Black women continue to be underrepresented in independent school headship positions nationwide. This narrative research study aims to explore the lived experiences of two Black women who have successfully navigated independent school headship. The purpose of this study is to provide a platform to amplify Black success in this niche educational setting and expand realms of possibility for future leaders in concrete, attainable ways. The study unfolds in three separate articles. Article I is a review of relevant scholarly literature, positioned to support the gathered stories. Article II is a presentation of two narratives followed by a rich discussion which connects theory to practice. Article III is a Case Study Exercise geared towards students of education. The data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews with each participant. Both participants were selected because of their notable contributions to the field. In our interviews, each participant explored their personal experience with the phenomena, professional/educational histories, career pathways, obstacles, influential mentors, pivotal moments, general secrets of the trade, and advice for future leaders. Findings indicate that in recent years, the independent school need has changed. In years past, many independent schools struggled to recruit Black students into their communities. Recently, more of these longstanding schools are opening their doors to students of color yet fail to incorporate that same racial diversity in the higher-level administrative positions. The two participants in the following study serve as outliers to this general pattern. Among the two narratives, several overlapping themes emerged: mentorship, identity development and intentionality. In both narratives, the participants recalled big community events serving as catalysts for institutional change. Article III presents some of those “big events” in the form of case studies. By employing those case study exercises, students of education will have the opportunity to practice navigating some of the very struggles these leaders have faced. These findings provide a clear direction for targeted outreach. The stories, conclusions drawn, and case studies have the power to inspire a new generation of Black women who recognize their leadership potential in the independent school setting. In considering the case study exercises, education programs could expand their own work to include relevant and timely resources. Independent schools would be interested to learn how practitioners are working to help advance their missions and commitments to equity and diversity. Finally, the presented study has the power to demystify some of the traditional notions regarding independent school education in the United States.

In this qualitative ethnographic research study, I focused on a first-year assistant principal’s leadership experiences in an urban PK–8 school environment and the coaching, mentoring, support, and training needed to develop an effective building administrator who will be retained in the assistant principal position. The guiding research questions included the following: (a) What are an assistant principal’s leadership experiences in an urban PK–8 school environment? (b) Based on an assistant principal’s leadership experiences in an urban PK–8 school, what systems and structures might build their leadership capacity and outlook on educational leadership? and (c) Based on an assistant principal’s leadership experiences in an urban PK–8 school, what coaching, mentoring, support, and training might improve their leadership capacity and outlook on educational leadership? The assistant principal position serves as the gateway to a leadership position; however, many assistant principals do not receive the mentorship, training, and coaching they need to succeed. Educational leadership programs have not completely prepared candidates to enter new assistant principal positions. The training at the postsecondary level helps to prepare candidates to enter leadership roles, but they lack specificity for the assistant principal position. This study’s aim was to explain the experiences of an assistant principal in a first-person narrative form and to help new assistant principals understand their roles as well as provide guidance to inform practice. The three major themes that emerged from the findings of this research study involved: (a) clash of values and expectations; (b) health, safety, and well-being; and (c) personal growth. The researcher learned that being authentic in leadership includes recognizing personal strengths and weaknesses. Situations in which leaders do not professionally reflect on their leadership practices can lead to chaotic, dysfunctional, traumatic, and unhealthy experiences. An assistant principal’s health, safety, and well-being should be fostered, and this requires time designated for instructional leadership along with opportunities to build trust and relationships. An individual’s ability to serve others is fully compromised when their core values are compromised. Based on this study’s findings, new assistant principals need clear communication protocols, expectations, and responsibilities, along with defined systems and structures. A key recommendation from this study, regardless of geographic location, is to provide new assistant principals with a comprehensive multiyear mentoring program to foster a successful transition into the new position.

Teachers require research-based feedback from their instructional leaders to push their practice forward. Opportunities to intellectually struggle, develop and communicate our understanding is a venue for learning. Professional learning provides these opportunities and current leadership issues require administrators to deepen their instructional leadership expertise. Results of this study revealed ways of preparing instructional leaders with the skills to give targeted feedback to teachers as evidenced by the alignment of administrators and teacher results. The ability to give feedback to teachers needs to be part of a collaborative cycle as evidenced in the growth from September 2016 to January 2017 survey results for administrators (d=.56), as well as the statistically significant results of the independent t Tests for both administrators (p < .000) and teachers (p < .018).

School principals experience an emotional toll as they respond to crises for individuals, groups, schools, and communities. Little research and guidance exist on how to support building principals as they shoulder the pain and trauma of the school communities they serve. Dr. Mark Greenberg of Penn State University shared during an EdWeek webinar in October, 2020, “Being a principal is a highly stressful profession...Their ability to manage this stress is the best predictor about how well their teachers feel, the trust that develops in the school, and as a result we know that the principal actually affects student achievement outcomes.” The greater the stress a school principal experiences without attending to their personal well-being can negatively impact the health and success of the schools they lead. However, research does indicate that principals’ increased state of well-being can positively impact the school communities and educational experiences for children. The Wallace Foundation published the report, How Principals Affect Students and Schools: A Systematic Synthesis of Two Decades of Research, and notes previous findings that school principals are only second to classroom teachers in impacting student achievement may have understated the importance of a quality school principal. While the teacher can directly impact that one student, the building principal has the power and influence to establish equitable schools and student outcomes for an entire community. In order for principals to be the best leaders they can, for as long as they can, this phenomenological study will examine the experience of school principals through the COVID-19 Pandemic, and what leadership values and well-being supports guided them through the crisis. As the need for quality leadership continues to grow, articulating the experiences and lessons learned from experienced leaders can support the training, mentoring, and growth of new and aspiring leaders. Results of this study may be applied to developing professional networks, addressing gaps in leadership preparation programs, examining the scope and job responsibilities of the school principal, and recommending practices for district leaders to examine.

This study contributed information for consideration as school districts determine grade span configuration as part of school design. The problem addressed was the extent to which student achievement may be impacted by the transition from one school to another from fifth to sixth grade in Florida public schools in order to provide data to school policy makers and school district administrators and add to the body of knowledge on the grade level configuration that contributed the most to student achievement in sixth grade. This was a causal-comparative study using quantitative data to analyze student scores at the school level for reading and mathematics on the 2014 Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) 2.0 assessment to explore the difference in achievement for sixth grade students with no school transition compared to those who had school transitions during middle school. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used to examine if a difference existed in the dependent variables of sixth-grade reading and mathematics achievement as measured by school mean developmental scale scores and the school percentage of students making learning gains on the FCAT 2.0 between schools with sixth grade as the transition year and without sixth grade as the transition year. The analyses were controlled for the covariates of the school percentages of socio-economic status as determined by free and reduced lunch rate, English Learner status, and exceptional student education status. Findings signified that schools with no school transition between fifth and sixth grade in Florida public schools had higher sixth-grade mean scores in reading and mathematics as measured by school mean developmental scale scores and in reading as measured by the percentage of school learning gains. This study offers insight into what grade configuration is more likely to positively impact student achievement during the middle grades and supports students remaining in an elementary setting with fewer transitions during the middle grades to most benefit reading and mathematics achievement. Findings are useful to school boards, superintendents, and school district administrators interested in educational policy development and research on transition especially when restructuring school grade configurations and building new school sites.

The purpose of this research was to identify the extent to which a high school freshman transition program aligned with research based recommendations and to determine the extent to which the intervention impacted persistence to the tenth grade, on-track-to-graduation status, and academic success. Documents relevant to the program were collected and analyzed for research based themes. Students in the program at the target school were compared to students in a similar high school and a historical cohort of students who attended the target school. The impact of the course was statistically significant for persistence to the tenth grade, on-track to graduation status, and academic success; however ANOVA found statistical significance favored Algebra 1 EOC and not FCAT Reading. Effect size statistics revealed little to no effect among Freshman Experience and the dependent variables. These findings will help school-level and district administrators design research-based transition interventions which encourage academic success and graduation.

The primary goal of this study was to examine the use of an early warning system to aide in recognizing early school disengagement. Additionally, a goal of this study was to examine an intensive response to intervention decision-making process and the difference in student outcomes for those who were selected for the (RtI process. By combining the examination of an early warning system and an RtI decision-making process, this research furthered recommendations for more effective methods of identifying students who are academically disengaged, and gain insight on intervention processes in secondary schools. Therefore the research questions tested the validity of an early warning system as a means for identifying students at-risk of academic disengagement and student outcome gains when participating in a Response to Intervention (RtI) decision-making process compared to those who did not participate. Populations of concern included students in transitional periods, moving from elementary to middle school and middle school to high school. The study identified several statistically significant and educationally meaningful difference between the use of a risk score indicator and academic achievement. Findings were consistent with other research that have shown statistically significant relationships between student achievement outcomes and early warning systems. While additional research is needed to develop specific recommendations to educational leaders, researchers, and policy makers, this study validates the notion that an early warning identification risk score can be used to predict academic achievement. An early warning system can aid in student identification, but as noted in the last research question of this study, there is still a great need to reach the ultimate goal: mitigating risk factors for students who are academically disengaged. Specifically, as students transition to larger schools, achievement gaps are susceptible to expanding for students; therefore, there is a great need to ensure intervention processes that address the needs of students who are prone to disengagement. Implications of these findings will apply to educational leaders, researchers, and policy-makers with interest in identification of students who are academically disengaged and in need of intervention supports.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality of narrative feedback from district supervisors given to school principals. In addition, building on the research of effective feedback, another purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between supervisor narrative feedback to school principals and four pillars of principal responsibility: student achievement, school climate, fiscal responsibility, and teacher performance. Narrative observation data from the School Leadership Evaluation - Florida Model were analyzed from a large urban school district to determine the level, (i.e., quality) of narrative feedback provided to school principals. Additional data were collected on the four pillars of principal responsibilities and then compared to the quality of narrative feedback to determine if a relationship existed between the quality of narrative feedback and each of the principal responsibilities. The information from this study was valuable for understanding the relationships that existed between the quality of feedback given to school leaders to aid in school improvement.

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students' outcomes in relation to school configuration, specifically K-8 elementary schools as compared to 6-8 middle schools. Student outcomes focused on in this study were standardized test scores, number of out-of-school suspensions, and number of days absent. Race and gender served as moderator variables for all research questions. Quantitative data were obtained from a large central Florida school district and included 2016 Florida Standards Assessment scale scores in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Algebra 1 End-of-Course Examinations, 2015 Florida Standards Assessment scale scores in English Language Arts and Mathematics for students in Grade 8 during the 2015-2016 academic year, 2013 and 2014 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests 2.0 Reading and Mathematics developmental scale scores for students in Grade 8 during the 2015-2016 academic year, number of out-of-school suspensions, and number of days absent by student for the 2015-2016 academic year. The data were analyzed via two-way analysis of variances to determine if statistically significant differences existed in student outcomes based on school configuration. The literature review supported the need to align the educational environment with student development in order to maximize student outcomes. In the quest to accomplish this, many districts have employed a number of school configurations, including the K-8 elementary school configuration and 6-8 middle school configuration to best meet the unique needs of early adolescents. The large central Florida school district selected for this study was unique in that it employed both the K-8 elementary school and 6-8 middle school configurations to serve students in Grades 6 through 8. As can be seen by results of this study, school configuration, either alone or in conjunction with one of the moderator variables, was indicated in differences in Grades 6 and 7 FSA ELA scale scores, Grades 6 and 7 FSA Mathematics scale scores, Grades 7 and 8 FSA Algebra 1 EOC Examination scale scores, FCAT 2.0 Reading growth, Grades 6, 7, and 8 number of OSS by student, and Grade 7 number of days absent by student. One of the most noteworthy findings of this study was differences in FSA ELA, Mathematics, and Algebra 1 EOC scale scores due to the interaction of school configuration and race. In general, students classified as Black had better FSA outcomes when attending schools of the 6-8 middle school configuration. In contrast, students classified as White or Other had better FSA outcomes when attending schools of the K-8 elementary school configuration. Such findings indicated that the K-8 elementary school configuration may be only a part of the puzzle when considering how to best educate students in the early adolescent developmental period.

The goal of this research was to investigate the impact of the community school practices such as extended/supplemental enrichment time, character development, anger management, counseling, tutoring, and mental and physical healthcare on student performance, attendance and discipline at a community school in a large urban school district in the southern U.S. The select population and sample for this study was the school's 2011-2012 senior cohort, before the school's implementation of community school practices and the school's 2015-2016 senior cohort, after implementation of community school practices at the select community school. In an effort to more accurately determine the effectiveness of the community school practices, the study also compared the performance of the community school after implementation of the community school practices to two comparison high schools in the same urban school district; not incorporating the community school practices into instruction, organizational structure, and policy. T-tests analysis and descriptive statistics analysis demonstrated that there was statistical improvement in student performance in regard to cumulative grade point average, graduation rate, and attendance for the 2015-2016 senior cohort. However, improvement was not present in discipline and the frequency distribution of industry certifications for the 2015-2016 senior cohort when compared to the 2011-2012 senior cohort.