An Examination of Principal Professional Development and its Alignment to Professional Standards and Professional Development Constructs

Principals need and require specific professional development that is rigorous, effective, and aligned to professional leadership standards and effective professional development constructs. This case study examined the professional development strategies, and practices, used by school districts and their alignment to the California Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (CPSEL) and effective professional development constructs. School district administrators and principals representing the Southern San Joaquin Valley, a predominantly rural area of California, participated in this research via interviews and focus groups. This research is critical as rural areas are often underrepresented in educational research. The findings indicate a lack of intentional alignment of principal professional development with professional standards and professional development constructs. The findings call for districts to take an intentional approach to principal development that is aligned with these frameworks to ensure principals are provided with effective and rigorous support for their educational leadership, growth, and development.

Student Social Class Identity Development: A Perspective on Dual Credit Programming

Student social class identity development is a relatively unexamined aspect of student identity development throughout adolescents’ educational experiences. Negative student social class identity development amongst low-social class adolescent students is increasing along with the growth of dual credit programs. This article will first discuss several negative and positive influences of dual credit programs on adolescent students’ social class identity development. Suggestions of specific dual credit program procedures that may help encourage a more positive social class identity development amongst low-social class students will follow.

Effective Instructional Leadership Practices in High Performing Elementary Schools

The purpose of this study was to investigate the connection between principals’ instructional practices and student achievement. A phenomenological case study examined 13 Title I elementary schools in central California that exhibited a) a high percentage of students from poverty, b) higher than average state assessment results, and c) principals that remained in their schools for 3 years or more during the same time period. The study analyzed instructional leadership practices (ILP) and the monitoring tools used by the principals and its effect on student achievement. The impact of this study provides a model for ILP of principals that can be incorporated into their daily habits that provide opportunities for instructional changes that can lead to increased student achievement.

How Did We Get Here? One District’s Approach to Device Assisted Learning Technology Implementation

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the importance of online and device-assisted learning. What was demonstrated at this time was how prepared districts were to make this transition. Lincoln Public Schools, in Lincoln, Nebraska, was one district that successfully planned and implemented device-assisted learning technology into their school system ahead of the pandemic. This study sought to better understand the process that district leadership enacted to inform practice on developing a technology plan and its implementation. The study's findings show that five key elements are required for successful replication: (a) shared goals, (b) right people and right-fit, (c) cross-communication, (d) implementation, and (e) growth and support. This article serves as a practitioner's guide to implementation as many districts across the country are still trying to figure out how best to serve their students and families.

Improving Teacher Evaluation: Walking the Talk of Standards-Based Grading

Teachers and school leaders frequently express a disconnect in the purpose and importance of teacher evaluation, particularly as it relates to educator growth. At the same time, some schools are beginning to communicate student growth through a standards-based grading philosophy. One way schools might “walk the talk” of their grading reform efforts designed to communicate student growth is through the use of proficiency scales to prioritize growth in teacher evaluation. This paper describes implications of simultaneously utilizing a growth model for teacher evaluation and a student growth model via standards-based grading.

Developing the Leadership Capacity of Teachers: Theory to Practice

Today’s school leaders need to prioritize the development of leadership capacity in classroom teachers. Leadership development commonly involves either teachers expressing an interest in leadership or school leaders finding talent in those teachers whom they believe have the capacity to grow into formal leadership roles. School leaders must be able to recognize teachers who overflow with terrific ideas and leadership potential and those who are less likely to self-identify as leadership candidates. However, as a school administrator desires to cultivate leadership capacity in teachers, he or she must devise a plan. To accomplish this task effectively, best practices and theory must be utilized. Therefore, this essay addresses the use of best practices as identified in the literature to promote a positive school climate, collaboration, motivation, reflective practice, and teacher leadership development.

Points, Points, and More Points: High School Grade Inflation and Deflation when Homework and Employability Scores are Incorporated

With a strong movement of schools starting to use standards-based grading practices, one of the aims of this study was to learn if traditional grading practices communicate grades that are accurate based on the students’ learning of the course objectives. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which employability and homework scores within a traditional points- and percentages-weighted grading model inflates or deflates grades. This study analyzed 795 students’ semester math grades at an urban high school to see if, and to what extent, students’ grades were inflated or deflated due to including homework and employability scores in the grade. Final grades, which included homework and employability points, were compared to each student’s overall summative assessment scores to determine grade inflation or deflation. The study also analyzed how changing grading practices to eliminate homework and employability points would impact the number of students that ultimately passed or failed the course. Results of this study indicated 336 (43.2%) students had their grades inflated or deflated by 5% or more and 97 (12.6%) students had their grades inflated or deflated by 10% or more, which is equivalent to moving up or down a full letter grade. School leaders should consider separately communicating academic and non-academic factors to minimize grade inflation/deflation in order to make decisions based upon grades more justifiable.

Principal Effects on Academic Progress Over Time and the Potential Effects of School Context and Principal Leadership Practices

We used interrupted time series to examine the causal effect of principals on school performance over time and whether the trajectory of performance is affected by school context and leadership practices. Results were based on a unique dataset that links responses from the National Schools and Staffing Survey with 10 years of California Academic Performance Index (API) data. These data and methods address a need identified in the literature to examine the effects of principals with more rigorous research designs. Results indicated that improved academic performance does not occur immediately but accrues over time. We estimated both the first-year impact of a principal and the subsequent impact over time. The effect size increased from 0.04 in the first year to 0.21 by year three. Exploratory analyses showed that school context and leadership practices account for a substantial portion of the variation in progress among schools: 25% and 40%, for context and practices, respectively. Although the Schools and Staffing Survey afforded an opportunity to examine teacher and principal responses to academic performance over time, continued study is warranted to systematically and more concretely identify specific leadership practices that impact academic progress over time.

Benefits of Mindfulness Professional Development for Elementary Teachers

Using an embedded quasi-experimental mixed-method approach, this exploratory study aimed to understand the benefits of mindfulness training for elementary school teachers and leaders in one rural school district. After the delivery of two 90-minute mindfulness professional developments with on-the-job practice of strategies over 2 weeks, quantitative statistical comparisons of the intervention and inactive control groups were made using survey results from the Mindfulness in Teaching Scale (Frank et al., 2016). Qualitative analyses used intervention participant journal entry responses along with one-on-one interviews. After analyses, the results suggest mindfulness training can benefit teachers, specifically in the use of intrapersonal mindfulness practices, reshaping daily interactions with students, and reducing stress.

The Assistant Principal as Instructional Leader: The Redesign of the AP Position in the 21st Century

Every campus leader is critical in supporting student achievement, most notably the principal and the often-unnoticed assistant principal (AP). The problem this study addresses is the lack of advancement in the AP’s role as an instructional leader in light of educational reform and the demands of the 21st century. To address this issue, the purpose of this study was to mine the literature to understand the role of the AP. A semi-systematic review of the limited literature on this topic indicated the AP, whose role has historically been a manager and disciplinarian, must be redefined to reflect an instructional and equitable leader actively seeking to ensure access and opportunity for all students. These findings suggest that the AP should be duly prepared and supported as teaching, learning, and educational leadership continue to evolve in these extraordinary times. Based on a synthesis of the literature, we argue for a revision of the outdated AP role to one more reflective of increased awareness regarding instructional leadership, student diversity, equity, and access within the current educational environment of standards-based reform.