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This study sought to explore the extent to which and how principals can help decrease the use of out-of-school suspension and close the racial discipline gap. This study comprised a qualitative case study of a principal in an urban school district. Data derive from in-depth interviews with current and former campus and district leaders, historical data, and documents. The principal's transformational actions, together with support from the district, helped to improve the school's culture, and decreased the use of OSS, but were not sufficient to close the racial discipline gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the experiences of three aspiring Latina school leaders in a principal preparation program with a social justice emphasis. Employing theoretical perspectives grounded in a community-based educational leadership framework and transformational resistance theory, this study documents how coursework informed the perspectives of participants regarding educational equity and racial justice. This comparative case study takes place at a Hispanic Serving Institution and focuses on two social foundations courses spanning a 5-month period. Findings illustrate participants' capacity to (a) reframe their past experiences as P-20 students in relation to meritocracy; (b) respond to current injustices as K-12 teachers, particularly the power of language to disrupt or perpetuate inequities; and lastly (c) re-envision educational leadership as future Latina principals as deeply intertwined with communities. The research highlights a need for a broadened approach to principal preparation that fosters future leaders to consider the engagement and leadership of marginalized students and families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the impact mechanism of principals' transformational leadership on students' modernity, this study adopted the structural equation model to test the multiple mediating effects of school climate, teacher quality, and effective teaching on the relationship between principals' transformational leadership and students' modernity. Results showed that there was a positive correlation between principals' transformational leadership and students' modernity; school climate, teacher quality, and effective teaching fully mediated the relationship between principals' transformational leadership and students' modernity, totally accounting for 64.37% of all the indirect effects; the mediating effects of school climate, teacher quality, and effective teaching, respectively, accounted for 30.20%, 52.29%, and 17.51%. According to these results, principal should adopt the approach of transformational leadership, promote the constructing of a fair, inclusive and innovative school climate, emphasize the improvement of teachers' social, emotional, and innovative qualities, and encourage teachers to reflect their teaching and conduct rational practices to improve students' modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines two case studies of failed leadership in school-based professional development. We describe the two initiatives and look to current leadership theories to help account for the events that occurred. The sociologist Bourdieu’s concept of habitus offers an approach to understanding the relationship between individual agency and structural determinism. Chaos and complexity theory conceptualize organizations from a systems level where relationships and connections among all constituents—both inside and outside—are the focus. In addition, transformational and charismatic leadership theories allow for a consideration of leadership characteristics. While much can be learned from failed attempts, a comparative analysis of failed and successful strategies may assist leaders in avoiding the pitfalls of these challenging times while simultaneously providing strategies for success. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]