The Instructional Role of Elementary School Principals

To study elementary school principalsʹ understandings and enactments of instructional leadership, we collected data through individual interviews, focus‐ group discussions, and in‐school observations. Three categories captured principalsʹ conceptualizations of instructional leadership: curriculum expertise, formal delivery of professional development, and informal culture building. Their enactment of instructional leadership was influenced by three dimensions: their personal style, degree of coherence in agendas and initiatives, and availability of enabling structures. We anticipated the influence of personal style, but not the impact of coherence and structure, which introduces a new dimension to the literature on contextual influences impinging on individual practice Keywords: school improvement, educational leadership, professional development, school culture Pour étudier la conception et la mise en œuvre du leadership pédagogique chez des directeurs et directrices d’école, les auteures ont colligé des données au moyen d’entrevues individuelles, de discussions en groupe et d’observations sur place. La conception du leadership pédagogique des directeurs et directrices d’école a été analysée à l’aide de trois catégories : expertise en matière de programmes scolaires, prestation de services de perfectionnement professionnel et édification d’une culture informelle. La mise en œuvre du leadership pédagogique a été étudiée pour sa part à l’aide de trois volets : style personnel, degré de cohérence dans les calendriers et les initiatives et mise en place de structures d’incitation. Les auteures avaient prévu l’influence du style personnel, mais non l’impact de la cohérence et des structures, ce qui introduit une nouvelle dimension dans la littérature au sujet des influences contextuelles sur la pratique de chacun. Mots clés : amélioration scolaire, leadership en éducation, perfectionnement professionnel, culture de l’école.

SHIFTING THE ROLE: SCHOOL-DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENTS’ EXPERIENCES AS THEY BUILD A LEARNING COMMUNITY

This paper presents the findings of a qualitative action-research study that explored how one group of district-level school superintendents conceptualized their role as they built their own learning community. Data analysis yielded four elements that supported the participants’ efforts: (a) using a process as an entry point, (b) aligning various problems of practice, (c) providing supportive conditions, and (d) having a deep understanding of learning-community principles. From this experience, participants saw a need to shift the role of superintendent from a director of professional learning to a lead learner participating directly with teachers and principals.

Building capacity for learning communities: schools that work

The purpose of this study was to identify the practices of sixteen successful schools that are building capacity for a learning community. The conceptualization was based upon three capacities (personal, interpersonal and organizational) necessary for community building. Researchers conducted interviews with staff, students, administrators and parents. Whole class interviews and participant observations and document analyses were also made. Findings indicated that the participating schools utilized a child-centered vision, that there was pedagogic focus to the work of the staff, that school-wide systems varied, and that leadership was a crucial. Further, the meta-cognitive acumen of the staff and the explicit and conscious use of language contributed to the growth of features associated with learning communitie

Inflammation drives thrombosis after Salmonella infection via CLEC-2 on platelets

Thrombosis is a common, life-threatening consequence of systemic infection; however, the underlying mechanisms that drive the formation of infection-associated thrombi are poorly understood. Here, using a mouse model of systemic Salmonella Typhimurium infection, we determined that inflammation in tissues triggers thrombosis within vessels via ligation of C-type lectin-like receptor-2 (CLEC-2) on platelets by podoplanin exposed to the vasculature following breaching of the vessel wall. During infection, mice developed thrombi that persisted for weeks within the liver. Bacteria triggered but did not maintain this process, as thrombosis peaked at times when bacteremia was absent and bacteria in tissues were reduced by more than 90% from their peak levels. Thrombus development was triggered by an innate, TLR4-dependent inflammatory cascade that was independent of classical glycoprotein VI-mediated (GPVI-mediated) platelet activation. After infection, IFN-ã release enhanced the number of podoplanin-expressing monocytes and Kupffer cells in the hepatic parenchyma and perivascular sites and absence of TLR4, IFN-ã, or depletion of monocytic-lineage cells or CLEC-2 on platelets markedly inhibited the process. Together, our data indicate that infection-driven thrombosis follows local inflammation and upregulation of podoplanin and platelet activation. The identification of this pathway offers potential therapeutic opportunities to control the devastating consequences of infection-driven thrombosis without increasing the risk of bleeding

Determining crystal structures through crowdsourcing and coursework

We show here that computer game players can build high-quality crystal structures. Introduction of a new feature into the computer game Foldit allows players to build and real-space refine structures into electron density maps. To assess the usefulness of this feature, we held a crystallographic model-building competition between trained crystallographers, undergraduate students, Foldit players and automatic model-building algorithms. After removal of disordered residues, a team of Foldit players achieved the most accurate structure. Analysing the target protein of the competition, YPL067C, uncovered a new family of histidine triad proteins apparently involved in the prevention of amyloid toxicity. From this study, we conclude that crystallographers can utilize crowdsourcing to interpret electron density information and to produce structure solutions of the highest quality

BUILDING CAPACITY FOR A LEARNING COMMUNITY

Since the early days of the 20th century, schools and educators have been subjected to numerous calls for improvement of their performance. A curious aspect of this phenomenon is that school-based educators (teachers and school administrators alike) have usually been positioned as objects to be manipulated and controlled rather than as professional creators of a learning culture. In recent years, however, this position has lost considerable credibility because school-based educators are exactly the people who deal directly with the learning of children. From that standpoint, scholars and change agents have begun to advance the notion of the learning community as a preferred strategy for school improvement.The metaphor of the learning community assumes, first, that schools are expected to facilitate the learning of all individuals, and, second, that educators are ideally positioned to address fundamental issues and concerns in relation to learning. Within this metaphor, school people are central to questions of educational practice, change, and improvement; they are the ones charged with the tasks of identifying and confronting the problems and mysteries of professional practices. But simply charging them with this responsibility will not necessarily bring about the types of profound improvement that are envisioned within a learning community. Instead, capacity for a learning community needs deliberately and explicitly to be built among educators and within schools and school systems. In this paper, we present a model that frames our understandings about the ways in which people can construct a learning community. The model consists of three pivotal capacities that we believe need to be built if a school is to function as a learning community: personal capacity, interpersonal capacity, and organizational capacity. In a recently published book (Mitchell & Sackney, 2000), we provided a fuller development of the model and we embedded it in data from several studies and projects that we have undertaken over the past decade. In this paper, we present a summarized version of the model and of our foundational assumptions

Building Capacity for Learning Communities: Schools that Work

The purpose of this study was to identify the practices of sixteen successful schools that are building capacity for a learning community. The conceptualization was based upon three capacities (personal, interpersonal and organizational) necessary for community building. Researchers conducted interviews with staff, students, administrators and parents. Whole class interviews and participant observations and document analyses were also made. Findings indicated that the participating schools utilized a child-centered vision, that there was pedagogic focus to the work of the staff, that school-wide systems varied, and that leadership was a crucial. Further, the meta-cognitive acumen of the staff and the explicit and conscious use of language contributed to the growth of features associated with learning communities

Building Capacity for Learning Communities: Schools that Work

The purpose of this study was to identify the practices of sixteen successful schools that are building capacity for a learning community. The conceptualization was based upon three capacities (personal, interpersonal and organizational) necessary for community building. Researchers conducted interviews with staff, students, administrators and parents. Whole class interviews and participant observations and document analyses were also made. Findings indicated that the participating schools utilized a child-centered vision, that there was pedagogic focus to the work of the staff, that school-wide systems varied, and that leadership was a crucial. Further, the meta-cognitive acumen of the staff and the explicit and conscious use of language contributed to the growth of features associated with learning communities