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The study's goals were to find out how much culturally responsive leadership headmasters are employed and how many professional learning community (PLC) are set up in small schools. It also looked into the relationship between these two variables by using a questionnaire in a quantitative survey design, which was administered to 546 respondents out of 754 that had been distributed. Descriptive statistics were used to study the level of perception of all variables, and inferential statistics used Pearson's correlation coefficient to study the relationship between the variables. The findings of the study showed that school headmasters practiced a culturally responsive leadership style, and teachers also participated a lot in PLC. Teacher participation in PLC had a significant relationship with culturally responsive leadership at the 0.05 significance level. The results of the study also showed that culturally responsive leadership accounts for 48.7% of the variance in teacher participation in PLC. This finding greatly suggests that culturally responsive leadership practices are important in contributing to teachers' practices in PLC, which in turn will improve student learning.

This research examines the significance of higher education institutions (HEIs) as anchors in their host cities and their community engagement strategies between 1980 and 2020. By examining four case studies of urban-based universities that are members of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU) across diverse geographical and socio-economic contexts, this study analyzes the impact of anchor strategies on local communities, economic development, and urban revitalization. Two public institutions--Rutgers University-Newark (RU-N) and the University of Pretoria Mamelodi Campus (South Africa)--and two private institutions--Syracuse University (S.U.) and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)--comprise the four selected case studies of urban-based institutions. A comparative analysis of the case studies reveals that effective anchor strategies frequently involve multidimensional approaches that address the social, economic, and public safety challenges of their respective cities. In addition, the study identifies the key factors contributing to the efficacy of anchor strategies, such as strong leadership, stakeholder collaborations, and maximizing the role of mission and vision. The findings of the study highlight the interplay between universities and their environments rooted in their host cities. This can serve as a model for other universities interested in becoming anchor institutions or otherwise participating in the work of urban serving higher education institutions.

This study examined the relationship between students' academic performance, teachers' commitment, and leadership behavior of school administrators. Teachers' commitment was measured in two areas-- commitment to job and commitment to organization and the leadership behavior of school administrators were evaluated in terms of consideration and initiating structure. Eighty-one teachers, 11 school heads, and 470 students served as respondents. The descriptive survey research technique, correlation analysis, and the following statistical methods were used: frequency, mean, standard deviation, and correlation coefficient. The study revealed that the initiating structure and consideration dimensions of leadership behavior affect teachers' commitment to job (CTJ) and teacher's commitment to organization (CTO). The correlation between CTJ and CTO and leadership behavior-initiating structure is positive and with leadership behavior-consideration negative. CTJ and CTO is correlated with the students' academic performance in math, but not in Science and English. The correlation is negative. Students' academic performance in all subject areas is negatively correlated with leadership behavior-initiating structure and has no significant relationship with leadership behavior-consideration. The leadership behavior-initiating structure is positively correlated with teachers' commitment to both job and organization but has negative correlation with students' academic performance in math, science, and English.

To overcome the difficulty and unprecedented suspensions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, every organization is required to consider strategic steps to sustain, one of which is by implementing digital transformation and developing leadership capability. This study aims to determine the impact of digital transformation and leadership capability in maintaining the organization, particularly in distance education. This study used questionnaires distributed to 402 students to obtain their opinions on digital transformation, leadership capability, and organizational resilience in Universitas Terbuka, a founder of distance education institutions in Indonesia. Data were analyzed using descriptive and Higher-Order Structural Equation Modeling analysis. Based on the modelling, it is shown that the modelling had a good value of the Goodness of Fit Indicator through a standardized loading factor (SLF) more than the tolerable loading factor limit (>0.50). The Variance Extracted (VE) and Construct Reliability (CR) values also showed that the questions on every indicator used in this study were sufficiently measurable and reliable. The results of hypothesis testing indicated that there was a positive and significant impact of digital transformation and leadership capability on the organizational resilience of Universitas Terbuka.

This investigation aims to measure the leadership skills level among Saudi undergraduates. It addresses measuring four main skills as indicators for leadership competencies: communication and personal behavior, learning and reasoning, strategic planning and civic responsibility, and self-awareness and interpersonal interaction. The study endeavors to assess the leadership capabilities of first-year college students at a Saudi university through an examination of various skills. While also investigating two mediation effects of these skills and two moderating impacts of gender and academic discipline. We perform structural equation modeling on a dataset comprising 5,992 responses collected from surveyed students. The key findings indicate a high level of leadership skills among first-year Saudi undergraduate students. The study provides support for the mediating effects of personal attributes, such as communication, personal behavior, self-awareness, and interpersonal interaction, on other leadership skills. The moderating role of study type has been supported in the relationship between learning and reasoning skills and strategic planning and civic responsibility. However, the controlling role of gender has been rejected. Research emphasizes integrating leadership skills in undergraduate education, addressing demographic factors. Insights guide policymakers to support social studies students and low achievers through systematic educational methods and tailored programs for faculty-student engagement.

This comprehensive scoping review aimed to identify and synthesize the existing research on professional development (PD) for educators and educational leaders in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between 2018 and 2023. Fourteen scholarly articles covering a wide range of topics related to education in the UAE were collected and analyzed. The review revealed that PD initiatives in the UAE often focus on enhancing teacher effectiveness and leadership skills, particularly in the context of educational reforms and inclusive education practices. However, significant challenges were identified, including implementation gaps, cultural barriers, and resistance to centrally imposed PD programs. The findings suggest that while PD programs positively impact teacher performance and educational quality, further efforts are needed to address the challenges within the UAE's unique socio-cultural context.

Polarization is increasingly impacting Extension's work in communities. Extension has untapped potential to address division and lack of civility by building civic infrastructure and skills for constructive dialogue. We describe a pilot program that began as a one-off event and grew into a series organized by University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension in partnership with Braver Angels, a national organization applying research-based skills to building bridges. We report on the series structure and content, its goals, and the impacts on participants. We suggest that Extension has the mission, capacity, opportunity, and responsibility to engage in skill-building for Public Issues Education.

Professional organizations can play an important role in the lives and work of educators. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore Alabama educators' experiences with membership in statewide professional organizations and to determine what benefits, if any, members feel their organizations provide them. Four main benefits that respondents identified were community, broadening of knowledge and practice, leadership opportunities, and personal growth.

This analysis addresses the knowledge gap on laissez-faire leadership in organizations. After reviewing 64 articles through the systematic literature review, the study finds that laissez-faire leadership, marked by minimal decision-making involvement, is generally associated with negative outcomes like reduced employee satisfaction and productivity. However, its impact can vary based on context, potentially fostering creativity in highly skilled and motivated teams. The study emphasizes the need for judicious application of this leadership style and suggests that school managers should discern when to use it, considering its suitability for different types of educators. Overall, the research contributes valuable insights for leaders aiming to optimize leadership strategies in diverse contexts.

The aims of this research are to: (1) study the conditions for fostering ethical leadership in the 21st century among school administrators. Under the jurisdiction of the Sukhothai Primary Educational Service Area Office, Area 2, Thailand; and (2) propose guidelines for strengthening ethical leadership in the 21st century of educational institution administrators. Under the Sukhothai Primary Educational Service Area Office, Area 2, Thailand, this is descriptive research. The group of informants in the research were nine school administrators using purposive sampling. The research instrument was a semi-structured interview form. Data were analysed using content analysis. The research results found that: (1) Conditions for enhancing ethical leadership in the 21st century among educational institution administrators. Under the jurisdiction of the Sukhothai Primary Educational Service Area Office 2, Thailand, it was found that the conditions for fostering ethical leadership in the 21st century among school administrators have 6 elements, consisting of: (1) justice; (2) honesty; (3) respect for others. Other (4) Responsibility; (5) Kindness; (6) Self-control; and (2) Guidelines for enhancing ethical leadership in the 21st century among school administrators. Under the jurisdiction of the Sukhothai Primary Educational Service Area Office, Area 2, Thailand, it was found that there should be guidelines for strengthening for educational institution administrators. By applying the principles of good governance Adhere to the principles of morality, ethics, adhere to the principles of democracy. Use the rule of law in complying with various laws and regulations with transparency. Honest Can be checked transparently. Adhere to the principles of participation Respect others Be responsible in your duties Know how to control yourself Limited resources are used efficiently. Set a good example in working so that work is efficient and effective.

This study explores the function of leadership in supporting faculty professional development for technology integration in educational institutions. Key themes about the role of leadership in fostering successful technology integration were identified through qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with 125 participants, including administrators and instructors from 10 educational institutions in Uganda. Establishing the vision and strategic direction, allocating resources and building infrastructure, professional development programs initiative and support mechanisms, recognizing and rewarding technology integration, fostering an innovative and collaborative culture, assessment, and ongoing improvement are some of these themes. The results draw attention to the various roles that leadership plays in fostering an atmosphere that supports technology-enhanced teaching and learning. In addition to providing useful advice for practitioners, policymakers, and educational leaders looking to foster innovation and quality in learning environments, this study advances our understanding of leadership in educational technology.

The literature is sparse on understanding the experiences of stakeholders with inclusive education in the Caribbean. Using a qualitative single case study, this study explores the lived experiences with inclusive education of non-teaching stakeholders (principal, dean of discipline, guidance counsellor, parents, and educational assistants) in a private school in Jamaica. Data was collected using individual interviews, focus group discussions and secondary data. Thematic analysis was used to interpret and present findings. Key findings revealed supportive school leadership, inconsistent teacher competence and pedagogy, controversies with educational assistants, and parental denial as barriers that undermine inclusivity. Leadership support that goes beyond the principal to include the school board of directors was highlighted as an important consideration. The study provides other implications and recommendations for the inclusive classroom in the Jamaican educational milieu. Although the findings are specific to this case, they can be transferred and applied to inclusive education in other contexts regionally and globally to inform inclusive practices and considerations.

Administrators are viewed as the leaders in higher education. However, accepting exceptional educators as relational leaders is vital as changes in higher education demand institutions provide value and quality to their stakeholders. Exceptional educators at our land-grant Midwestern university are nominated and awarded the title of Morrill Professors in recognition of the Morrill Act. In this qualitative study using a narrative inquiry approach, we interviewed twelve Morrill Professors to find common teaching practices among these outstanding educators. Upon review of the transcripts, we realized that although they all practiced student-success teaching strategies, the emphasis on developing relationships with their students was paramount. Applying the framework of relational leadership to the interview transcripts, we identify ways in which the Morrill Professors exemplified the five elements of the model. The Morrill Professors interviewed were purposeful and empowering while engaging students in learning. They were inclusive and ethical in their approach to fulfilling the teaching component of the land-grant mission. Finally, they were process-oriented, encouraging iterative learning that builds on the needs of the discipline. The results of this study can be used to emphasize building excellence in teaching through the relational leadership model rather than focusing solely on specific teaching strategies. University leadership can further elevate successful teachers as leaders within their institutions.

This qualitative case study explores the perceptions of school leadership that future school counselors have regarding leadership roles for women in rural Appalachia. Using a feminist-geographical lens, several cultural, economic, geographic, and identity-based themes were found. Participants' definitions of ideal school leadership included strong community collaboration, advocacy, and leading by example. Some aspects of participants' rural hometowns supported these ideals, such as a community culture offering high levels of cohesion and familial support, leading to them wanting to live there again. However, other characteristics of the community culture, such as being closed to change, sexism against women in leadership, and a lack of women role models, were perceived barriers. In addition, participants' leadership identity was nascent and context based. These factors, combined with poor perceptions of schools in the community, led to participants not to want to live and work in their hometowns. Overall, these participants appear to experience a complex push and pull between pursuing their careers in educational leadership and their desire to take on school leadership roles in rural communities.

Increasing faith engagement among Catholic school shareholders is a priority for school leaders. Catholic school communities can learn from this year-long project with a parish school. Sacred Heart Parish School serves approximately 300 K3-8th grade students. Like many parish schools, Sacred Heart sees a growing number of parents disengaged with the faith life of the parish and school, despite 98% of them being registered parishioners. The parent population enjoys robust and regular social activities, but report they are uncomfortable or uninterested in faith activities. The mission of Sacred Heart school is to nurture "children's growth in the Catholic faith," so the fact that two-thirds of parents are disengaged with or hostile to the mission is problematic. Sacred Heart's intervention project built on the natural social strengths of parents, catalyzing parent leaders to design a wide variety of faith activities designed to overcome their peers' discomfort and lack of interest. The peer-led interventions increased not only attendance at faith activities, but also financial stewardship to the parish and attendance at weekend liturgies. Parents responded most enthusiastically to invitations targeted to grade-level Mass experiences, so parent leaders focused future efforts on enhancing "Class Mass" initiatives for families.

This qualitative study sought to explore the perceptions of women school superintendents in K-12 public schools in Texas about the challenges they face as leaders and how they endure these impactful challenges, particularly during critical times such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Using Polidore's Resilience Theory (2004) as the theoretical framework, the study sought to determine which of the nine resilience qualities, either innately possessed or through acquisition over time, helped to sustain the women superintendents during adverse situations associated with the highest level of leadership in a school district. The nine qualities of resilience include: religion, flexible locus of control, optimistic bias, autonomy, commitment, change, positive relationships, education viewed as important, and efficacy. Implications from this study are far-reaching and note-worthy for any position in educational leadership. The results from this study may positively enhance the experiences, retention, sustainability, effectiveness, and longevity of both women and men in one of the most important roles in a school district -- the superintendency.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, student services leaders needed to adapt to working entirely virtually, find creative solutions to adjust their service delivery, and change how they engaged with their teams. Before COVID-19, studies of virtual leadership focused on virtual teams developed because of the geographical distance between team members. This qualitative study investigated virtual leadership and virtual teams developed because of the move to virtual work during the COVID-19 pandemic. It examined how student services leaders changed their leadership behaviours in response to moving to the virtual work environment. Using data gathered through a questionnaire, interviews, and documentation, four themes reflecting how leaders changed their behaviours and practices were identified: reimagining communication, reconstructing work using technology, reframing team support, and reorienting toward hybrid work. Understanding how these leaders managed their virtual teams at a midsized university in southern Ontario provides insight into what practices might be helpful for teams that continue exclusively virtual work and those that transition to a hybrid work approach.

This article highlights how Tribal college leadership, faculty, and staff members define student success. Several major factors were described across the different levels of participants and are presented as the major themes: cultivating a familial environment, mission centered, cultural knowledge and wealth, community impact, and student goals achieved.

The purpose of this study is to review the literature on the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) for the past 10 years to identify multiple paths through which school leadership exerted influences on school organizations and organizational outcomes. Our analysis of a network, consisting of 83 nodes (variables) and 242 variable ties from 29 reviewed studies identified four emergent themes. Reviewed studies (1) overwhelmingly framed the principal as the driver and teachers as the target of change; (2) suggested nine core variables (e.g., instructional leadership) to play central roles within the reviewed studies; (3) depicted student academic achievement as a function of the principal's instructional leadership and their job satisfaction influenced by school context, principal qualification, and organizational conditions (e.g., respect for others); and (4) suggested teacher self-efficacy as the potential bridging variable between multiple change processes. The discussion includes implications for school leadership and future research.

This study investigates the relationship between the WhatsApp group, an instant messenger application as a community of practice platform (knowledge management, regular interactions, ease of using technology, and sense of belonging) and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) learners' leadership and higher-order thinking (HOT) skills. The current study also examines how participation in the community of practice through the WhatsApp group can enhance leadership and HOT skills for male and female learners. 197 ESP learners participated in the five-point Likert scale questionnaire. The SPSS-AMOS analysis showed that knowledge management, regular interaction, and a sense of belonging significantly enhance learners' leadership and HOT skills. The results also showed that male learners increased their leadership skills while female learners excelled in the HOT skills by the WhatsApp community of practice. This study has significant educational implications, particularly in emphasizing essential measures when developing an ESP curriculum to prepare learners for their future careers.

Colleges and universities are seeing growth of Latinx students actively engaged in Greek life. In this study, six Latino participants share their testimonios as members of different Chapters of a Latinx Greek Letter Organization (LGLO) nestled within Predominantly White Institutions located in the state of Georgia, USA. Informed by LatCrit theory, this qualitative study uses member's testimonios to shed light on their varied and sometimes politically charged and racist lived experiences. The researchers draw on these experiences to show how the LGLO supported these members' character and leadership development and their desire and commitment to critical service and socially just causes.

The year 2020 brought not only the COVID-19 pandemic but also a wave of racial injustice, which impacted many in the U.S. and beyond. Combined, these phenomena have been characterized as dual pandemics, which introduced new demands that forced faculty to redesign aspects of their doctoral programs to ensure sustainability during the pandemic and post-pandemic era. The purpose of this essay is to highlight changes we made to sustain our EdD program during and post dual pandemics. We achieve this by employing Ginwright's (2022) four pivots and brown's (2017) emergent leadership as a framework and to conceptualize how we transitioned from viewing the events of 2020 as problems to embracing the possibilities they offered for the present and future of our EdD program. Practical implications and recommendations for this work are discussed to offer EdD faculty ways to design, develop, and sustain their doctoral programs in the post-pandemic era.

The study explores the relationship between academic mentorship and the productivity of academics in universities. Two questions and a hypothesis were raised to guide the study. The research design employed ex-post-facto methodology with a population of 3,492 academic staff. The stratified random sampling technique was used to determine the sample size of 676 academics. The questionnaire served as the main instrument for data collection. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was 0.97 and the data collected were analyzed using SPSS. The analysis results indicated that the level of academic mentorship leadership practice exhibited in public universities in Delta and Edo States was low, and the academics showed a low level of productivity in research. Overall, the results showed a significant relationship between academic mentorship leadership practice and productivity in public universities in Delta and Edo States, Nigeria. Based on these findings, it is recommended that academic mentoring be emphasized, particularly in the area of research productivity, to enhance the overall research output of academics.

In theory, collaboration is a key component of education in Aotearoa New Zealand. In practice, however, cross sector collaborative relationships are not so easily established or maintained, even when collaboration is 'mandated' through government policy. This research explores the perspectives of nine teachers from one Kahui Ako/Community of Learning (Kahui Ako), who discussed the successes and challenges they experienced when collaborating across sectors. With commitment to collaborative work, the research participants were able to cross the borders that exist within and extend beyond the education sectors, exploring exciting new frontiers of leadership and learning. The teachers' experiences were analysed using a social learning theory lens, highlighting the complex nature of cross-sector collaboration. It is hoped this research will support other education communities to evaluate the effectiveness of their own collaborative endeavours.

Field-based practicum experiences are essential in connecting classroom theory to the real world. In this mixed methods study, we analyzed principal candidates' perceptions of their summer residency practicum experiences via a self-assessment principal leadership competency instrument and virtual semi-structured interviews. We found that principal candidates expressed leadership growth in the following Texas principal leadership competency areas: Strategic Operations, Human Capital, and Executive Leadership. These findings were consistent in our quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Conversely, the principal candidates stated that their greatest leadership challenges during the summer residency practicum involved providing instructional feedback and engaging in difficult conversations. The results of this study may assist principal preparation programs in revamping their curriculum to include a more meaningful residency-practicum experience.

Public school board members are charged with the responsibility and accountability to provide governance-level advocacy for equity and excellence in public education. This qualitative study examined the perceptions of school board members in three K--8 school districts in the midwestern part of the United States regarding the 50+ year Race-Based Academic Achievement Disparity (RBAAD) in public education. Virtual one-on-one interviews, a virtual focus group, and member checks were used to gather data. Utilizing servant and moral leadership as the theoretical frameworks, the findings revealed that school board members are empowered with governance-level authority and the responsibility to address the RBAAD phenomenon, school board members encounter obstacles that challenge their ability to mitigate the RBAAD phenomenon, and school board members contend that opportunities exist to promote mitigation of the RBAAD. Implications for future research and practice are addressed.

Background/purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the Learning Leader Competency Test in South Korean university students. Based on the analysis of previous studies, this study defined the concept of learning leader competencies, consisting of cognitive, motivational, and behavioral domains. Materials/methods. A total of 638 university students participated in the study and data were collected via online survey. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted using principal axis factoring and Oblimin rotation. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed using maximum likelihood and goodness indices such as IFI, TLI, CFI and RMSEA. Construct, convergent, discriminant, and cross-validities were tested. Results: The Learning Leader Competency Test consists of 23 items and three factors; knowledge, thinking, and problem solving; learning goal orientation and self-determination; and constructive self-expectation and caring for the community. The test's reliability (Cronbach's [alpha] = 0.856) and validity were confirmed. Conclusion: This study defines the concept of learning leader competency and identifies the subcomponents of learning leader competency into the cognitive, motivational, and behavioral domains. This test may be applied in order to determine the extent to which university students possess the competency of becoming a leader in learning.

Collective efficacy is the perception of a group of people to have the ability to achieve a common goal. As we explore self-efficacy and collective efficacy in schools, a question remains as to how school counselors, principals, and teachers can increase collective efficacy and foster a positive school climate to support all PK-12 students' needs. We sought to explore school counselor-principal-teacher collective efficacy and perceptions of school counselors' participation in leadership roles to guide comprehensive school counseling programs. Our results inform the acute need for pre-service and in-service training to better support each other and meet PK-12 students' needs.

Prior research has identified five in-school factors that impact teacher retention: positive school culture, supportive administration, strong professional development, mentoring programs, and classroom autonomy. While much of the national attention is focused on state or district-level policies to address the teacher retention crisis, this study focuses on how school leaders can improve teacher retention by addressing the five factors. Semi-structured interviews with school leaders were used to provide examples of how principles can improve school culture and increase teacher retention.

The purpose of this study was to explore how novice online K-12 teachers in Arizona described the influence of organizational, interpersonal, and intrapersonal leader support on their psychological needs. To address the study purpose the author used qualitative descriptive design; using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, the study sample included 39 novice K-12 online teachers in Arizona. The author used Support for Teachers' Psychological Needs (STPN) as the theoretical framework. Using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA), nine themes emerged from the data that provide insight into specific leader supports in the K-12 online setting. Many organizational, interpersonal, and intrapersonal supports mimic brick-and-mortar findings. However, new supports were uncovered such as, teacher-to-student organizational supports and online communication best-practices. Recommendations included three practical ways that K-12 online leaders can increase competence, autonomy, and relatedness among their staff. This research adds to the existing body of work surrounding supports for teachers' psychological needs by expanding its focus to the online K-12 setting. Additionally, this research was unique for its focus on novice teachers as defined by having less than 4 years of experience in the K-12 online setting.

Data collection, use, leveraging, and sharing as a business practice and advantage has proliferated over the past decade. Along with this proliferation of data collection is the increase in regulatory activity which continues to morph exponentially around the globe. Adding to this complexity are the increasing business disruptions, productivity and revenue losses, settlements, fines, and penalties which can amount to over $15 million, with many penalties now being ascribed to the organization's leadership, to include the Board of Directors (BoD), the CEO and members of the senior leadership team (SLT). Thus, boards of directors can no longer ignore and in fact must embrace data privacy as a critical part of doing business in the digital world. In fact, not embracing data privacy as a critical part of their strategy, not only puts their stakeholders and stockholders at risk, but also places the future success of their organization in jeopardy. Additionally, increasingly through legal, regulatory, and normative occurrences, Boards are being pressured into taking a more active role in the data privacy activities in their organizations. Therefore, it behooves the BoD to be proactive vice reactive toward their data privacy endeavors.

In national and state policy and curricula in Australia, Teacher Educators (TEs) are responsible to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) courses. TEs in Australia are primarily non-Indigenous which raises important questions and challenges related to preparedness for meeting these requirements. The authors, a non-Indigenous TE and a Dja Dja Wurrung TE, use vignettes to articulate their experiences of working together developing decolonising practices with ITE students at an Australian university. This process has provided a working model that promotes co-construction of education contexts through shared labour and leadership of First Nations and non-Indigenous stakeholders by respectively indigenising and decolonising their practice for ITE classrooms. We argue shared labour and leadership is central to developing decolonising practices for education spaces, and that our model could support TEs in other ITE programs and universities to meet policy standards that have wide reaching benefit for all.

A mosaic approach to leading practices leverages collaboration and makes it possible to renew the social fabric of a school. In this article, the authors use the notion of a 'mosaic of leading "practices'" to unsettle top-down, hierarchical, positional conceptions of leader"ship" that focus on "participants." The latter invites questions about participants' responsibilities for leadership; the former invites questions about what leaders do (their practices) in and for an organisation. We report on research conducted with Aotearoa New Zealand school leaders that explored perceptions of leading practices that support or constrain communities of learning. Drawing on interviews with leaders and teachers who were working to build Communities of Learning |Kahui Ako (CoL) in their schools and across school communities, the article re-imagines sites of collaboration by viewing them through the lens of "practices," not just "participants." A theoretical framework is proposed to illustrate mosaics of leading. Patterns of leadership and the concepts of connective enactment and collective accomplishment highlight different degrees of educator collaboration. The article re-imagines sites of collaboration as a means to foster a grassroots approach to culture and community building, rather than as a means for the delivery of school improvement alone.

Youth violence is a national public health concern in USA, especially in resource-constrained urban communities. Between 2018 and 2021, the Healthy Communities for Youth (HCFY) program addressed youth violence prevention in select economically marginalized urban communities, with the HCFY program reducing the likelihood of youth-involved violent crime. Leveraging costs from program expense reports, this study analyzes the costs of the HCFY program in order to inform policymaking and the program's future ongoing implementation. Total HCFY program costs were $821,000 ($290,100 annually including program start-up costs) over the 34-month project period. Operationalization costs contributed the largest share (64.8%), with 45% attributable to intervention coordinators. In the intervention community, the program costs $100 per capita, $1100 per youth-involved crime case, and $8100 per youth-involved violent crime case. Findings were sensitive to the number of youth-involved crime or violent crime cases and costs of high-level program leadership and self-evaluation analysts, with the per youth-involved violent crime case cost ranging between $700 and $1600 over the program period. Analysis of HCFY program costs is an important step in determining the affordability of a community-level program to prevent youth violence in resource-limited urban communities.

This article provides a conceptual framework of the dimensions of a toxic culture in higher education and the impact it has on the meaning of work. Seven dimensions of a toxic culture in higher education are presented as follows: toxic leadership; bullying and mobbing; colleagues as enablers; reinforced toxic social norms; purposeful, chaotic change; manipulation of systems, structures and processes; and weaponization of the work itself. The article then discusses how the harmful individual outcomes of working in a toxic culture change the meaning of work from meaningful to meaningless, and the corresponding organizational outcomes. These include high turnover; decreased performance and productivity; lack of effective problem solving; increased expenses for legal, healthcare, unemployment, recruitment and the inability to recruit new talent. Recommendations are provided for systemic culture change.

Leadership and its development within higher education remain a black box for scholars and practitioners, as its implications are not sufficiently theorized in the literature. Building on that notion, this paper aims to offer a theoretically grounded framework to understand the constituents and transition of leadership development in an economy that aspires to be a knowledge-based economy. The work is ethnographic in nature, and its empirical findings are derived from semi-structured interviews with academic leaders and experts who help shape the policies in higher education and its impact. The paper has implications for practitioners and policymakers in trying to align the higher education sector with the overall economic objectives of the nation.

Despite increasing recognition of the importance of high-quality school leadership, we know remarkably little about principal skill development. Using administrative data from Tennessee, Oregon, and New York City, we estimate the returns to principal experience as measured by student outcomes, teacher hiring and retention patterns, and teacher and supervisor ratings of principals. The typical principal leads a school for only 3 to 5 years and leaves the principalship after 6 to 7 years. We find little evidence that school performance improves as principals gain experience, despite substantial improvement in supervisor ratings. Our results suggest that strategies intended to increase principal retention are unlikely to improve school outcomes absent more comprehensive efforts to strengthen the link between principal skill development and student and school outcomes.

Purpose: There is little consensus in the literature regarding a) what it means for a school leader to lead with data, and b) how to measure data-informed leadership in a reliable and valid way. This study examines the psychometric properties of an operational measure intended to assess the extent to which a school leader is a data-informed school leader. The measurement invariance, reliabilities and construct and predictive validities of the "Data-Informed School Leadership Survey" (DISL Survey) are assessed using various psychometric statistical techniques. Methods: Using data collected from 155 teachers from 7 public schools in a southern state, the following psychometric statistics used to address our purpose: the Many-Facet Rasch (MFR) Model, Bayesian second-order Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Bayesian Structural Equation Modeling--Multiple Indicators, Multiple Causes analysis (Bayesian SEM-MIMIC), and reliability analysis. Findings: Results show an adequate fit from all MFR, Bayesian CFA, and MIMIC models and a high reliability (Cronbach [alpha] = 0.98). The DISL Survey instrument exhibits sound psychometric properties. Results likewise confirm the value of using MFR modeling and Bayesian methods to examine the psychometric properties of DISL Survey as a means of improving educational leadership measures. Implications for Research and Practice: Data from this study confirm the validity and reliability of the "Data-Informed School Leadership Survey" (DISL Survey) as an instrument to assess the strengths and weaknesses of Data-Informed School Leadership (DISL) and as a means for providing feedback for improving such leadership. Heretofore a measure for assessing this leadership was non-existent.

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between high school concert band directors' self-efficacy for classroom management, efficacious sources, and classroom management behaviors. Participants (N = 271) completed the Band Director Self-Efficacy for Classroom Management scale and responded to items about their demographic and school characteristics, formal preparatory experiences, stress from student behavior, support and trust, and satisfaction with recent classroom management. Additionally, participants rated their effectiveness for using classroom management behaviors. Participants' level of satisfaction with their recent classroom management was the strongest positive predictor of their self-efficacy for classroom management scores, followed by their ratings of parent resource support. When participants indicated higher stress from student behavior or higher administration resource support, they also had lower self-efficacy for classroom management scores. Results indicated that several classroom management behaviors predicted participants' self-efficacy, including establishing routines and procedures, keeping students on task, and rarely referring to the music score or lesson plan. Implementing and refining effective classroom management behaviors may improve the likelihood of directors gaining positive mastery experiences and lessen the influence of stress from student behavior on their self-efficacy for classroom management.

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced U.S. schools to shutter and teach remotely in March 2020, several states suspended external measures intended to hold educators accountable for student learning. Research on leadership during the pandemic highlights how the pause on external performance measures shifted school leaders' behaviors; they used alternative accountability levers to support teachers and students (Francois & Weiner, 2020; Netolicky, 2020). For example, Weiner et al. (2021) describe how urban school leaders used cultural norms regarding collaboration and care to foster responsiveness and learning (i.e., internal accountability). Such work holds useful implications for future investigations into urban principals' motivations, struggles, and practices during this unprecedented moment and beyond. Building on these contributions, the authors asked: How, in the absence of external accountability measures, did urban school leaders engage their teachers to meet students' and community members' evolving needs? It was found that the 29 urban school principals in this study used internal, market, and moral accountability to address student learning when schools closed and external accountability measures were paused. Therefore, the deficit perspective that these educators can only perform under the pressure of extrinsic accountability is false. Indeed, though participants detailed extraordinary challenges in their schools, the findings illustrate how external accountability's de-emphasis--and other accountability forms' elevation-- may cultivate teacher professional growth, student learning, and just leadership.

Positive psychology offers a scientific window onto understanding and enhancing the welfare and growth of university communities, and as well as improving academic performance. This holistic approach is on the rise, yet most research is conducted in Western countries. This situation prevails despite the fact that two-thirds of the world's population live in Asia. This review collated and synthesised published work on applications of positive psychology in higher education conducted in Asia, to describe the current status, explore conceptual perspectives and identify knowledge gaps. A total of 147 articles (157 experimental studies), published since 2000, were included. These were descriptive explorations (12.1%), quantifying associations between positive psychology constructs (62.4%), interventions (19.7%), and psychometric evaluations (5.7%). Key topics were academic leadership, organisational commitment, student engagement and foreign language learning. The thematic framework centered on 'Optimal Functioning', with 'Personal Resources One Can Draw On' and 'How One Interacts With The World' as direct influencing factors, and 'Environment' as an indirect factor. Across the Asian region, positive psychology's major contribution is to identify what types of personal resources are associated with optimal functioning in higher education, but there is little high-quality evidence for intervention benefits, nor a deep understanding of how those resources can be effectively deployed to achieve well-being. As part of the third-wave positive psychology movement, scholars in Asia can play a greater leading role in re-evaluating traditional Western concepts to account for the socio-cultural context in which students and staff are embedded.