<p> The purpose of this study is to understand how African-American males enrolled in middle school in Los Angeles County experienced and understood the application of the California educational code regarding discipline. Disproportionate numbers of African-American students are being suspended and expelled from public schools. This overreliance on exclusionary punishment has led to the School-to-Prison Pipeline, and the statistics related to suspension rates from school mirror that of the criminal justice system. This study captures the voices of students who are consistently referred to the office by classroom teachers in order to understand how they perceive and articulate their experiences with the school disciplinary process and how those experiences impact their academic and personal lives. Findings indicate that participants want to do well in school. The participants described many of the behaviors that triggered an office referral as trivial, such as being tardy to class, talking, or not doing their work. When their infractions were more serious, students stated that they acted out because the teacher had been disrespected or antagonized them. More than anything, participants want teachers to listen to them and to respect them, and they want to be active participants in their learning. </p>

<p> School boards have the power to provide instructional leadership, but few school boards exercise that power and fewer still do so effectively. </p><p> The leadership power of school boards derives from their legal authority to set expectations, monitor progress and provide support. School boards that provide effective instructional leadership set district-wide expectations for student academic performance and then those boards monitor the district&rsquo;s progress toward meeting those goals and provide support, generally in the form of policies and funding. </p><p> Most school boards, however, tend to focus on management rather than instruction, and restrict their involvement in instructional issues either to continuing practices of the past or to implementing the agenda of the superintendent. </p><p> The goal of this Educational Leadership Portfolio was to encourage and facilitate education leadership by Delaware school boards. The portfolio contains nine artifacts designed to help Delaware school boards to understand and to exercise their leadership power. </p><p> The artifacts are divided into three categories: Information, Training and Tools. Three of the four Information artifacts are booklets written for publication by the Delaware School Boards Association (DSBA). School Boards in Law and Regulation describes the legal and historical basis on which Delaware school boards exist and derive their power. Key Points in Research summarizes the literature on effective school boards. The Survey Analysis provides the results of a survey of Delaware school board members. The fourth Information artifact is an article, &ldquo;When we understand the data, we are equipped to lead,&rdquo; which was published in the National School Boards Association journal, <i>American School.</i> </p><p> The three Training artifacts were developed in workshop formats. Standard Setting for DCAS first presented the work of the Standard Setting Panels Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System (DCAS) and then provided guidance on how to understand and interpret the panels&rsquo; recommendations in the context of local Delaware school districts. Data 101 for School Board Members introduced participants to the student assessment data available on the Delaware Department of Education&rsquo;s public web pages, and Data 201 is a follow-up workshop providing updates on the state&rsquo;s student assessment system and extending participants&rsquo; data location and assessment skills. </p><p> Of the two Tools artifacts, the Discussion Protocol provides school boards with a structured way to examine and evaluate their work as school boards, and Effective Communication with Legislators is a manual of techniques for successful advocacy with Delaware&rsquo;s elected officials. Effective Communication with Legislators also is the fourth booklet written to for publication by the DSBA. </p><p> Response to seven of the nine artifacts has been universally positive. Participants in Standard Setting for DCAS and Data 101 for School Board Members report increased skills and understanding, and multiple invitations to repeat the sessions indicate that they were valued. The four DSBA publications were well received when presented to the DSBA Board of Directors, and the <i> American School</i> article received positive comments from the journal&rsquo;s editor. The remaining two artifacts are available to Delaware school boards, but have yet to be implemented.</p>

The general question guiding this research is: how do equity minded administrators lead for social justice? The following specific questions are addressed in this study: How have participants become oriented to social justice? How do educational administrators conceptualize leadership for social justice? What are the barriers and supports that participants experienced in leading for social justice in diverse contexts? What are some (participant-identified) examples of how they lead for social justice? From a critical perspective this study examines the experiences of educational administrators leading for social justice. Vital to this examination are analyses of power relations and the locatedness of participants within those relations. At the core of these power relations are participant experiences of social justice as contingent on the interconnectedness between their lived realities and the “doing” of social justice as espoused by and evidenced in their approaches to leadership for social justice. For this study I have interviewed ten administrators from Southern Ontario, who self-identify as being committed to and leading for social justice and have been in formal positions of leadership for at least five years. Interviewees were able to identify and articulate the interconnected experiences of lived realities and their commitments to leadership for social justice; critical examples of social justice praxis; and facets of the educational systems which supported and, conversely, erected barriers to their leading for social justice. Conclusions, implications and recommendations can be broadly organized as issues related to systemic and structural processes, support and accountability for the hiring, retention and promotion of diverse school personnel who have evidenced commitments to social justice, the retraining and retooling of educators and leaders through curriculum centred on social justice, the dramatic restructuring of educational administrative thought by practitioners and researchers, and the critical inclusion of the community, students, parents and trustees in roles that substantively impact the decision making power within the educational system (from the overall governance of the educational system to everyday activities).

The general question guiding this research is: how do equity minded administrators lead for social justice? The following specific questions are addressed in this study: How have participants become oriented to social justice? How do educational administrators conceptualize leadership for social justice? What are the barriers and supports that participants experienced in leading for social justice in diverse contexts? What are some (participant-identified) examples of how they lead for social justice? From a critical perspective this study examines the experiences of educational administrators leading for social justice. Vital to this examination are analyses of power relations and the locatedness of participants within those relations. At the core of these power relations are participant experiences of social justice as contingent on the interconnectedness between their lived realities and the “doing” of social justice as espoused by and evidenced in their approaches to leadership for social justice. For this study I have interviewed ten administrators from Southern Ontario, who self-identify as being committed to and leading for social justice and have been in formal positions of leadership for at least five years. Interviewees were able to identify and articulate the interconnected experiences of lived realities and their commitments to leadership for social justice; critical examples of social justice praxis; and facets of the educational systems which supported and, conversely, erected barriers to their leading for social justice. Conclusions, implications and recommendations can be broadly organized as issues related to systemic and structural processes, support and accountability for the hiring, retention and promotion of diverse school personnel who have evidenced commitments to social justice, the retraining and retooling of educators and leaders through curriculum centred on social justice, the dramatic restructuring of educational administrative thought by practitioners and researchers, and the critical inclusion of the community, students, parents and trustees in roles that substantively impact the decision making power within the educational system (from the overall governance of the educational system to everyday activities).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas A&M University, 2007. / "Major Subject: Educational Administration" Title from author supplied metadata (automated record created on Nov. 2, 2007.) Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas A&M University, 2007. / "Major Subject: Educational Administration" Title from author supplied metadata (automated record created on Nov. 2, 2007.) Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas A&M University, 2006. / "Major Subject: Educational Administration" Title from author supplied metadata (automated record created on Nov. 2, 2007.) Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas A&M University, 2007. / "Major Subject: Educational Administration" Title from author supplied metadata (automated record created on Nov. 2, 2007.) Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Texas A&M University, 2007. / "Major Subject: Educational Administration" Title from author supplied metadata (automated record created on Nov. 2, 2007.) Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Texas A&M University, 2007. / "Major Subject: Educational Administration" Title from author supplied metadata (automated record created on Nov. 2, 2007.) Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references.