Strategic Communication During Whole-System Change: Advice and Guidance for School District Leaders and PR Specialist, by Francis M. Duffy and Patti L. Chance

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-188
Author(s):  
Robert H. Beach
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
System Change ◽  
Strategic Communication ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
School District Leaders

scholarly journals Some pennies are more equal than others: Inequitable school facilities investment in San Antonio, Texas

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marialena D. Rivera ◽  
Sonia Rey Lopez
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
School Districts ◽  
School Finance ◽  
San Antonio ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Educational Facilities ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
School District Leaders ◽  
Property Wealth ◽  
State And Local

In Texas, local taxpayers fund the majority of educational facilities construction and maintenance costs, with local wealth influencing facilities outcomes. The traditional school districts that comprise the predominantly Latino and segregated San Antonio area vary considerably in property wealth as well as district capacity and expertise. We conducted an analysis of 12 San Antonio area school districts to address the questions: 1) To what extent do state and local investments vary by district? 2) How do district actions and constraints affect facilities quality and equitable investment? Methods include descriptive quantitative analysis of facilities investment data and qualitative interviews with school district leaders, staff, and school finance experts. Examining Texas school finance data demonstrated the variance in school district investments in educational facilities. Despite some districts with lower property wealth exerting higher levels of tax effort, they were able to raise less money per student for educational facilities through interest and sinking taxes. Interview findings revealed that several districts acknowledge lacking the capacity to maintain high-quality facilities for all students. Respondents frequently criticized current state policies and funding for educational facilities as inadequate, inequitable, and inefficient and expressed a need for policy improvements in an era of increasing state disinvestment.

scholarly journals “What the Hell Is This, and Who the Hell Are You?” Role and Identity Negotiation in Research-Practice Partnerships

AERA Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 233285841984959 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin C. Farrell ◽  
Christopher Harrison ◽  
Cynthia E. Coburn
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Identity Negotiation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Practice ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
New Members ◽  
Role Negotiation ◽  
School District Leaders ◽  
Collaborative Efforts

In research-practice partnerships (RPPs), the line between researcher and practitioner can be blurred, and the roles for everyone involved may be unclear. Yet little is known about how these roles are negotiated and with what consequences for collaborative efforts. Guided by organizational theory, we share findings from a multiyear case study of one RPP, drawing on observations of partnership leadership meetings and interviews with school district leaders and partners. Role negotiation occurred in more than one third of leadership meetings, as evidenced by identity-referencing discourse. When roles were unclear, collaborative efforts stalled; once partners renegotiated their roles, it changed how they engaged in the work together. Several forces contributed to these dynamics, including the partner’s ambitious yet ambiguous identity and the introduction of new members to the group. This study offers implications for those engaged in partnership work and provides a foundation for future research regarding role negotiation in RPPs.

scholarly journals Opportunities and Access: Exploring How School District Leaders Make Meaning of Equity in Practice through Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Clayton ◽  
Donald Robertson ◽  
Tania Sotomayor
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Behavioral Interventions ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Primary Research ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
School District Leaders ◽  
Positive Behavioral Interventions

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to explore how PBIS and equity interacted according to school and district leaders.Research methods/approach: This study examined how five schools made meaning of the implementation process, ongoing efforts, and structures created. Through a case study including interviews, focus groups, and observations, the primary research question was explored: How do school leaders and teachers make meaning of implementing and assessing PBIS in their schools as a component of a journey toward equity?Findings: While the five schools had unique aspects, four common themes emerged across schools, including the benefits of PBIS, the power of relationships, the importance of communication and leadership, and PBIS challenges.

scholarly journals On Leadership: Responding to COVID-19: Short- and long-term challenges

2020 ◽  
Vol 101 (8) ◽  
pp. 60-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua P. Starr
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Data Systems ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
Local Economies ◽  
School District Leaders ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
State And Local

In the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, school district leaders’ most immediate priority was to ensure that students have access to regular meals. However, efforts to provide a range of other social services must follow close behind. As a start, superintendents can look to their data systems to help them identify those students and families that are most likely to need social services to make it through this phase and beyond. But even while racing to ensure students’ health and safety, they cannot afford to ignore the longer-term challenges that their districts will face, given not just the need to move instruction online but also given that COVID-19 is all but guaranteed to do serious damage to state and local economies.

District Leaders Engaged in School Turnaround: Identified Challenges and Espoused Responses

2018 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Coby Meyers ◽  
Jonathan Sadler
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
District Leadership ◽  
School Principal ◽  
School Turnaround ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
School District Leaders

School turnaround initiatives have prioritized the school principal as the change lever. Little overall consideration about the critical role district leadership plays. In this study, we analyze the turnaround launch and, improvement plans of school district leaders participating in a university, turnaround program. We find that district leaders identify certain systems, levers as more significant challenges than other ones, but their espoused, ways to address these challenges are disparate if determined at all. Implications for districts and schools are discussed.

scholarly journals Developing Leadership Capacity in New Rural School District Leaders: The Kansas Educational Leadership Institute

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna Augustine-Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
School District ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Rural School ◽  
Leadership Capacity ◽  
Professional Organization ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
School District Leaders ◽  
Leadership Institute

Understanding the context of rural school settings is critical to beginning school district leaders.  Rural communities present multifaceted challenges that leaders must embrace as diverse community expectations unfold.  The majority of Kansas school districts are in rural settings.  Mentoring and induction shapes the experiences encountered during the first year of practice.  The Kansas Educational Leadership Institute provides high quality mentoring and induction for new superintendents and principals in Kansas.  Mentoring and induction provided by veteran superintendents familiar with leadership complexities in rural communities is offered through on-site visits.  In addition, new superintendents participate in activities focused on building capacity through regional cohort networks, attendance at professional organization and state meetings, and in professional learning seminars.  The rural superintendent wears many hats in serving their local district. Professional learning opportunities that provide leaders with strategies to focus on achievement, plan for change, and build leadership capacity in rural environments are critical for success.

Central District Office Leadership for Diversity and Equity: Constraints and Opportunities for Policy Intermediaries

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 521-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Mattheis
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Local Community ◽  
State Funding ◽  
Integration Policy ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
District Office ◽  
Community Needs ◽  
School District Leaders ◽  
Changing Demographics

This article reports the findings of a multiyear investigation of school district central office directors of diversity and equity in Minnesota, who play an important role in school desegregation/integration policy implementation. Ethnographic and survey data were collected to examine a range of leadership activities and perspectives in communities across the state that received state funding for integration programming. In this article, I present findings that illustrate the role of integration leaders as boundary-spanning policy intermediaries who navigate competing frames of meaning about the purpose and value of diversity in learning environments. Learning from these school district leaders’ focus on educational equity in the context of changing demographics offers opportunities to address local community needs more directly.

The Multiple Meanings of (In)Equity: Remaking School District Tracking Policy in an Era of Budget Cuts and Accountability

2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 783-812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica O. Turner ◽  
Angeline K. Spain
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Educational Opportunity ◽  
Urban School Districts ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
Budget Cuts ◽  
District Administrators ◽  
School District Leaders ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
School District Administrators ◽  
High Track

How do school district administrators make sense of educational equity as they undertake reform? This study examines tracking policymaking in two urban school districts. Using case studies and an interpretive approach, the study highlights school district leaders’ shifting ways of making sense of tracking and (in)equity while facing achievement gaps, accountability pressures, budgets cuts, and support for tracking. Even after the emergence of powerful opposition, we find that district administrators continued to rethink the meaning of equity in relation to tracking and they pursued policies that expanded access to high-track classes and gifted education. While potentially widening educational opportunity, these moves fundamentally reinscribed the inequity of tracking in their schools.

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