The purpose of this article is to analyze the strategy used to develop a collaborative professional development process that focused on the implementation of the common core state standards. In addition, the author will report findings, and discuss the effectiveness of the initiative for postsecondary faculty. Faculty can verify that not every student comes to a two or four year college program prepared to succeed in credit bearing coursework. To facilitate improvement of student success, states across the country collaborated with teachers, researchers and leading experts to design and develop the common core state standards. The standards were developed to ensure that all students, regardless of where they live, are well prepared with the skills and knowledge essential to collaborate and compete with their peers (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2012). Kentucky was the first state to adopt the Common Core Standards, and beginning in 2010 a large scale effort was developed to provide faculty with information about how implementation of the standards could affect postsecondary education. To address the need for information about the Common Core Standards, representatives from Kentucky institutes of higher education (IHE) collaborated in the development and delivery of information about the Common Core Standards.

Challenging students to create digital documentary films in history courses engages students in both mastery of content knowledge and higher order thinking experiences. Teachers considering this type of work must contend with the focus on standards-based testing, a wide breadth of content to be covered, the challenge of finding relevant primary source materials, and restrictions related to copyright and Fair Use. This paper explores a resource site for teachers, Digital Docs in a Box, that attempts to mediate some of these concerns and support their students in the creation of digital documentaries. First, we explore the rationale for student creation of digital media, the challenges inherent in these endeavors, and the creation of the resource site. We then overview the structure and use of the site, with an illustration of how a practicing teacher would use one of the documentary kits in the classroom.

The Principals Excellence Program (PEP), a cohort-based professional development project for administratorcertified practitioners, is one of 24 projects across the United States supported by federal funds from the No Child Left Behind legislation. The three-year program is conducted through a partnership between Pike County School District, a high-need rural system in Central Appalachia, and the University of Kentucky, located 150 miles away. A major goal for PEP is improved school leadership focused on enhanced student learning. Findings in this paper include inprogress evaluations of program impact toward (a) preparing school leaders to promote learning success for all, (b) engaging cohort members in authentic practice with mentor principals, (c) addressing high-stakes accountability issues, and (d) delivering effective leadership preparation. Perspectives from all stakeholder groups (i.e., cohort participants, mentor principals, district leaders, program instructors) are integrated to provide holistic assessment of PEP.

Abstract: Cohorts are increasingly popular management tools for recruiting students into professional education programs, for organizing their learning experiences, for promoting performance-based outcomes, and for developing and using innovative teaching-learning ...

Abstract: Cohorts are increasingly popular management tools for recruiting students into professional education programs, for organizing their learning experiences, for promoting performance-based outcomes, and for developing and using innovative teaching-learning ...

The Principals Excellence Program (PEP), a cohort-based professional development project for administrator certified practitioners, is one of 24 projects a cross the United States supported by federal funds from the No Child Left Behind legislation. The three-year program is conducted through a partnership between Pike County School District, a high-need rural system in Central Appalachia, and the University of Kentucky, located 150 miles away. A major goal for PEP is improved school leadership focused on enhanced student learning. Findings in this paper include inprogress evaluations of program impact toward (a) preparing school leaders to promote learning success for all, (b) engaging cohort members in authentic practice with mentor principals, (c) addressing high-stakes accountability issues, and (d) delivering effective leadership preparation. Perspectives from all stakeholder groups (i.e., cohort participants, mentor principals, district leaders, program instructors) are integr...

This article presents district administrators' reflections about (a) the contextual challenges they face in leading a high-need rural school system in Central Appalachia and (b) the change initiatives they implemented to transform the principalship from school management to instructional ...

Abstract: This paper examines leadership preparation by focusing on existing research and unaddressed questions about what happens inside and outside cohorts, a model for program delivery used in many universities. It seeks to stimulate dialogue on the impact of ...

Abstract: This paper reports the findings of a comparative study of the content of electronic exchanges among members of learning communities to determine what kinds of online dialogue differences, if any, exist. The virtual learning communities compared are two ...

The Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) can thus be viewed as a grassroots initiative by those closely associated with doctoral education (EdD) (i.e., university professors). Conversely, redesign of university-based preparation programs for P-12 leaders has typically been precipitated through policy enactment resulting from influence by foundations, policy analysts, and special interest groups (cf.

Call for researCh on Candidates in leadership preparation programs Research on leadership preparation programs in our field typically focuses on program design and delivery mode (e.g., closed cohorts, internships, distance learning, partnerships), curriculum and pedagogy (e.g., learning theories, syllabi content, learning outcomes), and occasionally program faculty. A critically missing component of research is about those actively engaged in learning-the candidates-and their lived and learned experiences. This call for research on program participants emerged from a review of research literature conducted by the authors.

Based on multiple sources, this article concludes that, when learner-centered instructional strategies are used with doctoral students, these adult learners take charge of their individual and collective learning, become accountable for both, and enhance their ability to transfer learning to practice. The students studied skills of developed teams in advance of their group-conducted dissertation research first by engaging in teamdevelopment activities, then by conducting group-constructed pilot studies, and finally by collaboratively authoring related conference papers. These student-centered activities sought to ensure that the doctoral students could work together to conduct and complete their degree ending, team-conducted dissertation research.

The intent of principal preparation "is to produce leaders" (Milstein, 1992, p. 10) that have the requisite knowledge, dispositions, and skills to lead contemporary schools competently and effectively (Institute for Educational Leadership, 2000; Kelley & Peterson, 2000). New performance expectations for principals in the United States, delineated in administrator standards established by the Council for Chief State School Officers (CCSSO, 1996) and individual states, have modified the long-standing perception of a principal as a school manager to a perspective of learner-centered leaders who focus on high levels of learning for all students (Fullan, 2003; Murphy, 2002, 2005; Waters, Marzano, & McNulty, 2003). Subsequently, many university-based preparation programs have redesigned their delivery formats, aligned their curricula to new professional standards, and updated their performance assessments for graduate students (Jackson & Kelley, 2002; Murphy & Forsyth, 1999). Nonetheless, new and veteran principals alike face administrative realities today for which they are often not fully prepared. Almost concurrently with changed expectations for the principalship, school districts in the United States report difficulty in attracting and retaining well-prepared principals

During the mid-1980s in Kentucky, a grassroots advocacy group composed of 66 property-poor school districts, seven local school boards, and 22 public school students formed, calling itself the Council for Better Education, Inc. The group filed a class-action suit in 1985 asserting that "funding in Kentucky was inequitable and inadequate-inequitable because some school districts had much more money than others to support education and inadequate because of Kentucky's low level of educational achievement." 1 Although only seeking changes in school funding, their legal action eventually led to a Kentucky Supreme Court ruling in June 1989 that "the state's entire elementary and secondary school system-not just the school finance system-[was] inefficient and unconstitutional." 2 This sweeping decision applied to "the whole gamut of the common school system in Kentucky." 3 The ruling led to enactment of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA), the "most comprehensive education legislation in modern American history." 4 Kentucky became one of the leaders in comprehensive systemic change in public schooling because KERA significantly changed curriculum, governance, and finance and introduced a demanding statewide system of school accountability. 5 Despite efforts through legislation to provide equitable learning opportunities for all Kentucky children and youths, many schools districts in eastern Kentucky continue to struggle to ensure that all students learn and achieve required performance levels in the state accountability system. Although PreK-12 educational funding throughout the Commonwealth is more equitable today than it was in the past, influences created by widespread poverty remain. Student underachievement on state accountability measures and school improvement efforts, predominately in poor schools, provides

Article Info The complexity and intensity of reforms over several decades in the United States of America led to large-scale systemic reform and shifted superintendent roles from emphasis on management tasks to pivotal actions in the complex algorithm for managing and leading change initiatives. National commissions, task force reports, and nationwide research on the American superintendency informed need for changes in school-district leadership. This article provides a scholarly and objective analysis of issues surrounding five roles superintendents assume and the emergent need for district-level team leadership to address successfully diverse and complex challenges in contemporary education.

During recent decades, the notion of team leadership has emerged as a central theme in the international discourse on systemic education reform. This issue of Research in Educational Administration and Leadership not only captures a collective sense of commitment to education as means for advancing national social, economic, and political wellbeing but also reflects a changing nature of leadership across a wide spectrum of educational organizations and contexts. Given the increasing complexity of 21 st century education, effective leaders at all levels tend to rely less on bureaucratic, hierarchical structures and more on relational approaches to accomplish tasks. In this regard, teamwork has become an indispensable characteristic of organizational life, and depending on the task, teams may involve a wide array of stakeholders (e.g., superintendents, school board members, district support staff, principals, teachers, parents, students) or a select few representing specific constituencies to address specific issues. Having a greater diversity of perspectives within teams enable them to identify and solve complex problems, coordinate work, facilitate communication, resolve conflict, and build commitment to

Transformative Teacher Leadership When teacher leaders assume shared responsibility for achieving common goals, "an emergent property arises. .. [that allows] the group or collective to accomplish more than an individual could alone" (Chrispeels, 2004, p. 5). Working together effectively

Article Info The rise of globalization compelled national governments to examine how they would adapt widespread social, economic, and political changes to advance their nation's future wellbeing. Most recognized the pivotal role of education in facilitating adaptation to changes unfolding in society and expressed concern about the quality of their education systems and student academic performance. During the last three decades, nations engaged in what is generally regarded as one of the most intense and protracted attempts at educational reform in recent history. National educational reform initiatives initiated in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) and in the United States of America. In many instances, shifts in national education policy altered how school districts were organized, managed, and governed which in turn reconfigured superintendents' roles. An examination of findings from recent nationwide studies on superintendents suggests that decentralization and devolution of decision-making authority to municipal governments, local schools, and parents may have heightened the importance their micropolitical roles in the provision of education.