Your search found 30 results.

Descriptors:
Females; Religion; Educational Administration; Religious Factors; Leadership; Principals; Women Administrators; African Americans; African American History; Personal Narratives; Race; Gender Differences; Administrator Attitudes; Educational History

Abstract:
The historic connection of religion and spirituality to women, education, advocacy, and leadership is prevalent in Black American histories in general and the role of the religion and spirit in promoting education and socialisation. Important in this history is the intersection of spirituality and leadership for Black American women. This research privileges woman and female agency in rearticulating gender and race in ways that are meaningful despite subjectivities. This study, informed by notions of religio-spirituality, is taken from a larger study of the life narratives of four Black female principals. Through narrative analysis, the intersectionality of gender, race, and religio-spirituality highlighted the relationship of past and current religio-spiritual leadership understandings that contest the status quo in US schools. Our study highlights one example in which the historicity and analysis of gender and race contributes to reconceputalising educational administration by emphasising the voices of Black women principals, voices that provide alternative understandings of educational administration, stress the importance of gendered and raced voices in administration, and question formulaic models of leadership and the research that reifies them. (Contains 86 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

More Info:
Help | Tutorial Help Finding Full Text |  More Info:
Help Find in a Library |  Publisher's website

Descriptors:
Racial Bias; Educational Improvement; School Districts; Minority Groups; Decision Making; Academic Failure; Models; Case Studies; Middle Schools; Elementary Schools; Teaching Conditions; Teacher Attitudes; Resource Allocation; Disadvantaged Schools

Abstract:
Data from two previous studies are reanalyzed using the lens of institutional racism to examine district decisions that undermined, or sabotaged, improvement efforts at schools attended by students of color. Opportunities to rectify the sabotage were available but not pursued. A model portrays the interaction between decision-maker intent, institutional racism, and the sabotage of school improvement. According to the model, institutional racism can be operative or inoperative. When institutional racism is operative, sabotage of improvement efforts occurs. (Contains 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

More Info:
Help | Tutorial Help Finding Full Text |  More Info:
Help Find in a Library |  Publisher's website

Descriptors:
Educational Change; Equal Education; Social Change; African American Students; White Students; Economic Change; Socioeconomic Status; Economically Disadvantaged; Poverty

Abstract:
This paper presents a comprehensive review of Richard Rothstein's book "Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic, and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap" (Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute, 2004). The insights offered in this book are timely in light of the No Child Left Behind legislation that puts the force of the U.S. government behind the national trend to equate valued learning with standardized test scores. Rothstein's central thesis is that without social and economic reforms to accompany reforms in schooling, the achievement gap will persist. The book acquaints the reader with the multiple ways social, economic, and educational conditions enmesh to the disadvantages of Blacks. For example, in one of the many endnotes, Rothstein cites research reporting that among hourly workers, Black workers are unemployed for longer periods of time, and when working, work fewer hours than their White counterparts. Thus, while the wage per hour does not vary by race, annual income does. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

More Info:
Help | Tutorial Help Finding Full Text |  More Info:
Help Find in a Library |  Publisher's website

Descriptors:
Administrator Attitudes; Educational Improvement; Educational Planning; Elementary Secondary Education; Evaluation Research; Perception; Program Implementation; Surveys; Teacher Attitudes

Abstract:
Reports results of two separate but related studies: The first involves the use of a rubric to evaluate improvement plans from low-performing schools; the second involves a sample of teacher and administrator perceptions of their involvement in improvement planning. Finds poor-quality plans in evaluation study to be related to teacher-involvement issues in perceptual study. (Contains 27 references.) (PKP) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

More Info:
Help | Tutorial Help Finding Full Text |  More Info:
Help Find in a Library

Descriptors:
Academic Achievement; Access to Education; Case Studies; Disadvantaged Youth; Educational Change; Educational Policy; Elementary Secondary Education; Equal Education; Government Role; Poverty; Program Effectiveness; Rural Schools; Urban Schools

Abstract:
This collection of papers explores federal, state, and local efforts across the United States to ensure that all students have equal and equitable educational opportunities. The book begins with an introduction, "Title I Schoolwide Programs: Examining Evidence from the Field" (Dianne L. Taylor and Elizabeth A. Kemper). Section 1, "History and Overview of Title I," presents: (1) "An Historical Perspective of Title I: Expansion of the Federal Role in Education" (Elizabeth A. Kemper and Dianne L. Taylor); (2) "The Overall Effectiveness of Title I: A Review of Recent Research" (Geoffrey D. Borman); and (3) "Pullout: Boon or Boondoggle?" (Pamela S. Angelle). Section 2, "Title I Schoolwide Programs: Evidence from the Field," includes: (4) "Different 'Roads' to Success: A Comparison of Title I Programs at Two Elementary Schools" (Dianne L. Taylor and Charles B. Teddlie); (5) "Toward Systemic Reform in High Poverty Schools: Title I Schoolwide Programs in Two Large Districts" (Kenneth K. Wong and Kimberley F. Alkins); (6) "Timber Mountain Breakdown: How a Fuzzy Vision Derailed One School's Reform Effort" (Patricia E. Ceperley); and (7) "Struggling with Implementation: Two Schoolwide Programs That Did Not Make a Difference" (Mary Helen S. McCoy and Thomasine Haskins Mencer). Section 3, "Lessons Learned from the Field," includes: (8) "Comprehensive School Reform: Lessons Learned" (James Meza, Jr., Lesley Dahlkemper, and Joan Buttram); (9) "Toward Meeting the American Dream: A Future for Title I" (Sam Stringfield); and (10) "Sorting through the Evidence: Policy Implications for Title I Schoolwide Programs" (Dianne L. Taylor and Elizabeth A. Kemper). (Each paper contains references.) (SM) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

More Info:
Help | Tutorial Help Finding Full Text |  More Info:
Help Find in a Library

Descriptors:
Elementary Secondary Education; Matrices; Organizational Effectiveness; Reliability; Transformational Leadership

Abstract:
A matrix of characteristics associated with transformational leadership and with high reliability organizations was developed. Using the matrix as a lens, researchers examined a successful school involved in a school improvement effort to understand the success more fully. Transformational leaders provide opportunities for personal growth for employees as well as for improvement of the organization. A high reliability organization is one that works well and is consistently reliable. A matrix that displays the intersections between the characteristics of high reliability organizations and transformational leadership indicates substantial correspondence between the two, although some characteristics have no matches. The matrix was applied to an elementary school of 329 students, 72% of whom were on free/reduced price lunch. Data came from school improvement plans, a site visit with observations, teacher interviews, and a teacher questionnaire. The matrix suggests that in the successful school, transformational leadership and being a high reliability organization are highly related. (Contains 3 tables and 23 references.) (SLD) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

 ERIC Full Text (495K)

Descriptors:
Block Scheduling; Discipline; Educational Change; Educational Innovation; Flexible Scheduling; Instructional Innovation; School Schedules; Secondary Education

Abstract:
This paper examines how block scheduling affects teachers' perceptions of school climate. It is based on information taken from 21 high schools in a southern state that used 4X4 block scheduling. Data were collected through interviews, a survey instrument that measured teacher perceptions of climate, and focus groups. Based on results from the climate instrument, 2 schools with at least 3 years experience with block scheduling were identified as outliers: 1 positive, 1 negative. Both were comprehensive, public high schools that enrolled students in grades 9-12. Findings include descriptions of the school context, administrative structure, student discipline, faculty collegiality, obstacles to teaching, staff development, and block scheduling. Teachers at both schools commented on improved discipline and academic performance, though teachers at the negative outlying school believed that the administrators' laissez faire style and inconsistency in handling discipline undermined disciplinary efforts. In the positive school, visionary leadership, professional activities in a departmental structure that encouraged collegiality, and a commitment to uninterrupted instructional time contributed to high teacher satisfaction. An inequity in funding was seen as one contributing factor to the different experiences between the two schools. Three tables contain information on demographics, achievement and student participation, and dimensions of contrast between the two schools. (Contains 22 references.) (RJM) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

 ERIC Full Text (521K)

Descriptors:
Compensatory Education; Disadvantaged Youth; Educational Innovation; Educational Planning; Elementary Education; Program Implementation; Urban Schools

Abstract:
Examined the extent to which schools that received Title I funds for schoolwide programs implemented the plans they developed when requesting funds. Results from 10 urban elementary schools show that schools implemented some plan components but did not generally implement instructional innovations included in the plans. (SLD)

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

More Info:
Help | Tutorial Help Finding Full Text |  More Info:
Help Find in a Library

Descriptors:
Compensatory Education; Educational Innovation; High School Students; High Schools; Inner City; Instructional Effectiveness; Professional Development; Teaching Methods

Abstract:
This study focused on the extent to which nontraditional instructional strategies targeted by a high school in its Title I schoolwide plan were observable in classrooms. The study was conducted in an inner-city high school where 76% of the students are classified as economically deprived. Data were collected through classroom observations in 18 of the 33 regular classrooms in the school. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. The classrooms of two teachers were the focus of more detailed study. The evidence overall was mixed regarding implementation of Title I instructional goals. The use of technology was hindered by resource shortages and teacher adherence to teacher-centered strategies. In nearly all classes, students were assumed to be passive learners, although the skill of the faculty in establishing rapport with these low-income students and in creating a positive learning climate are strengths on which the school could build in promoting Title I instructional components. The two classes that were studied more extensively exemplified a traditional teacher-centered class and a student-centered class in which students were encouraged to use various learning styles to accomplish a week-long project on poetry. The contrasts between these two classes suggests that teacher professional development could do much to encourage student-centered instruction. (Contains 3 tables and 19 references.) (SLD) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

 ERIC Full Text (548K)

Descriptors:
Change Strategies; Educational Change; Elementary Education; Instructional Leadership; Organizational Change; Principals; Rural Schools; School Restructuring; Teachers

Abstract:
This report is based on a study that examined the effect of changing principals during a restructuring process. Data were collected at two rural elementary schools in a midsouthern state that had participated in the Accelerated Schools Project. The project's effectiveness was threatened by frequent principal succession at both schools. The schools were in different districts: one school included grades 3 through 6, and the other, pre-K through second. An interview protocol of 10 items explored teachers' perceptions regarding the characteristics of the school prior to initiation of the accelerated schools process, and the effects that principal succession had on the process, including teacher leadership. A protocol of five items guided the principal interviews and investigated principals' perceptions about coming to a school already involved in a restructuring process, including what they found to be particularly easy and difficult about assuming the principalship at a school where teachers had been trained in leadership roles. The results suggest that strong teacher leadership can mitigate the effects of a bad fit, at least for a short time. At neither school did changes in principals destroy the restructuring process. However, a strong match between the principal and the school's culture is of utmost importance. (Contains 15 references.) (RJM) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

 ERIC Full Text (504K)