The goal of this study was to ascertain student and teacher perceptions of positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) effectiveness as based on PBIS tiers and other select variables: school discipline, school safety, school climate, student acceptance of PBIS reward system and administrators’ implementation of PBIS policy. Through a Pearson r correlation, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and regression test based on survey results, this study revealed which variables have the greatest significance on PBIS effectiveness. Based on the findings, it was concluded that all variables: school discipline, school safety, school climate, student acceptance of PBIS reward system had a significant effect. Qualitative data of this study supported the findings of the strategical results. Also, it is noted that administrators’ implementation of discipline policy shown to be significant as a result of the qualitative data. Recommendations were suggested for school leaders, district leaders, policy makers and future research.

This narrative study explores the transition from high school to college for low-income students of color who participated in a college access mentoring program, the College Admissions Project (CAP) while in twelfth-grade. A community cultural wealth (CCW) lens guides this research and is used to examine student experiences. CAP alumni who enrolled in an institution of higher education in the fall semester immediately following their high school graduation are the participants in this study. A narrative approach to inquiry is used because the author is interested in the particular experiences of a few individuals. Specifically, the experiences of low-income students of color from New Orleans as they made the transition from high school to college either in 2015 or 2016. This study has implications for practice in the area of college access programs as well as theoretical applications which extend a CCW framework to additional communities of color beyond Latina/o communities. In the area of practice, supporting positive peer relationships could make college access programs more effective. Student voice is also important to the participants in this study. Students should be part program development and evaluation processes so that programs are designed to best meet their needs as they exist, rather than as adults see them. There is some evidence that a CCW framework is applicable to the experiences of these students. Informational and social capital were most commonly referenced by participants, and efforts to help students further develop these assets would help to support their college transition processes.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to critically analyze the experiences and practices of Inland Empire urban school principals as they work to close the African American achievement gap. The achievement gap begins in elementary school and continues to persist throughout elementary and secondary schools producing differences in high school graduation rates, college and career attainment, and ultimately socio-economic differences in income between various racial and ethnic groups. We know the impact of school principals on student achievement is significant. The literature demonstrates that school principals play a key role in developing the structures and systems necessary to improve the outcomes for urban schools and more specifically African American students. Ten school principals from a large urban Inland Empire school district participated in the study and served to provide their lived experiences while leading diverse schools. Findings indicated three emergent themes: (1) relationship builders, (2) caring environments, and (3) courageous leadership were influential in principals establishing and maintaining a school that was sensitive to the needs of African American students. Another major finding from the study demonstrated the impact that race still plays within the public school setting. Several of the study participants expressed their struggles with providing overt support of African American students. Implications of these findings underscore the need to build principal capacity to effectively meet the needs of African American students. Additionally, the findings demonstrate the importance of building organizational sensitivity to culture and diversity in an effort to build equitable schools.

Abstract Faith-based school-family-community partnerships have been a federal mandate over the past decade, yet little has been written about the outcomes of these faith-based partnerships. A need exists to understand if the potential in these faith-based partnerships is indeed realized in positive outcomes for students and schools. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a faith-based school-family-community partnership, Just Love. Just Love is a faith-based school-family-community partnership between a large suburban church and a Title 1, urban elementary school, Charisma Elementary School (Charisma ES; pseudonym). It was implemented in what is considered a "failing school". Just Love's purpose was to have the volunteers from the church provide love, care, supportive adult relationships and service to the teachers, students, and parents of Charisma ES through a comprehensive, systemic program: Just Mentor (i.e., a school-based mentoring program), Just Connect (i.e., a classroom adoption program), and Just Rewards (i.e., a school wide student incentives/rewards and parent involvement program). The Bryan and Henry (2012) School-Family-Community Partnership Process Model was used in developing Just Love. The Model for Collaborative Evaluations (MCE) (Rodriguez-Campos, 2005) was used in this evaluation to actively engage stakeholders during the evaluation process and to answer the evaluation questions (Rodriguez-Campos & Rincones-Gomez, 2012). A mixed methods research design was used. Differences in student outcomes (i.e. academic, behavior and attendance) were examined between Charisma ES and another matching school without a faith-based school-family-community partnership were analyzed with descriptive statistics, paired T-tests, and mixed ANOVAs. Student outcomes were also investigated relevant to different aspects of the Just Love programs including adopted classrooms compared to non-adopted classrooms and mentored students compared to non-mentored students. In addition, this study gave 20 children (i.e., mentees) who had experienced all aspects of the Just Love programs an opportunity to share their perceived satisfactions, experiences, challenges and recommendations regarding Just Love through the method of photo elicitation including picture selection and interviews (DeMarie, 2010; Harper, 2002). The transcribed data from the interviews and the pictures used in the photo-elicitation process were analyzed using thematic analysis with a focus on capturing the voices of the students. Student outcome data were collected for three years from 2010-2013, with 2009 as a baseline year. The findings from the quantitative aspect of this study revealed that students in Charisma ES made significantly greater gains in reading than students in Joseph ES following the implementation of the partnership. Further, number of disciplinary referrals decreased dramatically at Charisma ES in contrast to Joseph ES whose disciplinary referrals increased. Attendance rates differed significantly between the two schools with students in Joseph Elementary School having higher attendance rates than students in Charisma Elementary School. On average, both adopted and non-adopted classes made gains in reading in each of the three years although adopted classes appeared to have higher reading scores in 2011-2012 than non-adopted classes. The average number of disciplinary referrals per class was lower for adopted classes than for non-adopted classes in 2011-2012, one academic year after the Just Love partnership program was implemented. Concerning attendance, there were no significant differences in attendance rates between students in adopted and non-adopted classes at Charisma ES, Mentored students at Charisma made significant improvements in reading. They also had a dramatically lower average number of disciplinary referrals than non-mentored students in 2012-2013, just two years after the Just Love partnership was implemented. When compared to non-mentored students, mentored students had significantly higher attendance than non-mentored students in 2011-2012, just one year after the Just Love partnership began. Further, attendance appeared to have a positive relation to the number of years students were mentored. Findings from the qualitative aspect of this study were captured using thematic analysis of the children's perceived satisfactions, experiences, challenges and recommendations concerning Just Love. The six categories that emerged from the data were (a) perceptions of Just Love, (b) positive feelings, (c) positive relationships and connectedness, (d) classroom and school climate, (e) experiences, and (f) support and resources. Each of these categories comprised a number of themes that aligned with identified protective factors and developmental assets necessary for the resiliency of and successful outcomes for children. Taken together, the findings reveal that Just Love, a faith-based school-family-community partnership contributed to improved student outcomes in reading achievement, behavior and attendance and provided important protective factors and developmental assets for the children in Charisma ES. The Just Love partnership program presents a viable model for schools, school districts, and faith-based and community organizations that have a desire to foster resilience in children at-risk, generate positive academic, behavior, and attendance outcomes for children and decrease the chances of children growing up and developing risky behaviors. Implications for practice, training, evaluation, policy, and future research are discussed.

Mayoral control of public schools as a solution for failing schools and low student achievement. This thesis analyzes different models of governance, the types of students served in districts with mayoral control, and the types of solutions implemented by mayors (charter schools, voucher programs, and the tools of NCLB) and whether there has been any success to mayoral control than mere anecdotal evidence.

This thesis will examine Washington, D.C. as a test case for effective education reform with a focus on the leadership of Michelle Rhee, former Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools. Rhee’s leadership is of particular interest because she served in an unusual political and institutional setting in which D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty gained mayoral control of the school district. This paper examines Rhee's reform efforts with respect to the bureaucratic limitations and institutional confines she faced, as well as the resources she had at her disposal. The results of this test case strengthen the arguments of scholars like Rick Hess and Terry Moe, who assert that the foundational structures of the American public school system are not only outdated but broken. Additionally, Michelle Rhee's struggles as Chancellor legitimize elements of the arguments of education policy expert and historian Diane Ravitch, a strong defender of the traditional structures of the nation’s public school system and their contributions to the country's fundamental democratic principles. This analysis of education reform in Washington, D.C. acknowledges that Rhee achieved numerous small victories over the course of her tenure, but she lacked the capacity to fix larger systemic obstacles on her own.

Transformation is change—especially under challenging circumstances—that is significant, systematic, and sustained, resulting in high levels of achievement for all students in all settings (Caldwell, 2006). Urban education is the primary focus and target of the school reform movement. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) includes explicit requirements to ensure that students served by Title I are given the same opportunity achieve to high standards and are held to the same high expectations as all other students in each state. Urban public school superintendents confront social and economic challenges unique to urban districts and are under pressure to meet NCLB’s accountability standards and mandated policies. This study started with a broad question about effective urban public school superintendent management concepts and strategies. The study was designed and conducted to (a) identify the prevailing management concepts and strategies initiated by the superintendent to attain organizational clarity and effectiveness in improving student performance; (b) examine the degree to which the superintendent’s leadership and management concepts and strategies were understood, supported, and embraced by key members of the organization; and (c) examine how the management concepts and strategies used by the superintendent align with a business management concept that may be useful to district leaders and administrators seeking a concept or strategy to sustain organizational change. This researcher used a single-case study to examine the management concepts and strategies used by an urban public school district superintendent. This study was conducted in the largest urban public school system in Texas. The superintendent, 6 members of the district’s leadership team, and five principals were interviewed and answered online questionnaires. A board member was also interviewed. Finally, student achievement data were examined. The study found the superintendent implemented management leadership concepts and strategies that prevailed over the social and economic barriers faced by urban students. Use of these strategies increased and sustained student performance. Despite limitations, this study opens opportunities for further research in management leadership. Opportunities include further research within this urban district, outside the school district, or on each management leadership concept or strategy identified in this study. / text

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify how the select factors of school leadership, school culture and teachers’ perceptions influence parental engagement in two Title I Urban Middle Schools. This study investigated the strategies and programs that have an impact on parental engagement to determine how these can be used to improve parental engagement in Title I Urban Middle Schools. In order to accomplish the goal of this qualitative study, two Urban Title I Middle Schools from a large school district in the Southeastern United States were selected. This research design provided the opportunity to address the research problem of the factors that influence parental engagement in two Title I Middle Schools. The researcher collected and examined relevant data from teachers’ surveys, parents’ surveys, interviews with two middle school principals, a focus group discussion with parents, an analysis of documents, and interviews with parent liaisons at each middle school. The researcher ensured the reliability and validity of the study by utilizing the triangulation method. Reliability and validity are important to any research and are often times considered as the “rigor” that is necessary for all kinds of research (Merriam, 1995). This triangulation method included open-ended interviews, surveys, a focus group discussion, and document analysis that were instrumental in determining and understanding the experiences, perceptions, and beliefs of those participants involved in the study. The study provided rich and valuable data that were used to address the research problem of the factors that influence parental engagement in Title I Middle Schools. The findings of the study provided an understanding of the factors that affect the level of parental engagement in Title I Middle Schools and also offered insights into understanding how these factors create challenges to parents in becoming more involved. The findings concluded that the leadership style of the principal, teachers’ perceptions of parental engagement, and school culture do have a substantial influence on parental engagement. The researcher also offers recommendations for state policies, school districts, and local school administrators on how they can create and implement programs to enrich their parental engagement activities.

abstract: The intention of this research is to bring us to Worcester, Massachusetts, New England's second largest city, to critically investigate the punitive patterns that exist in the "second chance" opportunity structure experienced by young people who have been dropped-out of schools. The conceptual framework I've constructed pulls from developed theories on the relationship between structural processes, institutional practices and lived experiences of marginalization. There is a need to understand how the process of school leaving, the label of "dropout," and the pursuit of second-chance opportunity are connected and exercise forms of punishment that have clear messages about the worth of these young men's aspirations and the value in fostering support for their opportunities. This critical ethnography introduces the narratives of four young men, marginalized by race and class, whose pursuits of alternative education pathways in Worcester, MA lead them towards constructing an inclusive opportunity on one's own terms. My assertion here is that the social issue is not exclusively about "dropouts," but about the relationships our schools, neighborhoods and society at large have on creating the enabling conditions of opportunity for our most marginalized students. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Justice Studies 2014

abstract: This study examines the multiple and complicated ways that Native American students engage, accept, and/or reject the teachings of a Native American literature course, as they navigate complex cultural landscapes in a state that has banned the teaching of ethnic studies. This is the only classroom of its kind in this major metropolitan area, despite a large Native American population. Like many other marginalized youth, these students move through "borderlands" on a daily basis from reservation to city and back again; from classrooms that validate their knowledges to those that deny, invalidate and silence their knowledges, histories and identities. I am examining how their knowledges are shared or denied in these spaces. Using ethnographic, participatory action and grounded research methods, and drawing from Safety Zone Theory (Lomawaima and McCarty, 2006) and Bakhtin's (1981) dialogism, I focus on students' counter-storytelling to discover how they are generating meanings from a curriculum that focuses on the comprehension of their complicated and often times contradicting realities. This study discusses the need for schools to draw upon students' cultural knowledges and offers implications for developing and implementing a socio-culturally sustaining curriculum. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2013