scholarly journals Coherent district reform: A case study of two California school districts

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1018698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Ezzani
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
District Reform

scholarly journals Diversity for Whom? Gentrification, Demographic Change, and the Politics of School Integration

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Diem ◽  
Jennifer Jellison Holme ◽  
Wesley Edwards ◽  
Madeline Haynes ◽  
Eliza Epstein
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
Critical Policy Analysis ◽  
School Demographics ◽  
The Face ◽  
Critical Policy

Gentrification and the displacement of low-income residents of color from neighborhoods where they have long resided has accelerated over the last 20 years. In some cities, this process has begun to impact school demographics. Although research shows that school districts experiencing gentrification are responding in ways that fuel segregation and inequality, in some contexts gentrification is viewed by administrators as an opportunity to seek racial and economic integration. In our exploratory comparative case study, we examined districts in gentrifying cities pursuing integration in the face of rapid gentrification. Our critical policy analysis illustrates how district leaders’ diversity efforts can be overshadowed by their desire to appease and attract gentrifying families. Although districts are maintaining or increasing diversity in gentrifying contexts, our study raises broader equity questions that call for further inquiry of within-district equity and the displacement of students.

scholarly journals AN EXAMINATION OF ONE FACTOR IN SCHOOL REFORM: INCREASED TEACHER ACCOUNTABILITY IN TWO URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (27) ◽  
pp. 329-344
Author(s):  
Nadine Bonda
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
School Districts ◽  
School Reform ◽  
Standardized Testing ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
The United States ◽  
Urban School Districts ◽  
Case Study Approach ◽  
Study Approach

Beginning in 2009, and with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, school districts across the United States began to be held to higher standards and their progress publicly reported.  Student achievement began to be measured by standardized testing and great efforts were being made to reduce the achievement gap. This paper is based on a five-year study of teacher evaluation in two urban districts in Massachusetts where improving teacher practice was seen as an important factor in raising student achievement. This research studied efforts to address those teachers who were identified as underperforming and were supported through individual improvement plans.  This paper used a case study approach to show what the practices of a sampling of these teachers looked like, teachers’ reactions to being rated unsatisfactory, and teachers’ reactions to the improvement planning process.

Funding Structures and State Capacity for School Improvement under the Every Student Succeeds Act: Case Studies of Five States

2021 ◽  
pp. e20210005
Author(s):  
Hailey Karcher ◽  
David S. Knight
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
School Districts ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Title I ◽  
Local Autonomy ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Improvement Strategies ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Every Student Succeeds Act

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, the federal government allocates 7% of Title I funds, about $1 billion per year, for school improvement. States have substantial autonomy in allocating these funds, including which schools are identified for federal school improvement, what improvement strategies are used, and whether external intermediaries are involved. A growing area of research explores the private, often for-profit school improvement industry, but few studies track the finance and policy structures that funnel public funds to external K–12 intermediaries. In this study, we draw on document analysis and interview data to explore school improvement practices and finance policies in five case study states. We find that states use varied methods for identifying schools for improvement, and also vary in the extent to which they provide local autonomy to school districts. Some states, such as Texas and Tennessee, incentivize schools to adopt particular strategies or encourage partnering with an external intermediary. Texas provides a list of vetted external intermediaries they expect districts to work with (and support financially). Other states, such as California and New York, provide more state-led school improvement strategies through regional offices and give districts greater local autonomy. Findings point to possible benefits of local autonomy, while highlighting potential challenges associated with unregulated market-based reforms in education.

Cybercitizens at Schools

2018 ◽  
pp. 91-117
Author(s):  
Irene Linlin Chen ◽  
Libi Shen
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
Case Study Approach ◽  
Study Approach

In recent decades, cyberethics, cybersecurity, and cybersafety have been the center of interest at schools. This chapter uses a case study approach to describe the issue of cyberethics, cybersafety, and cybersecurity (3Cs) as well as how problems of these three Cs are intermingled to become general cyberethics issues for the society. The chapter also promotes good cybercitizens at schools because it is of great importance for the school districts to take some measures to improve students' knowledge and awareness of cyberethics, cybersafety, and cybersecurity, to enhance the safety and security of school infrastructure, to avoid cyberbullying, to ensure students are good cybercitizens, and to help train teachers to be cyber professionals.

Lack of Technology in Urban Schools

2012 ◽  
pp. 21-23
Author(s):  
Tamika Washington
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
Urban Schools ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Learning Software ◽  
Technology Resources

Many times in urban schools, computers and learning software are either at a shortage or simply do not exist. In schools like that, the ratio of students to computers can be as high as 20 to one. This case study compares the learning technology resources and opportunities accessible to William and Terrance, two cousins who attended 4th grade in two different school districts.

Teacher-Designed Games

2021 ◽  
pp. 123-147
Author(s):  
Yang Liu
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Game Based Learning ◽  
Unique Case ◽  
Data Coding ◽  
Digital Classroom

Video games play an important role in education; however, the idea of teachers as designers of digital classroom games to support student learning has not been widely embraced. The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of why and how teachers used and designed games in teaching differently with various gaming background. This mixed-method case study involved a group of teachers who used and/or designed games for students. The four unique case groups were grounded in three regions and four school districts in Alberta, Canada. First and second cycle data coding and analyses were used to answer 1) what factors influenced the types of games teachers used and designed in teaching and 2) what factors influenced how and why teachers integrated game-based learning in teaching.

scholarly journals Capacity-Building for Sustainability

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-54
Author(s):  
Clark Shah-Nelson ◽  
Ellen A. Mayo ◽  
Patience Ebuwei
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Review Process ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Organizational Capacity ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
Organizational Sustainability ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Systematic Review Process

An American K-12 cooperative educational services provider (“The Agency”) has an issue: partner school districts are saving money by building internal capacity for professional development, rather than fully utilizing expertise from the Agency. The aim of this evidence-based case study is to inform the Agency on capacity-building for innovation. The researchers performed three separate rapid evidence assessments, followed by a standard systematic review process to synthesize findings across 31 studies. Key findings identified from the research include (1) organizational capacity and program evaluation lead to organizational sustainability, (2) agency leadership should guide strategic organizational change in order to establish a shared vision for evaluation and feedback, and (3) organizations benefit from practicing continuous and ongoing learning through feedback loops. The findings of this study may be generalizable to other similar educational service providers or non-profits looking to strengthen organizational capacity and partnerships.

Informal language planning for elementary school language development

1992 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 6-18
Author(s):  
Carol J. Rodriquez
Keyword(s):  
Public Education ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Planning ◽  
Independent Research ◽  
Timely Manner ◽  
Language Programs ◽  
Public Meetings ◽  
Individual School

Language planning is an activity that takes place in formal/national situations, but it also occurs in a variety of unintended ways and on smaller scales (e.g. Russo and Baldauf 1986). This paper documents the informal language planning which has occurred as part of the process of developing and implementing Arizona’s Elementary Foreign Language Mandate. It is a case study which demonstrates the problems and effects of informal language planning in public education systems such as Arizona’s. The study focuses on the initial specifications of the mandate and the efforts of individual school districts to comply in a timely manner. The difficulties encountered by one school district as it considers ways to implement the mandate are examined in detail. The data for this study was gathered from official documents, personal interviews, videotapes, newspaper articles, public meetings and independent research related to language policy in the state of Arizona. The study suggests that a greater awareness of language planning skills at this level could lead to the development of more effective language programs.

scholarly journals “The State Pulled a Fast One on Us”: A Critical Policy Analysis of State-Level Policies Affecting English Learners From District-Level Perspectives

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 158-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie Sampson
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
English Learners ◽  
State Level ◽  
District Level ◽  
Educational Opportunities ◽  
Critical Policy Analysis ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Critical Policy

States’ increasing involvement in educational policy making can play a significant role in how school districts provide equitable educational opportunities. Guided by critical policy analysis, the purpose of this article is to examine state-level policy pertaining to English learners (ELs) from district-level perspectives. Based on interview and archival data from a multiple case study of three metropolitan school districts in different states, district-level perspectives illustrate how these state-level policies were symbolic, restrictive, or exclusionary toward ELs. The results also demonstrate ways that districts advocated, engaged, resisted, and navigated state-level policies and politics. Based on these findings, I argue that state-level policies and related politics can compromise school districts’ ability to provide ELs with adequate educational opportunities.

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