<p> The purpose of this study is to highlight the narratives of Native American youth to develop an understanding of social practices supporting and hindering educational achievement and attainment for Native American youth from their own perspectives. In this study, young adults who have recently completed K-12 education in a small rural school district tell their story of their schooling experiences. Understanding their lived experiences contributes to the body of research regarding Native American schooling in the Pacific Northwest. </p><p> This study adds to our understanding of schooling for Native American students who attend public schools in rural borderland settings. Though limited in scope, the personal retrospective accounts contain rich descriptions of the lived experiences of the five participants from which to gain directions for educational practice and educational research. Tribal Critical Race Theory analysis of in-depth individual semi-structured interviews with five young adults ages 19-24 from a confederation tribal organization in the Columbia Plateau yielded four major themes. These themes are: The legacy of colonization still present in schools, schooling, and social contexts, importance of school credentials/credentialing to move on with life, power of relationships to shape our realities, and forging our own reality.</p><p> Future leaders from public schools and tribal education agencies in rural borderland settings can use this research to inform educational practices for Native American students. Future researchers may wish to replicate this study increasing the scope, range of participants, and locations to further our understanding of schooling practices supporting and hindering educational achievement and attainment through strengths based explanations.</p>

<p> Many large urban school districts have implemented Early Warning Systems (EWS) in order to track and organize student data related to their progress toward graduation. The popularity of EWS has increased over the past decade as a number of research studies have demonstrated claims that the EWS data can be used to predict, to a certain degree of accuracy, which students will graduate on time (Bowers, 2010; Bruce, Bridgeland, Fox, &amp; Balfanz, 2011). However, dropping out is not always a decision, but rather the outcome of a long journey of school experiences and life factors that set students on a path to become a dropout or graduate (Rumberger, 2011a). In this case study, interviews conducted with four twelfth-grade students reveal complex lived experiences related to their data in the EWS. This study used Dewey&rsquo;s (1938) theory of experience as a theoretical framework to better understand how the students&rsquo; lived experiences help explain the data recorded in the EWS. Results of this study indicate that, while students describe similar objective conditions of school, they each walk into the school building with unique internal conditions. It is ultimately the interaction between each student&rsquo;s internal conditions and the objective conditions in school that create the experience they have there. Without a better understanding of the interaction between a student&rsquo;s internal conditions and the objective conditions that are influencing each student&rsquo;s experience, districts and schools will be left with an intervention &ldquo;guessing game.&rdquo; It is the charge of educators in schools and at the district level to create processes that use the data in the EWS to develop improved practices in the school, and most important, the classroom. The data in the EWS are virtually useless if they do not lead to improved school routines and teacher effectiveness. </p><p>

<p> School reform efforts continue to evolve with more accountability being placed on school districts along with principals and teachers. However, there is a dearth of literature focusing on how school reform consequences affect a principal&rsquo;s self-identity and whether there are any human costs associated with a principal&rsquo;s involuntary transfer due to the school&rsquo;s failing status. The purpose of this study was to examine how principals coped with their involuntary transfers from failing schools and to determine the human costs, if any, on the principals. An involuntary transfer is one in which the principal is transferred from one failing school and assigned to another school or a central office position within the same school district. A theoretical framework was utilized to identify a principal&rsquo;s antecedent conditions, cognitive appraisals, and coping mechanisms. The model aided in categorizing the principals&rsquo; reactions to their involuntary transfers or removals from their schools.</p><p> This phenomenological study was located in a large urban school district in WNY where 17 semi-structured interviews were conducted. The study revealed that the former or current principals overall appraised their involuntary transfers as a Threat (negative), Challenge (positive) or Unaffected (indifferent). The data gleaned from the study include critical information to shape and implement policy surrounding how school reform ultimately affects a principal, which may lead to unintended human consequences.</p><p>

The study was designed to explore three principle equity factors at Bennett Park Montessori Center (BPMC), Buffalo, New York. The three factors, access/selection, program processes, and outcomes, were used as a conceptual framework. This framework guided the data gathering process as well as the analysis and presentation of the school's relationship to equity through its first 15 years. The data gathering techniques employed in the design of the study were documents gathering, interviews, and on-site observations. Data analysis, a continuous process occurring within all phases of the study, was guided by the research questions. With respect to access/selection data has shown that BPMC consistently has enrolled approximately 50% majority and 50% minority students through the annual lottery. The district adopted a controlled lottery which gave preference to students from racially identifiable schools. Unique to BPMC is the early entrance age of its students, two years, nine months. Age eligibility is the only requirement for BPMC. With respect to program processes, data has shown that mixed-age grouping, cooperation rather than competition, and a sense of community characterized the learning relationships at BPMC. These qualities have been defined as essential elements of authentic Montessori schooling by Rambusch and Stoops (1992). With respect to outcomes, data has shown that BPMC consistently enrolled a high percentage of students who participated in the free lunch program. Achievement outcomes indicated that BPMC students scored at higher percentages above the mean than district students in the majority of instances. However, BPMC and the Buffalo School District have not reported data by ethnic group. The study presented these conclusions: the founding of BPMC was influenced by an extraordinary level of cooperation among the Court, school administrators, community and parents. Shared adherence to Montessori philosophy created and maintained a unity of purpose for BPMC leadership and staff. Recommendations noted the need for school districts to aggregate data in ways which yield information about the effectiveness of programs for each of the diverse ethnic groups represented. Montessori practitioners need to examine the distribution of learning opportunities for majority and minority students within their environments.

<p> The purpose of this qualitative multi-site case study was to explore the impact of principals&rsquo; leadership styles on student academic achievement in a high-poverty low-performing school district in Louisiana. A total of 17 participants, principals and teachers, from this school district were used in this study. Data source triangulation of interviews, questionnaires, and archival data were used for the analysis. The central research question that guided this study was: <i>What is the perceived impact, if at all, that the leadership style of a principal in a high-poverty low-performing school district in Louisiana has on a school performance score in those same schools?</i> Four main themes, some of which included additional subthemes, emerged from the study. These included: (a) Theme 1: principal leadership, with subthemes: passive behavior, motivation, and collaboration; (b) Theme 2: leadership implication on student achievement, with subthemes: dual leadership, teacher shortages and quality, and disruptive student behavior; (c) Theme 3: professional development; and; (d) Theme 4: initiatives to improve student achievement. The findings of this multi-site case study offered insight into factors other than principal leadership styles, which influences student academic achievement. This study provides recommendations for further research to be conducted in high-poverty low-performing schools in Louisiana targeted in the areas of teacher shortages, collaboration, dual leadership, passive behavior and teacher quality.</p>

<p> A mixed method study with a statewide sampling of both superintendents (<i>N</i> = 258) and school board members (<i>N</i> = 543) within the State of Illinois designed to identify the perceptions of the ideal superintendent candidate. Using the study defined professional standard sub-components of the superintendency developed from the American Association of School Administrators Professional Standards for the Superintendency (Hoyle, Bjork, Collier, &amp; Glass, 2005), a quantitative survey was develop and distributed to each superintendent and school board member within the State of Illinois. The following analysis provides a ranking of standard sub-components for each group, along with perception data comparing population characteristics including gender, tenure, type of district and size of district. Continuing from the quantitative analysis, four participants representing an even distribution of superintendents, school board members and gender were selected and interviewed. This qualitative stage of the study was conducted using semi-structured and open ended questioning to delve deeper into the quantitative findings. </p><p> This study brings affirmation of the importance of the identified professional standard sub-components while expanding on the perceptions of the role of superintendent through the lived experience of people within and overseeing this critical educational leadership position. The quantitative analysis found that of the twenty-two standard sub-components included within the study, Leadership Qualities (Ethics &amp; Values) was consistently found across both populations as ranking the highest. This was similarly found for the standard sub-component of Strong Communication Skills which was ranked second for both populations. The sub-component of Community / Public Relations Skills was found to be ranked in the top five most highly ranked sub-components for both populations. The qualitative analysis provides a categorical breakdown of each of the twenty identified themes relating to superintendency within three key indicator groupings including Situational, Personal Traits and Skills/Abilities. </p><p> Incongruency was identified between the quantitative and qualitative analyses of this study in a single area. Across the quantitative analysis, a total of 19 of the 22 sub-components were found to hold a statistically significant difference between male and female responses. This was in direct contrast to the consistent opinion held by each of the interview participants that gender held no impact on perceptions of the ideal superintendent candidate. </p>

<p> American politicians, policy makers, and educators continue to grapple with ways to improve the academic achievement for all student groups. In spite of recent reform efforts such as the No Child Left Behind Act, evidence suggests that America has yet to adopt changes that not only improve achievement for all student groups but also reduce the high school dropout rate for its highest-risk students. Empirical research suggests that when students participate in the particular extra-curricular offerings of athletics and (on a more individual basis) fine arts, they have greater chances of staying in school and not dropping out. Yet this area of the school curriculum is often elusive for students who have background characteristics that put them at greater risk for school failure. The phenomenon under study is the experience of at-risk student participants in athletics and fine arts, and this inquiry sought to discover what it is about these offerings that may contribute to decreases in school failure. Data collection took place through one-on-one interviews and focus groups with 12 high-risk students who met predetermined selection criteria of being at-risk, participating in athletics and/or fine arts, being on a trajectory toward success in conventional terms, and being willing to talk about these experiences in an interview and focus group. Participants indicated that supportive social connections played a critical role in their initial and/or their ongoing participation. Findings revealed that students&rsquo; participation in both athletics and fine arts cultivated and nourished the affective domain of learning by appealing to their interests, passions, and hopes. For participants, both athletics and fine arts appeared to play a significant role in their lives, to the point of being life changing. There were many attributions associated with participation, and included such things as improvement in academic achievement, staying in school and not dropping out, as a result of their participation in both athletics and fine arts. These and other findings identified in this study should provide guidance to politicians, policy makers, educational reformers, educators, communities, families, and students themselves about the value of participation in these specific school offerings. Thus, findings implied that schools should encourage greater pupil participation in the full curriculum and not decrease support to these specific offerings, which could be increasingly vulnerable to cuts during fiscal challenges because athletics and fine arts may often be thought of as a privilege for a select few or an unnecessary part of the school curriculum.</p>

<p> Reforms and changes in the public school system across the United States have affected all aspects of public school learning, governance, and the leadership roles of principals. This investigative, qualitative case study explored the educational reforms under Children First, a wide scale reform that re-ordered and re-designed the New York City public school system from 2002 to 2014, and its effects on the leadership roles of principals. Furthermore, it examined the New York City Public School System under this innovative mayoral reform. This qualitative study used interviews, observations, and survey methods of inquiry to examine how three veteran New York City principals perceived their leadership roles and their skills; and how they maintained their leadership roles during Children First. Through Bolman and Deal&rsquo;s (1991) four frames model, this research explored the number of frames that the participants exhibited while conducting their executive daily practices. The findings of the study highlighted the theory of the four frames model, in the context of NYC principals&rsquo; changing roles. The investigation examined the lens that veteran principals used to re-organize, re-adjust, and realign their approaches to educational leadership during Children First. One significant finding of this research was that principals were empowered as a result of Children First. </p>

<p> As the push for inclusion continues to grow, professionals are encouraged to collaborate with one another in order to support the students on their caseloads (IDEA, 2004). Despite the need for collaboration, there continue to be barriers that impede the successful use of this service delivery model. This study aimed to investigate the possible barriers to collaboration among educators and specialists in the educational setting. Ways to improve collaborative interactions among educators and specialists on a regular basis was also explored as they relate to the common core state standards.</p><p> Three classroom teachers, three special education teachers, and three speech and language pathologists were surveyed in order to further investigate their knowledge and views of collaboration and the common core state standards. All of the professionals surveyed had a positive view of what collaboration could accomplish. As a result, positive trends are anticipated for the future of collaboration.</p>

<p> The retention of quality school leaders is critical to school success and improvement (Fuller, Orr, &amp; Young, 2008; National Association of Elementary and Secondary Principals, 2013; School Leaders Network, 2015). It is unlikely that student achievement will improve in schools with rapid turnover of school principals (Mascall &amp; Leithwood, 2010). Research contends that fifty percent of new principals will quit within three years of being hired and those that do stay often leave high poverty schools for less demanding leadership roles (Fuller et al., 2008; School Leaders Network, 2015). School change is more successfully implemented when a principal remains in the position for a minimum of three to five years (Fuller, Young, &amp; Baker, 2007). Understanding what factors lead to principal job retention may provide insight to minimize principal turnover and increase student achievement. </p><p> The purpose of this explanatory, sequential, mixed methods study was to investigate the factors that lead to principal job retention in traditional public elementary and secondary schools in a small northeast state. </p><p> This study addressed the following research questions: 1. What factors do principals rate as important for job retention in their current position? 2. What is the relationship between principal identified factors related to job retention and the following demographic variables: gender, school urbanicity, school level, school enrollment, socio-economic status, priority school status, overall happiness in their current job, and principal tenure status? 3. How do principals describe the factors that influence their job retention? </p><p> During the quantitative phase, a questionnaire was administered to elementary and secondary principals (<i>N</i>=270) to measure perceptions of the factors that contribute to their decisions to persist in their current positions. During the qualitative phase, interviews (<i>n</i>=6) were conducted to explore how principals describe the factors that contribute to job retention. Significant findings were found related to school level, priority school status, overall happiness, and principal tenure. Six prominent themes emerged from the qualitative data. </p><p> Results from this study may benefit school superintendents and other educational leaders to help them better identify the conditions necessary to retain school leadership that may lead to student academic success and decrease principal turnover.</p>