College Connection

Among the first and most striking realizations was that although we "knew" we had high-performing students, we were at a loss to interpret and respond to anecdotal reports about some of our graduates struggling with college placement tests and first-year course work. Because we had not systematically analyzed the data, we had no way to determine how widespread and significant problems of preparedness might be for our grads

Crossing the Suspension Bridge: Navigating the Road from School Suspension to College Success – How Some Students Have Overcome the Negative Implications of School Suspension to Bridge the Road to College

Out-of-school suspensions for middle and high school students can have negative, long-lasting consequences. Researchers have documented that suspensions have a negative impact on academic development, increase likelihood of dropping out of school, and are associated with a stronger likelihood that students will be involved in the legal system. However, there are students who overcome these negative statistics and matriculate to post-secondary education successfully. This study examines the lived experiences and personal attributes in students’ lives that enabled them to overcome a history of suspension to enter and succeed in higher education. Using Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model, the study’s researchers interviewed individuals who have a history of middle and/or high school suspensions and matriculated to higher education. Findings suggest that sense of belonging; family, home,/school support; and strength of relationships helped participants neutralize the impact and mitigate the negative aspects of suspension

Mentoring as professional development

This issue of the Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning Journal includes research from scholars representing Australia, Canada, and the United States (Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and North Carolina). The authors present research on teachers, university faculty members, and executives as mentors

Choice-Based Evaluation Driving Differentiation

The fact that they have to put those goals within the evaluation process is probably the most significant difference between this job here and my previous district. Because writing meaningful goals is a talent that individuals don't always possess, a team of Oakwood teachers and administrators developed a few tools for guidance during the goal-writing process

Possibilities for Future Leadership: Thoughts from an Academic Blogosphere Community

In this dialogic essay we present an extremely important subject—the future of educational leadership and education more broadly. Given the uncertainty over and anxiety about the future of K–12 education and higher education, our goal for this article is to have currency and importance. We forged a scholarly community to discuss mid-21st-century leadership and education. Our research blogosphere arose out of a blog series and qualitative analyses of the data collected, which support the arguments we make

Administrative Synergy: A professional learning community creates a sacred time for administrators’ joint problem solving in the Oakwood district

Critical friends is a reflection-oriented, collaborative problem-solving protocol that we had been using as part of our administrative professional learning community. Because our administrative team - composed of four district leaders and all four building principals - believed critical friends was such a valuable tool, we had all agreed to be there for one another whenever one of us needed an emergency help session, thus the impromptu meeting in Paul's office. [...]we spend the first 15 minutes just chatting - about anything related to our schools or the district

Axes of Difference and Areas of Inquiry in Mentoring and Tutoring

Mentoring and tutoring are terms used to refer to a broad range of supports and learning experiences, and while the terms seem simple and straightforward, mentoring and tutoring are often complex processes, as illustrated in this edition’s articles

Innovative Use of Technology Media to Establish a Common Research Agenda in Educational Leadership

This study utilized innovative technologies to establish a common research agenda among senior and junior professors. The focus is the use of innovative technology-infused methodology by (1) individual blogging about leadership at midcentury to six prompts, (2) collaborative analysis of the six blog prompts and other comments posted at the NCPEA Talking Points Blog, and (3) utilizing other media to encourage the research habits of these junior professors and advance the study of educational leadership