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 study was to identify and describe the associations between systemic equity pedagogy (SEP) practices in highly diverse high schools and their students' science achievement and college readiness. This study focuses on science programs in ten highly diverse Texas high schools serving students who exhibit high science achievement and college readiness. According to the Policy Research Group in Science Education, only two percent of all culturally diverse high schools within the state of Texas demonstrate high science achievement and college readiness on state-tracked school-level indicators. Transforming a school context where achievement disparities exist among student groups in science classrooms necessitates that public school officials understand key factors, or “drivers,” and associated indicators contributing to SEP in programs. A model for programs is suggested using a framework for SEP based on data collected from ten highly successful, high diversity high schools. The following research questions address the research gap regarding indicators of SEP associated with high science achievement and college readiness in highly culturally diverse high schools. How do data from ten highly successful, high diversity high schools inform the development of a comprehensive SEP rubric? How do high achieving high schools of culturally diverse student populations score on a comprehensive SEP rubric? How do teachers’ perceptions toward implementing SEP practices vary in different schools? Three research papers detail the research of this dissertation. The purpose for the first paper is to increase understanding of indicators facilitating systemic and equitable teaching and learning practices, otherwise referred to as systemic equity pedagogy (SEP). Results of the study show indicators of a comprehensive SEP rubric. Together, 127 indicators, thirty categories, and eight SEP drivers form a model framing equitable teaching and learning practices associated with high science achievement and college readiness. In conclusion, indicators within the SEP rubric can be described as action-oriented descriptors that science teachers engage formally or informally in order to facilitate quality science education for all students. The purpose for paper two is to score equitable teaching and learning practices in highly successful high school science programs based on the SEP rubric. Findings reveals that implementation of various equitable teaching and learning practices vary across science programs and these practices can be described as both pedagogical and non-pedagogical. In conclusion, varying degrees of implementation exist for indicators in the SEP rubric. In paper three, the purpose is to understand science teachers’ attitude and approach toward implementing systemic teaching and learning practices. Results from this study provide scores that indicate science teachers’ perceptions of their approach to SEP. This study concludes by suggesting high achieving science programs may operate within a continuum for implementing equitable teaching and learning practices.

This doctoral thesis investigates the interrelatedness between school policy and practice. In the thesis, the construction of “the teacher” is analysed in school policy documents and teacher interviews. I am particularly interested in the relation between school policy and school practice in light of the two latest curriculum reforms 1994 and 2011 and the teacher accreditation registration reform of 2011. The analysis focuses on two topics: grading and the professional teacher. In fact, an analytic link is made between the emphasis on grading and the discursive construction of the teacher in Swedish education policy. The theoretical framework is positioned within institutional theory within which I combine curriculum theory and the sociological new institutionalism with discourse theory. The analyses of policy documents reveals three types of different discursive constructions of “the teacher”. In the period of deregulation and decentralization, a professional teacher is constructed and the need for an autonomous teacher for school quality is expressed. By the 1990s -2000s an unprofessional grading teacher is constructed. In the period signifying the teacher accreditation and registration reform, a quality assured teacher is constructed. It is a teacher who is formally authorized and in need of continuing evaluation. In the focus groups interviews teachers constructs two types of professionalism. One is in line with the professionalism articulated in the policy texts and is about control and formal regulation and the other is about autonomy. Furthermore, the teachers relate to grading and teachers' ability to act in accordance with their overall teaching assignment. Grading were often constructed opposed to teaching. Demands for documentation, quality reports or the requirement of teacher accreditation is described as institutional practices defined from above. These practices make it difficult for teachers to complete their teaching assignments. The study indicates that teachers' ability to operate in an increasingly regulatory schooling culture has, through the types of requirements for transparency in teachers’ work, resulted in the decline of autonomy in their professional practice.

Esta dissertação analisa o processo de implementação da reestruturação curricular do ensino médio ocorrida no estado do Rio Grande do Sul entre os anos 2012-2014, pelo qual se instituiu o Ensino Médio Politécnico. A partir da perspectiva construcionista social do currículo sugerida por Ivor Goodson, se considera a análise curricular em três dimensões: préativa, escrita e ativa. Apresenta-se, primeiramente, as principais reformas do ensino médio da Era Vargas até a atualidade. Ao longo da história, as reformas expuseram diversas disputas sociais que envolviam a relação entre educação e trabalho. Na dimensão pré-ativa do currículo, consideramos que a apresentação da proposta de reestruturação pela Secretaria de Educação do Rio Grande do Sul gerou controvérsias e expectativas nos meios acadêmicos e na opinião pública. Na dimensão do currículo escrito, verificamos que as leis e documentos criados para subsidiar a reforma do ensino médio no Brasil e no Rio Grande do Sul expressam uma tentativa de conciliar a histórica dualidade entre educação e trabalho no país. Na dimensão ativa do currículo se observou que os atores envolvidos no processo de reforma percebem a reestruturação de diferentes maneiras, persistindo uma visão positiva do processo, apesar da identificação de diversos problemas. A reforma do ensino médio ocorrida no Rio Grande do Sul é uma política de reestruturação curricular que se insere em um contexto maior de reforma deste nível de ensino abrangendo a esfera nacional. Todavia, a reforma se mostrou problemática, pois grande parte dos professores e gestores escolares não compreendem bem os conceitos e fundamentos estruturantes desta política, manifestando práticas pedagógicas organizadas sensorialmente, principalmente no que se refere a nova disciplina, Seminário Integrado, se diferenciando da organização referenciada no campo científico como a proposta da Secretaria Estadual de Educação se apresenta. / This thesis analyses the process of implementation of the curricular restructuring of high school conducted in the state of Rio Grande do Sul between the years 2012-2014, by which the Ensino Médio Politécnico (Polytechnical High School) was implemented. Based on the social constructionist perspective of the curriculum suggested by Ivor Goodson, the curricular analysis is considered in three dimensions: pre-active, written and active. Firstly, the main high school reforms from the Vargas Age until today are presented. Throughout history, the reforms highlighted many social disputes involving the relation between education and work. On the pre-active dimension of the curriculum, we consider the presenting of the restructuration proposal by the Secretariat of Education of Rio Grande do Sul has generated controversy and expectation in the academia and in the public opinion. On the written dimension of the curriculum, we verified that the laws and documents created to subsidize the high school reform in Brazil and in Rio Grande do Sul express an attempt to conciliate the historical duality between education and work in the country. On the active dimension of the curriculum, it was observed that the actors involved in the reform process perceive the restructuring in different ways, maintaining a positivistic view of the process, despite the identification of many problems. It is believed that the high school reform which has taken place in Rio Grande do Sul is a curricular restructuring policy, inserted in a larger reform context of this level of schooling encompassing the national sphere. However, the reform has proven problematic, for the great part of teachers and school managers do not understand well the concepts and structuring fundaments of this policy, manifesting sensorially organized pedagogical practices, chiefly concerning the new discipline, Seminário Integrado (Integrated Seminar), differing from the organization referred in the scientific field as the proposal of the State Secretariat of Education presents.

xv, 224 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Arguably, the most popular current in school reform today is around "small schools". Small schools reforms are predicated on a body of research that suggests students learn better in smaller schools--or, schools of about 400 students or less--rather than large, "comprehensive" high schools. While existing studies of these reforms highlight the benefits for students and the challenges associated with school restructuring, they avoid a frank discussion of how school change affects teachers. Further, these studies fail to address how the politics of change affect prospects for sustainable success. This project redirects the focus of school reform research back towards teachers' work and the importance of democratic teacher participation via an examination of the Oregon Small Schools Initiative, an Oregon-based small schools reform. Using original survey and interview data, I examine how the politics of reform mediate the effects of school conversion on teachers' work. My data suggest that teachers from schools that engaged in a democratic change process fared better than their peers from schools where change was implemented in a more authoritarian fashion. I found that the relationship between politics and work is largely based on that fact that, in democratic schools, teachers had more power and voice regarding school conversion, and school administrators were more likely to listen to and incorporate teachers' feedback into the restructuring process. By viewing teacher criticism as constructive input--as opposed to simply "resistance"--personnel from democratic schools were better able to decide upon a locally appropriate model of reform that fit the needs of both their teachers and students. / Committee in charge: Caleb Southworth, Chairperson, Sociology; Kenneth Liberman, Member, Sociology; Robert O Brien, Member, Sociology; K Brigid Flannery, Outside Member, Special Education and Clinical Sciences

abstract: Increasing public criticism of traditional teacher evaluation systems based largely on classroom observations has spurred an unprecedented shift in the debate surrounding educational accountability policies, specifically about the purposes for and measures used to evaluate teachers. In response to growing public demand and associated federal mandates, states have been prompted to design and implement teacher evaluation systems that use increasingly available, statistically complex models (i.e., value-added) intended to isolate and measure the effects of individual teachers on student academic growth over time. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of school administrators and teachers within one of the largest school districts in the state of Arizona with regards to the design and implementation of a federally-supported, state policy-directed teacher evaluation system based on professional practice and value-added measures. While much research has been conducted on teacher evaluation, few studies have examined teacher evaluation systems in context to better understand the standards of effectiveness used by school administrators and teachers to measure system effectiveness. The perceptions of school administrators and teachers, considering their lived experiences as the subjects of the nation's new and improved teacher evaluation systems in context, must be better understood if state and federal policymakers are to also better recognize and understand the consequences (intended and unintended) associated with the design and implementation of these systems in practice. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2014

Esta dissertação analisa o processo de implementação da reestruturação curricular do ensino médio ocorrida no estado do Rio Grande do Sul entre os anos 2012-2014, pelo qual se instituiu o Ensino Médio Politécnico. A partir da perspectiva construcionista social do currículo sugerida por Ivor Goodson, se considera a análise curricular em três dimensões: préativa, escrita e ativa. Apresenta-se, primeiramente, as principais reformas do ensino médio da Era Vargas até a atualidade. Ao longo da história, as reformas expuseram diversas disputas sociais que envolviam a relação entre educação e trabalho. Na dimensão pré-ativa do currículo, consideramos que a apresentação da proposta de reestruturação pela Secretaria de Educação do Rio Grande do Sul gerou controvérsias e expectativas nos meios acadêmicos e na opinião pública. Na dimensão do currículo escrito, verificamos que as leis e documentos criados para subsidiar a reforma do ensino médio no Brasil e no Rio Grande do Sul expressam uma tentativa de conciliar a histórica dualidade entre educação e trabalho no país. Na dimensão ativa do currículo se observou que os atores envolvidos no processo de reforma percebem a reestruturação de diferentes maneiras, persistindo uma visão positiva do processo, apesar da identificação de diversos problemas. A reforma do ensino médio ocorrida no Rio Grande do Sul é uma política de reestruturação curricular que se insere em um contexto maior de reforma deste nível de ensino abrangendo a esfera nacional. Todavia, a reforma se mostrou problemática, pois grande parte dos professores e gestores escolares não compreendem bem os conceitos e fundamentos estruturantes desta política, manifestando práticas pedagógicas organizadas sensorialmente, principalmente no que se refere a nova disciplina, Seminário Integrado, se diferenciando da organização referenciada no campo científico como a proposta da Secretaria Estadual de Educação se apresenta. / This thesis analyses the process of implementation of the curricular restructuring of high school conducted in the state of Rio Grande do Sul between the years 2012-2014, by which the Ensino Médio Politécnico (Polytechnical High School) was implemented. Based on the social constructionist perspective of the curriculum suggested by Ivor Goodson, the curricular analysis is considered in three dimensions: pre-active, written and active. Firstly, the main high school reforms from the Vargas Age until today are presented. Throughout history, the reforms highlighted many social disputes involving the relation between education and work. On the pre-active dimension of the curriculum, we consider the presenting of the restructuration proposal by the Secretariat of Education of Rio Grande do Sul has generated controversy and expectation in the academia and in the public opinion. On the written dimension of the curriculum, we verified that the laws and documents created to subsidize the high school reform in Brazil and in Rio Grande do Sul express an attempt to conciliate the historical duality between education and work in the country. On the active dimension of the curriculum, it was observed that the actors involved in the reform process perceive the restructuring in different ways, maintaining a positivistic view of the process, despite the identification of many problems. It is believed that the high school reform which has taken place in Rio Grande do Sul is a curricular restructuring policy, inserted in a larger reform context of this level of schooling encompassing the national sphere. However, the reform has proven problematic, for the great part of teachers and school managers do not understand well the concepts and structuring fundaments of this policy, manifesting sensorially organized pedagogical practices, chiefly concerning the new discipline, Seminário Integrado (Integrated Seminar), differing from the organization referred in the scientific field as the proposal of the State Secretariat of Education presents.

Esta dissertação analisa o processo de implementação da reestruturação curricular do ensino médio ocorrida no estado do Rio Grande do Sul entre os anos 2012-2014, pelo qual se instituiu o Ensino Médio Politécnico. A partir da perspectiva construcionista social do currículo sugerida por Ivor Goodson, se considera a análise curricular em três dimensões: préativa, escrita e ativa. Apresenta-se, primeiramente, as principais reformas do ensino médio da Era Vargas até a atualidade. Ao longo da história, as reformas expuseram diversas disputas sociais que envolviam a relação entre educação e trabalho. Na dimensão pré-ativa do currículo, consideramos que a apresentação da proposta de reestruturação pela Secretaria de Educação do Rio Grande do Sul gerou controvérsias e expectativas nos meios acadêmicos e na opinião pública. Na dimensão do currículo escrito, verificamos que as leis e documentos criados para subsidiar a reforma do ensino médio no Brasil e no Rio Grande do Sul expressam uma tentativa de conciliar a histórica dualidade entre educação e trabalho no país. Na dimensão ativa do currículo se observou que os atores envolvidos no processo de reforma percebem a reestruturação de diferentes maneiras, persistindo uma visão positiva do processo, apesar da identificação de diversos problemas. A reforma do ensino médio ocorrida no Rio Grande do Sul é uma política de reestruturação curricular que se insere em um contexto maior de reforma deste nível de ensino abrangendo a esfera nacional. Todavia, a reforma se mostrou problemática, pois grande parte dos professores e gestores escolares não compreendem bem os conceitos e fundamentos estruturantes desta política, manifestando práticas pedagógicas organizadas sensorialmente, principalmente no que se refere a nova disciplina, Seminário Integrado, se diferenciando da organização referenciada no campo científico como a proposta da Secretaria Estadual de Educação se apresenta. / This thesis analyses the process of implementation of the curricular restructuring of high school conducted in the state of Rio Grande do Sul between the years 2012-2014, by which the Ensino Médio Politécnico (Polytechnical High School) was implemented. Based on the social constructionist perspective of the curriculum suggested by Ivor Goodson, the curricular analysis is considered in three dimensions: pre-active, written and active. Firstly, the main high school reforms from the Vargas Age until today are presented. Throughout history, the reforms highlighted many social disputes involving the relation between education and work. On the pre-active dimension of the curriculum, we consider the presenting of the restructuration proposal by the Secretariat of Education of Rio Grande do Sul has generated controversy and expectation in the academia and in the public opinion. On the written dimension of the curriculum, we verified that the laws and documents created to subsidize the high school reform in Brazil and in Rio Grande do Sul express an attempt to conciliate the historical duality between education and work in the country. On the active dimension of the curriculum, it was observed that the actors involved in the reform process perceive the restructuring in different ways, maintaining a positivistic view of the process, despite the identification of many problems. It is believed that the high school reform which has taken place in Rio Grande do Sul is a curricular restructuring policy, inserted in a larger reform context of this level of schooling encompassing the national sphere. However, the reform has proven problematic, for the great part of teachers and school managers do not understand well the concepts and structuring fundaments of this policy, manifesting sensorially organized pedagogical practices, chiefly concerning the new discipline, Seminário Integrado (Integrated Seminar), differing from the organization referred in the scientific field as the proposal of the State Secretariat of Education presents.

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a data-based decision-making framework of service delivery that has the potential to improve educational outcomes for all students. Preliminary data appear to bolster this claim. However, it is as yet unclear whether RTI will be able to close the gap in educational outcomes that exists between students of different racial groups. Drawing on theories such as culture of policy (Stein, 2004) and deficit thinking (Valencia, 2010), this study explored the experiences of six White elementary teachers using RTI while working with Black students receiving Tier 2 or Tier 3 instructional supports. Using theoretically driven constant-comparative analysis, I illustrated how teachers’ personal worldviews as well as local contexts informed their different interpretations of RTI as well as their similar interpretive lens: racialized deficit-based thinking while talking about the causes of the racial gap in schooling outcomes as well as while talking about specific Black students in their classrooms. While speaking about specific students, teachers drew on deficit thinking to explain the roots of problems (e.g., low motivation, lack of parental involvement), and paid comparatively little attention to problems in instruction, curriculum, or other contextual factors. Findings are discussed in light of Stein’s (2004) work showing how the culture of policy operates at the school level, and how even equity-oriented policies can be negated by deficit-oriented perspectives and practices.

This study examined the relationships between leadership practices of principals and strength of schools as sustainable professional learning communities. Strength of schools as professional learning communities was measured using the Professional Learning Communities Assessment; leadership practices were measured using the Leadership Practices Inventory both Self and Observer protocols. Findings indicated that neither principal's self-perceptions of their leadership practices nor teachers' assessments of their principals' leadership practices were related to strength of schools as professional learning communities. Findings did indicate ten specific leadership behaviors of principals that appear to be more highly related to strength of schools as learning communities. Further analysis which focused on the two strongest learning community schools and the two weakest learning community schools indicated that three specific leadership behaviors within Kouzes and Posner's practices of modeling the way and enabling others to act appear to be the most strongly related to reculturing schools as sustainable professional learning communities. Principals who set a personal example of what they expect of others are most likely to lead schools that function as strong learning communities. Additionally, principals who build consensus around a common set of values are also most likely to lead strong learning communities. Finally, principals who develop cooperative relationship with co-workers are most likely to lead schools that function as strong learning communities.