Turnaround Reform Efforts in a Rural Context: How Community and Culture Impart Change

This article furthers research on the necessary components of what supports successful school turnaround, and also explores how and why two rural schools taking part in a Midwest State Turnaround School Project were successful in implementing school turnaround policy. Perceptions of building principals, district administrators, and regional support staff implementing turnaround policy were considered. Data were collected from 13 participants and analyses focused on the culture created and leadership provided by two rural school districts during the State Turnaround Schools Project implementation. Previous research has detailed district communication, district support of the turnaround principal, and shared leadership as important factors. However this article explores how and why the two participating rural school districts were successful implementing school turnaround and identifies the cultural and community conditions that support school turnaround in a rural setting

Reflections on Supervision in the Time of COVID-19

COVID-19 has completely disrupted the normal patterns and schedules of the American public school system. While schools have shifted to online teaching, an alarming amount of students have disengaged from the instruction provided by teachers. As educators consider the question of why upwards of 40% of students are choosing to not engage in regular instruction, supervisors and teachers across America will need to take long looks in the mirror and ask questions about how and in what ways we have failed our students over the past 20 years since the inception of the federal accountability movement and No Child Left Behind. The negative impact of COVID-19 has had on BIPOC students should be considered, specifically as it relates to income loss, digital connectedness, and current or impending housing insecurity, however educators also need to consider the importance of pedagogical practices used to engage BIPOC students in meaningful and transformative learning experiences

The State of Supervision Discourse Communities: A Call for the Future of Supervision to Shed Its Mask

This article reviews the various discourse communities that can be found throughout the field of supervision. Over the last several decades, the field has largely struggled with its identity. The struggle to define supervision, as well as supervision scholarship being forced to travel incognito to survive (Glanz & Hazi, 2019), has largely been due to a lack of an academic journal to serve as a publishing venue dedicated solely to issues of educational supervision. As the Journal of Educational Supervision continues to evolve from inception to fruition (Mette & Zepeda, 2019), it is important to keep supervision discourse communities vibrant and growing, as well as to help the field move forward. Additionally, supervision scholars must acknowledge the realities of policies facing practitioners in order to better bridge the research-practice-policy gap. The continual development of these five discourse communities – as well as any cross-pollination among them and preparation for emergent discourse communities – is paramount to the future of supervision

Developing Leadership Pipelines in Maine School Districts: Lessons Learned from a School-University Partnership

The authors describe the Bangor Educational Leadership Academy, a partnership between the Bangor School Department and the University of Maine Educational Leadership Program, which enables researchers and practitioners to work more collabo­ratively to bridge the theory-practice gap that often plagues schools

Using Affinity Networks to Scaffold Community Collaboration: A Methodological Technique to Support the Use of Qualitative Data in Community-Based Research

Cooperation is increasingly required to craft solutions to complex problems in our society, while the role of cultivated, academic expertise is being challenged as a model for solving social problems. Participatory or community-based approaches are often suggested as a solution to this dichotomy; however, few analytic methods are purposefully engineered to support this work. Affinity networks combine interviewing with data visualization to produce data analysis that can be easily fed back into collaboratives with community partners. This article provides a step by step introduction to producing affinity networks using Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software, as well as suggestions for using them to advance community partnerships

Turnaround schools as a U-turn for student achievement : the rotary of school reform efforts

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on October 29, 2012).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. Jay P. ScribnerIncludes bibliographical references.Vita.Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2012."July 2012"This case study presents data to support the notion that turnaround school policy can improve the efficiency of how traditionally low-performing schools function. The schools that were successful in implementing the UVA Turnaround Program training developed a clear understanding of the expectations for participating in the UVA Turnaround Program training, developed a clear process of communication between the UVA personnel and RPDC staff, openly promoted the school turnaround process within the community, and developed a strong relationship between the district and building leaders. However, the successful schools seemed to make sense of the policy by developing a school culture based on the notion of shared leadership and shared accountability. Thus, the two participating schools that were successful implementing turnaround efforts went beyond technical change and transformed the intentions of the turnaround school policy by supporting cultural change that involved the community in the process.Includes bibliographical reference

MEPRI Survey Study of Maine School Administrators

This study sought to identify and a) describe current demographic patterns of school administrators and make relative comparisons to national trends, b) understand daily/weekly workload expectations, c) examine job satisfaction and consider the impact of COVID-19, and d) examine available training and supports for principals, the perceived impact as a school administrator, the challenges facing school administrators, and the supports needed to thrive in the profession

School Turnaround: A Rural Reflection of Reform on the Reservation and Lessons for Implementation

Rural communities traditionally enjoy an intimate relationship between stakeholders and the local school system. While preliminary research exists to suggest rural school turnaround might be more likely to occur when a strong communal connection exists (Mette, 2014), little is known about rural school turnaround efforts serving predominantly Native American students. This article reports findings of a School Improvement Grants (SIG) funded effort to digitize curriculum and deliver instruction through the use of tablets in Yellow Pine, a school district on a Native American reservation in a rural, Upper Midwestern state. Data were collected through interviews with school and district leaders, as well as through teacher focus groups. Findings highlight the failure to engage a historically disenfranchised community from the beginning of the improvement process, particularly the lack of involvement of students, parents, and teachers, which in turn led to little impact on student achievement