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Purpose: This study tested a moderated mediation model of school leadership effects on teacher instructional practices. Specifically, the authors focused on the mediating effect of teacher professional communities and the moderating effect of instructional climate on the relationship between school leadership and teacher instructional practices. Design/methodology/approach: The authors collected data from 958 teachers working in 72 middle and high schools in Türkiye and employed multilevel structural equation modelling (MSEM) with Bayesian estimation to predict structural links between the study variables. Findings: Results affirmed a full mediation model where school leadership practices exerted indirect effects on teacher instructional practices through promoting teacher professional communities. The authors also found significant moderating role of instructional climate in the effect of school leadership on teacher professional communities and instructional practices. Originality/value: This study illuminates the contextualized nature of school leadership by concluding that the effect of school leadership on teacher professional communities and instructional practices is closely tied to the extent to which a high-quality instructional climate is established in schools.

Using a newly created teacher evaluation instrument, Inter-rater Reliability (IRR) analyses were conducted on four teacher videos as a means to establish instrument reliability. Raters included 42 principals and assistant principals in a southern US school district. The videos used spanned the teacher quality spectrum and the IRR findings across these levels varied. Key findings suggest that while the overall IRR coefficient may be adequate to assess the validity of a classroom observation instrument, the overall coefficient may be unstable across the various teacher performance levels. Findings also strongly suggest that raters are much more likely to agree when they see high-quality teaching when compared to levels of agreement regarding low-quality teaching.

This article contributes to the growing international education base regarding different types of professional learning--teacher leadership, study groups, coaching, lessons study, and planning--by examining policies that support teachers across three countries.

This study aimed to test a multilevel moderated mediation model, where the association between distributed leadership (DL) and collective teacher innovativeness (CTI) was examined, with collectivism (COL) included as the moderator and supportive school culture (SSC) as a mediator. Using data from 829 teachers employed in 61 elementary and lower secondary schools in Turkey, we conducted multilevel structural equation modelling through Bayesian to estimate the structural links between our study variables. Our results showed significant indirect effects of DL on CTI via SSC. The findings also extend the literature by suggesting the significant moderator role of COL on the indirect link between DL and CTI via SSC. We discuss implications for policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study examined the perspectives of principals related to professional development for teachers on formal plans of remediation for underperformance in the classroom. The principles associated with job-embedded professional development as well as cognitive dissonance provided a basis for analyzing data collected throughout the interviews and analysis. The population included 12 elementary, middle, and high school principals from 2 school systems in the United States. Data analysis from the interviews yielded three major findings clustered as themes related to: 1) Cognitive dissonance, professional development, and marginal teachers 2) Confidentiality trumps collaboration, and 3) Professional development by the numbers. By examining professional development practices for underperforming teachers, the findings contribute to our understanding about some perspectives that school principals hold about a population of teachers at-risk. Implications are offered.

This article addresses educational supervision as a platform for promoting the principles and foundations of social justice in K-12 schools in the United States. Fraser's components of recognition, redistribution, and representation served as the foundation to examine socially-just supervision as a socio-culturally, politically, and economically grounded process. Socially-just supervision could promote reflective practices, support building relationships, create opportunities to improve teacher capacity, and focus effort and time to create momentum for teachers to become more socially-just as they interact with their students. Drawn from research, key practices as well as five guiding principles that support leadership for socially-just supervision for teachers in K-12 settings are provided. Without these principles, supervision, professional learning, and evaluation will remain discreet administrative functions that do not focus on the needs of teachers as they move throughout their careers.

QSWL in a psychosocial manner is defined as "the effect of the workplace on satisfaction with the job, satisfaction in non-work life domains, and satisfaction with overall life, personal happiness, and subjective well-being". This research aimed to develop a valid and reliable measurement instrument that is designed to measure QSWL based on literature, expert and practitioner teachers' knowledge. 784 teachers were participants in this research. The draft scale included 30 items of the instruments. To validate the scale exploratory factor analysis followed by confirmatory analysis. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that QSWL scale is composed of five dimensions. Confirmatory analysis revealed that X[superscript 2]/sd ratio was in the intermediate level, the value of RMSEA and RMR were in represents of acceptable fit whereas GFI and AGFI indexes were in weak level and finally NNFI and CFI were in sufficient value. Cronbach's Alpha coefficient values for QSWL subdimensions were ranged between 0.62 and 0.85 whereas this value was 0.87 for composite scale. Consequently, this newly developed scale is a valid and reliable instrument that serves to measure and describe schools' quality of work life.

A case study using appreciate inquiry identified and described the experiences of five educational administration doctoral students representing three universities regarding their doctoral program studies and dissertation process. Data were collected using reflective narratives and the Left Hand Right Hand Column Case Method. Data revealed (a) the student's perception of the level of caring in the doctoral program by program faculty influenced their perception of program quality; and (b) the caring relationship between the faculty and student extended to the student's work context. We concluded that doctoral students benefit from a culture of caring and link caring to high quality programs.

The perspectives of three rural middle school principals as they implement Georgia's A Plus Education Reform Act of 2000 were investigated in this study. A case study approach was used, employing both within case and cross case analyses. Three interviews were conducted with each of the three participants, resulting in a total of nine interviews. Five perspectives emerged from the data: (1) Evaluation of teacher effectiveness can be indicated only by the results of standardized tests, (2) Supervision consists of classroom visits and observations, (3) Ruralness affects how staff development is delivered, (4) Lack of funding limits the effectiveness of the staff development component of teacher evaluation, and (5) Implementation of A Plus adversely affects the traditional middle school schedule.

This study examined the work of a principal of a Midwestern urban elementary school who used instructional supervision as a means of developing a learning community for adults. Implementing a variety of approaches adapted to the culture of the school, the principal crafted a process to meet the learning needs of 125 teachers and created an environment conducive to staff development. Also examined are other complementary practices in relation to the interconnected nature of supervision and staff development. A case-study approach (Merriam 1998) was used to generate detailed descriptions of how the principal used supervision as a "glue" to promote the development of a learning community. Data were collected during a two-year period through multiple methods: on-site observations, interviews with teachers and administrators, and artifact collection and analysis. This case study is offered as a means to further the research on the principal's role in building and nurturing a learning community.

The present study aims to identify shared instructional leadership strategies administered by school principals and instructional coaches to enhance teacher professional learning within a southeastern school system. Using a qualitative case study approach, we collected data through semi-structured interviews with six principals and six instructional coaches from seven elementary schools. Qualitative content analysis was utilized to analyze the data. The results revealed various shared instructional leadership strategies across three key components: structuring the school environment to facilitate professional learning, fostering a culture of ongoing learning, and nurturing interpersonal relationships conducive to teacher development. We discuss implications for policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Principals are tasked with being the instructional leaders in their schools--developing teacher's abilities through formal and informal classroom observations and feedback. But how can school districts ensure that principals have the skills they need to fulfill this crucial role? In Clarke County School District in Georgia, central-office leaders help principals build their instructional leadership skills through one-on-one professional learning opportunities called conversation walks. The central-office leader (usually the superintendent, assistant superintendent, or executive director for elementary and secondary instruction) visits the school for about half a day and observes in classrooms with the principal. The observations focus on specific observable practices that the school district has established. Debriefing conversations after each classroom observation enable the two leaders to explore their interpretations of what they observed and to increase their understanding of teaching and learning in the school.

This research suggests that structural accommodation can be implemented during the construction phase of standardized mathematics examinations. Data from a racially diverse district in the United States are used to compare student performance on questions with and without graphical aids. Findings suggest that mathematics questions possessing helpful graphical aids significantly reduce the performance gap between ELLs and non-ELLs. Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analysis flagged 32 items, with just five containing a helpful graphical aid. Interestingly, these five all had negative coefficients favoring ELLs. As graphical aids are implemented in the construction phase of standardized testing, test score validity issues associated with typically used ELL accommodations are minimized. This research suggests that more useful graphical aids should be used when constructing mathematics examinations for elementary school students.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the connections between principal succession and professional learning through the analysis of the current practices in leader development, support, and retention in two Georgia state school districts. The findings of the cross-case analysis were summarized in five major themes: First, a key component to the overall success of principal professional learning and succession is a visionary superintendent. Second, planning for principal succession, school districts strongly favor local applicants. Third, building leaders from within the district is an effective way to ensure leader continuity. Fourth, developing future principals, school districts express strong preference for the nonuniversity leader preparation programs, designed to address their specific needs. Finally, leader professional development and succession are tightly connected. Implications for research and practice are offered.