when many authors including Dziuban and Moskal (2011) have outlined several research-based alternatives for evaluation of online instructional effectiveness. SETs are important to faculty because they often are the determining factor in merit …

Holistic, Ethical Leadership For The 21st Century, David C. Barrett

School Leadership Review

The New Oxford American Dictionary (2001) delineates two definitions for a leader: “1) The person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country; a person followed by others. 2) A short strip of nonfunctioning material at each end of a reel of film or recording tape for connection to the spool.” How often does the latter definition seem more applicable for many of our educational leaders than the former? What are the philosophical foundations of leadership? What does a modern, ethical leader look like? These are just a few questions that will be explored in this article. The challenge …

Partnering With Districts In Principal Preparation: Key Program Features In Strengthening Aspiring Principals’ Understanding Of Issues Of Equity And Excellence, Betty Alford, Stacy Hendricks

School Leadership Review

The need for increased numbers of students of all ethnic groups to access and succeed in postsecondary education is a 21st century reality (Swail, Cabrera, & Lee, 2004). As Swail, Cabreraet al. (2004) reported, The act of going to college and earning a degree is more important than ever to today’s youth and our society. . . . Unfortunately, access to a postsecondary education is not equal in America. Students historically underrepresented at the postsecondary level – students of color, those from low-income backgrounds, and first-generation students- are still less likely to prepare for, apply for, enroll in, and persist …

Education Cannot Get Where It Wants To Go Because It Cannot See Where It Needs To Go: Seeing “Learning” In A New Light, Geoffrey Caine

School Leadership Review

Educational leaders and teachers are in a no-win situation. That is because most of the current tools and programs for improving education, ranging from the Common Core State Standards to iPads, cannot work. At least, as currently conceived.

Do Resources Matter? The Relationship Between Instructional Expenditures And College Readiness Indicators, Treva Franklin, Casey Graham Brown

School Leadership Review

Public schools face seemingly endless scrutiny. Educators have experienced an increased level of accountability and demand to graduate students who are college ready or well prepared to enter the workforce. The topic of educational funding is often at the forefront of public discussion and debate in Texas. While policymakers recurrently examine the way public schools have been funded (Fermanich, 2009), school district leaders are forced to unrelentingly evaluate and assess the efficacy and results of instructional programs and performance measures. With the push for college readiness for all students, the topic of funding adequacy has continued to be an issue.

The Texas School Finance Battle: “Ground Hog Day” All Over Again, Guy M. Sconzo

School Leadership Review

Like Bill Murray in “Ground Hog Day,” it was as if I were awakening to start the same day I had experienced the day before, only seven years later. It was time to head to court and testify again in the seemingly on-going constitutional challenge to the Texas school finance system. The names were different, many of the planned witnesses were different, the number of plaintiff groups grew to an all-time high, but the challenges to change an inadequate, inequitable and unconstitutional system of funding Texas public schools remained. The stakes for the children of Texas, and the future of …

The Beat Goes On!, Timothy B. Jones

School Leadership Review

One thing Texans can count on for 140 days every odd year is an interesting legislative session. Not only did the 83rd legislative session deliver on interesting, it continues since as of this writing, the second called special session is “in-session.” Whether the children of Texas have benefited from this session I will leave to others to decide.

Preparing School Leaders For Special Education: Old Criticisms And New Directions, David Dematthews, D. Brent Edwards, Jr.

School Leadership Review

In the context of accountability and high-stakes testing, professors of educational administration in Texas and across the nation are under tremendous pressure to develop innovative principal preparation programs that produce effective school leaders, especially as research methodologies emerge to disaggregate the effects of such programs. One area few programs adequately address, including more innovative programs, is special education - despite the fact that principals struggle with accountability for all students, but particularly those principals in schools and districts with limited resources and limited professional development opportunitie~ (Bays & Crocket, 2007; Wakeman, Browder, Flowers, & Ahlgrim-Delzell, 2006). Principals have long reported …

Insight For Teacher Preparation Program Administrators: Enhancing Pre-Service Educators' Lntercultural Sensitivity And Deep Proficiency In Culturally Responsive Teaching Through Short-Term Study Abroad, Gloria Gresham, Paula Griffin, Tracy Hasbun, Vikki Boatman

School Leadership Review

Teacher preparation program administrators face the issue of expanding curricula to prepare teacher candidates for the diverse population of students they will encounter {Trent, Kea, Oh, 2008). Globalization demands that teacher candidates grasp how to function in a more integrated and interdependent society (McGrew, 2005). According to Smith-Davis (2004) students from non-English speaking countries compose the fastest growing United States K-12 student population, and those identified as limited English proficient were over 10 million in 2004. The United States Census reported in the "New Census Bureau Report" the number of individuals five and older who speak languages other than English …

School Counselors' Perceptions About Lnterventions For At-Risk Students Including Grade Retention: Implications For School Leaders, Bret Range, Mary Alice Bruce, Suzanne Young

School Leadership Review

The term at-risk is used by educators and policymakers to describe a wide variety of students who struggle in schools (Kronholz, 2011). Factors associated with labeling students at-risk include minority status, poverty, language difficulties, low school attendance, and poor family support (Re~ Akpo-Sanni, Losike-Sedimo, 2012; Stockard, 2010). For many at-risk students, reading at a proficient level is a primary concern for school leaders and teachers (Allington, 2011; McAlenney & Coyne, 2011), especially with increased accountability including school sanctions for not closing reading achievement gaps (Chappell, Nunnery, Pribesh, & Hager, 2011). Although a plethora of interventions have been proposed to assist …

A View From The Field: How Nclb's Good Intentions Of Accountability Damage Our Educational Leaders And Our Schools, Vance Vaughn

School Leadership Review

School districts and campuses throughout the nation are working around the clock to avoid an unacceptable accountability rating under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. In Texas the label has recently changed to "Improvement Required." An "Improvement Required" label forces districts and campuses into the Texas Accountability Intervention System (TAIS), a system implemented by Texas to satisfy the NCLB federal requirements, and to engage struggling districts and schools toward academic school improvement. The NCLB Act has good intentions; however, it might be creating a crisis in education. It is important to remember that NCLB, "the 2002 reauthorization …

Accountability And Students' Needs, Pauline M. Sampson, Kerry L. Roberts

School Leadership Review

Our schools are working under many pressures often with increased expectations and less resources. These increased expectations hold administrators and teachers to high accountability standards while working with increased diverse populations of students.

Impacts On Teacher Evaluations: The Importance Of Building Capacity Through Excellence In The Application Of The Teacher Evaluation Process, Susan J. Nix, Gary Bigham

School Leadership Review

Significant student learning and school improvement are dependent upon the teacher being the centerpiece (Tucker, Stronge, Gareis, & Beers, 2003; National Council of Teacher Quality, 2011). In maintaining the high standards associated with teaching responsibilities, educators are held accountable through performance evaluations. In the United States, teacher evaluations have long been a standard of practice largely determined by individual states and school districts. Additionally, teacher effectiveness has been guided by at least three pieces of national legislation, including the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, 1965), the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2001) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment …

Factors Affecting Doctoral Educational Leadership Program Selection, Lesley F. Leach, Pam Winn, Susan Erwin, Liza Benedict

School Leadership Review

Although recruitment has always been vital to sustained university admissions, it is true perhaps now more than ever as traditional public university programs face fierce competition for students from digitally-delivered and for-profit programs. Competition is fierce at every level of higher education, including the doctoral level. As competition has increased, so have the number of universities offering doctoral degrees (U.S. Department of Education [DOE], 2013). In 2011, Texas ranked fourth behind California, Florida, and North Carolina in the number of doctoral degrees granted in the United States. Furthennore, the number of doctoral degrees conferred in Texas grew from 8,959 in …

Superintendents And Professional Development: Voices From The Field, Juan M. Nino, Mike Boone, Israel Aguilar, Dessynie Edwards

School Leadership Review

The primary task of the educational leader is to assure high quality learning environments for all students. Research (Gordon, 2004; Sparks, 2007) supports the proposition that effective professional development contributes to instructional improvement by building educator capacity. Much of the research on professional development focuses in principal leadership in improving instruction (Blase & Blase, 2004). But district level administrators, especially the superintendent of schools, also have a role to play in school improvement. Standards for the preparation of school leaders specify competencies for superintendents that include the design and implementation of professional development programs based on sound research, best practices, …

Teacher Contract Non-Renewal In The Rocky Mountains, Andy Nixon, Abbot Packard, Margaret Dam

School Leadership Review

Success for students in the 21st century increasingly relies on competencies and proficiencies typically available on]y through formal educational processes. Researchers have noted the paramount importance of quality teaching as the important criterion for student success (Haycock, 1998; Marzano, 2003). Recent reforms have increased the expectation that school principals energetically address teacher evaluations and subsequently remove ineffective teachers. These recent reforms tend to have common priorities, including emphasizing high quality teaching, evaluating teachers for merit pay purposes, and linking evaluation to student performance with an emphasis on the removal of ineffective teachers from the classroom.

Superintendent And School Board Relations: Impacting Achievement Through Collaborative Understanding Of Roles And Responsibilities, Greg Weiss, Nate Templeton, Ray Thompson, Joshua W. Tremont

School Leadership Review

One of the most important and influential persons in the governance structure of the local school district is the Superintendent of Schools. Functioning as the CEO of the district, the superintendent is responsible for a myriad of functions. Examples include daily operations inclusive of transportation and finance, curriculum and policy implementation, media relations, and empowering leaders. However, as Meador (2014) contends, a crucial role is that of board liaison. The Superintendent is responsible for keeping the board informed, making recommendations regarding district operations, and setting the board agenda. It is interesting to note that the superintendent does participate in board …

A Legacy Of Collaborative School Leadership: Ima Hogg And The Houston School Board, 1943-1949, Linda Black

School Leadership Review

School boards are very powerful entities whose decisions have a significant impact on millions of students in the United States. Since the formation of the first local school boards in Massachusetts in the late 1700s, these groups of local officials have directed public education in their communities (Land, 2000). Throughout the nineteenth century, unpaid members of school boards managed both the daily operations of local schools districts and created policy. In the first half of the twentieth century, however, the increasing school population meant increased responsibilities for school board members as they oversaw increasingly larger and more complex institutions. The …

School Boards, Superintendents, And Students: Making Large Impacts, Pauline M. Sampson, Kerry L. Roberts

School Leadership Review

As we look to the many stakeholders in education and a variety of roles, this edition takes a look at school boards, superintendents, teachers' evaluations as a major role of administrators. Additionally, one article showcases the factors that affect students' decisions in an educational leadership doctoral program as they access a terminal degree in our field.

Family Involvement Strategies Of Asian Students With High Achievement In Middle School Mathematics: A Phenomenological Study, Kenneth N. Anisiobi

School Leadership Review

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires that schools maintain policies, strategies, and practices that support parental involvement in the education of all children (No Child Left Behind [NCLB], 2002). Houtenville and Conway (2008) found that by implementing strategies which promote family engagement in the educational process, schools can save up to one thousand dollars per child in education expenses per year.

Principal Perceptions Of Walkthrough Effectiveness, Teresa Martin Starrett

School Leadership Review

Teacher quality is the most important school level factor affecting student achievement. There is a direct correlation between effective instruction provided by highly qualified teachers and increased student achievement (Colvin & Johnson, 2007).

Professional Development For Educational Leaders In The Era Of Performance Evaluation Reform, Kelly H. Summers, Todd D. Reeves, David A. Walker, J. Schwartz

School Leadership Review

The word “accountability” has become a mantra in public education. Arguably, this one word, and the movement it has produced, has shaped the direction of our field in the past decade more than any other (Harris, 2011). This movement has led to many positive changes including an examination of gaps in student achievement, the types of assessments used in schools, and the strength of the performance evaluation systems for principals and teachers. Many large urban school districts, as well as entire states, have revamped the way public school principals and teachers are evaluated. In fact many, including the State of …

Pursuing The Principalship: Factors In Assistant Principals’ Decisions, Amy Ellis, Casey Graham Brown

School Leadership Review

School administrators who are hired to lead and guide schools and districts must possess a number of characteristics that allow them to become successful leaders. The presence or absence of a strong educational leader can make all the difference in school climate and student achievement (Kelley, Thornton, & Daugherty, 2005). Educational leaders need to be cognizant of what constitutes an effective leader and which characteristics have the most effective impact on student achievement. Alford et al. (2011) stated, "while principals are engaged in the managerial tasks of the school, securing the building for safety, ensuring bus routes, student schedules, and …

Considering An Overhaul To The New Principal Preparation Program, Vance Vaughn, Yanira Oliveras-Ortiz

School Leadership Review

Levine (2005) argued that university principal preparation programs for educational leaders are failing to provide a suitable curriculum to prepare aspiring principals to demonstrate the skills and competencies necessary to meet the challenges inherent in the increasingly complex demands of their school leadership roles. Teitel (2006) suggested that colleges and universities offer curricula that are neither coherent nor relevant. According to Candidates, Doctoral Cohort; Coleman, J. Craig; and Alford, Betty J. (2007), it is “a grave disservice [that] is done to university program graduates who enter leadership positions woefully unprepared for the awaiting firestorm” (p. 39).