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Sustained professional development can support STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) reform. The authors describe a 3-year study of sustained professional development for 3 diverse urban schools across the salient factors of fidelity of implementation of project-based learning, development of professional learning communities, and student achievement. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected. The students who experienced the greatest fidelity of implementation exhibited the greatest gains (d = 1.41-2.03) on standardized test scores, while those with the lowest fidelity of implementation exhibited negative gains (d = -0.16 to -0.08). Qualitative data indicated teachers perceived there were multiple benefits from the implementation of project-based learning.

This qualitative interpretivist research study focused on understanding perceived superintendent self-efficacy and instructional leadership in school districts that have persistently failed to serve students of color and that also may have contributed to persistent student achievement inequities and achievement gaps. This study yielded three complex and interrelated themes: rejecting responsibility, supporting persistent racism, and sustaining deficit viewpoints. Findings from this study serve to suggest that an important self-efficacy linkage may be absent or underdeveloped in superintendents who maintain paradoxical high efficacy beliefs in the face of ongoing low and inequitable student performance. Policy and practice recommendations are discussed that might assist and influence superintendents' abilities to link their self-efficacy perceptions to improving equitable academic performance for all students.

Two university researchers who have considerable practitioner and research experience in urban schools conducted an interventionist action research project in collaboration with the professional staff of a diverse urban elementary school. The goal was to collaborate with the administration, faculty and staff in an average urban elementary school to improve the academic success of all students and all student groups regardless of the race, ethnicity and family income of the students and their families. While analyses of the school's state accountability data indicated that there was some improvement in the academic success of the school's diverse students, particularly among the lowest scoring student group, problems that arose in this process led the researchers to identify four themes of resistance to school change. These were "externals are the cause of low achievement and achievement gaps", "accountability systems are destructive to my teaching", "suggesting change is critique" and "we are not leaders". Following a description of the themes, implications and recommendations are briefly discussed. (Contains 4 notes.)

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to suggest the structure and content of an educational leadership program whose aim is to prepare principals for social justice work. Research Design: The authors have conceptualized foundational components for a comprehensive principalship program focused on social justice. They assert that educational leaders for social justice must have three goals at the forefront of their efforts: (a) They must raise the academic achievement of all the students in their school, that is, high test scores do matter; (b) they must prepare their students to live as critical citizens in society; and (c) both of these goals can only be achieved when leaders assign students to inclusive, heterogeneous classrooms that provide all students access to a rich and engaging curriculum. The components addressed for this social justice-oriented principalship preparation program include (a) how students should be selected for such a program and (b) an outline of the knowledge and content for educating social justice leaders. The importance of induction/praxis after students graduate from these programs is discussed. (Contains 1 note.)

Purpose: Intermittent attention to the district as the unit of study has left a void in our understanding of the complexities associated with the ability of district-level leaders to contribute to successful, systemic educational reform. In this article, the authors address this void by providing a narrative synthesis of previous findings, proposing a theory of districts as institutional actors in systemic reform with the goal being to increase achievement and advance equity, and suggesting areas of future research that extend our understanding of districts as institutional actors in educational reform and build our knowledge of reform that improves achievement and advances equity. Proposed Conceptual Argument: The four roles of districts evident in research to date are (a) providing instructional leadership, (b) reorienting the organization, (c) establishing policy coherence, and (d) maintaining an equity focus. These four roles, which are interdependent, variably coupled, and coevolving through a non-linear process, serve as a foundation for the authors' proposed framework of districts as institutional actors in improving achievement and advancing equity. Implications for Research and Practice: The discontinuous and limited nature of previous research has contributed to the lack of theoretical advancement with regard to a research-based understanding of district reform and thus to a lack of research-based guidance for district leaders to follow to create systemically districts that improve achievement and advance educational equity for all children. The framework presented here contributes toward the resolution of these issues by developing an intentional, coherent, and integrated framework of districts as institutional actors in reform. (Contains 1 figure and 27 notes.)

Introduces a collection of articles on accountability, testing, and academics in schools with minority group and low-income students. The articles share the common viewpoint that there have been, and will continue to be mixed effects of accountability on educational equity in schools and districts. (SM)

Discusses the effect of deficit thinking on the academic achievement of minority and low income students. Highlights five ways that high-stakes accountability helped displace deficit thinking of school superintendents in Texas school districts. Data come from a multiyear study that demonstrated sustained, substantially improved academic achievement for children of color and impoverished children in those districts. (SM)

Reviews and describes five core beliefs and seven organizational cultural characteristics of urban schools that are highly successful in educating low-socioeconomic status (low-SES) children of color. These factors are operationalized in a model called High Performance All Student Success (HiPass), which was developed by urban principals rather than educational researchers. (SLD)

Schools offer a unique environment to influence children's physical activity (PA) levels positively. This study aims to systematically review the evidence surrounding how PA affects academic performance by analysing how the frequency, intensity, time, and type of PA mediate academic performance outcomes. This review was conducted using the PRISMA framework. Keyword searches were conducted in Science Direct, PubMed, and SPORTDiscus. Children that were obese, typically developing, typical weight, disabled, with a developmental disability, from a low socio-economic background, or an ethnic minority were included. A total of 19 studies were included, with a total of 6788 participants, a mean age of 9.3 years (50.2% boys, and 49.8% girls). Overall, 63.2% were nondisabled, while 36.8% were diagnosed with a disability. Two authors met, reviewed papers with regard to the inclusion criteria, and agreed on outputs to be included. Evidence suggests that associations between PA and academic performance were primarily positive or nonsignificant. PA levels of 90 min plus per week were associated with improved academic performance, as was PA performed at moderate to vigorous intensity. The optimal duration of PA was 30–60 min per session, whilst various sports induced positive academic effects. Importantly, findings support that PA does not have a deleterious effect on academic performance but can enhance it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustained professional development can support STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) reform. The authors describe a 3-year study of sustained professional development for 3 diverse urban schools across the salient factors of fidelity of implementation of project-based learning, development of professional learning communities, and student achievement. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected. The students who experienced the greatest fidelity of implementation exhibited the greatest gains (d= 1.41–2.03) on standardized test scores, while those with the lowest fidelity of implementation exhibited negative gains (d= –0.16 to –0.08). Qualitative data indicated teachers perceived there were multiple benefits from the implementation of project-based learning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Utilizing a qualitative case-study design, this study explored how a mid-sized urban high school professional learning community was used as a reform effort to increase student achievement in mathematics on standards-based assessments. From a year-long interaction with the math professional learning community, which consisted of 3 school leaders and 6 teachers, principal leadership emerged as most significant in the professional learning community process for increasing teacher and student learning. Through detailed observations of professional learning community meetings and teachers' classrooms, this research was able to trace changes in teacher practices that resulted from the professional learning community meetings. Results indicate that school leaders may have to take responsibility for providing instructional processes and practices that are characterized by structure, pressure, and support to ensure that teacher learning and change in teacher practice that leads to improved student learning occur within professional learning communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large, traditional urban high schools are among the most difficult education environments in the United States. These schools, which serve a high percentage of the Black and Latino students in the United States, often have low academic performance, high dropout rates, high teacher and school leader turnover, and inexperienced teachers. They often exist within contexts of high poverty, high family mobility, high unemployment, and low social capital. However, because they serve such a high percentage of students nationally, academic success at these schools is an equity issue with major national economic and social wellbeing implications. As a result, there have been many efforts to reform these urban high schools or whole urban districts. Despite some exceptions, particularly in small schools that serve a small percentage of students, the success of these reforms has been limited. This is the report of a qualitative study of teachers', school leaders', and students' perceptions of three large, traditional urban Texas high schools that were exhibiting the most success in math and science when compared to similar large, traditional urban Texas high schools after statistically controlling for the challenges each school faced. The 3 themes that emerged to describe the similarities among these three schools were leadership, equity orientation, and instructional focus. However, the highlight of the results was long lasting, stable teachers' professional communities composed of diverse, experienced teachers with particularly strong equity orientations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to suggest the structure and content of an educational leadership program whose aim is to prepare principals for social justice work. Research Design: The authors have conceptualized foundational components for a comprehensive principalship program focused on social justice. They assert that educational leaders for social justice must have three goals at the forefront of their efforts: (a) They must raise the academic achievement of all the students in their school, that is, high test scores do matter; (b) they must prepare their students to live as critical citizens in society; and (c) both of these goals can only be achieved when leaders assign students to inclusive, heterogeneous classrooms that provide all students access to a rich and engaging curriculum. The components addressed for this social justice-oriented principalship preparation program include (a) how students should be selected for such a program and (b) an outline of the knowledge and content for educating social justice leaders. The importance of induction/praxis after students graduate from these programs is discussed. Conclusions: The aim of this article is to provoke a discussion in the field and spark faculty to engage in ongoing conversations and thinking about their own programs and to imagine new avenues for future research in this area. Faculty also can use these suggestions as a guide to assess their efforts and to bolster program quality, sensitive to the unique needs and schooling contexts of their particular students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case addresses a typical context faced by a new urban principal. Under the former principal, the school had several years of average academic success. Consequently, the superintendent appointed the new principal to significantly improve the success of the highly diverse elementary school. Although the new principal has been well trained and has had experience under a successful principal, she understands that her challenges are formidable. In response, she has been building trust and relationships with the staff, teachers, and parents, but now she must develop a yearlong improvement plan, as must the students who use this case in their coursework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]