District-level Administrators Research Articles

A Narrative Study on Authentic Leadership and Dual Credit Administration in Texas Community Colleges

ABSTRACT Community colleges play an integral role in early access to college via dual credit programs. Dual credit programs have grown exponentially in Texas, thus warranting further investigation into how these programs are led and administered at the district level. Authentic leadership is needed to ensure programs, students, families, and faculty members achieve success. Using authentic leadership and life-stories as a conceptual framework, this study focused on three community college administrators’ narratives, approaches to interpersonal relationships, and perspectives on dual credit challenges and priorities. The findings of the study indicated community college administrators lead these programs with a variety of leadership experiences. Furthermore, they must navigate relationships with multiple key stakeholders and respond to competing demands. This study also highlights the challenges of equity, lack of administrative infrastructure, and communication and compromise. Administrators shared their priorities in being “student ready,” strategic planning, and training and professional development. This study could assist researchers, educators, and policymakers in better understanding dual credit implementation by offering insights into the necessary training needed for district-level administrators to implement a dual credit program.

Multiple Logics of Curriculum Leadership: How a Large Public School District Manages Institutional Complexity

Purpose: This study contributes to a growing literature focused on institutional complexity, or the phenomenon of competing institutional logics, in PK-12 public education. Responding to calls for more nuanced characterizations of district-level administration, our purpose was to identify the logics of curriculum leadership in one large school district in the Western U.S. and examine how district leaders made sense of their multiple demands. Research Methods: Employing case study methods, we collected curricular documents and conducted 21 interviews of district-level curriculum leaders, principals, and teachers. We used inductive coding to identify patterns in the district's culture of curriculum leadership and then drew upon institutional theory to associate these patterns with particular institutional logics. Findings: We found three coexisting logics of curriculum leadership in the school district: a logic of uniformity, which called for teachers’ fidelity to a prescriptive curriculum; a logic of participation, which valued teacher voice and shared leadership; and a logic of performance, which placed a premium on measurable student achievement. These logics were often incompatible or contradictory, producing mixed messages and an institutional complexity that remained largely unacknowledged among leaders. Implications: Tensions among logics of curriculum leadership may not always result in open contestation, yet if leaders do not resolve them at the district level, teachers may be unsupported in their efforts to reconcile competing demands in their classroom practices. Identifying specific logics of curriculum leadership and considering their interactions may help leaders make sense of conflicting values and better support teachers in their classroom decision making.

Associations between teacher stress and school leadership: A mixed methods study with implications for school psychologists.

School psychologists have the psychological and consultative expertise necessary to support teachers who are vulnerable to stress. Transactional theory offers a lens to guide such support, as it posits that each teacher's unique appraisals of their work demands and resources determine the degree to which they are at risk for stress. This study used a multiphase sequential mixed method design with a transactional theory lens to examine the association of leadership quality and stability with teachers' ratings of workplace conditions. The four phases consisted of (a) input from an expert panel, (b) scale development and validation, (c) interviews with key informants, and (d) multilevel modeling informed by all previous phases. Through key informant interviews, district-level administrators provided ratings of the quality and stability of school leadership. The researchers examined the associations between these ratings and teacher appraisals of classroom demands, classroom resources, job satisfaction, and perceived levels of instructional support collected via a district-wide climate survey. Multilevel models with key informant ratings and school characteristics at Level 2 (Nschools = 47) and teacher characteristics and perceptions at Level 1 (Nteachers = 1,850) demonstrated that the quality and stability of school leadership were associated with teachers' appraisals of their occupational demands and resources, job satisfaction, and ratings of instructional support. Findings show that the quality and stability of school leadership play an important role in the incidence of stress vulnerability, suggesting important pathways for school psychologists seeking to promote the occupational health of teachers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

School administrators’ experiences implementing a college and career readiness reform initiative

This paper shares results from a qualitative interview study about site- and district-level administrators' experiences and perceptions implementing a significant college and career readiness reform initiative. Linked Learning (LL) is one college and career readiness reform that has been growing in the U.S. and internationally in recent years. Linked Learning began in 2009 with nine school districts in CA, and currently there are 659 LL pathways across 20 states and 3 countries (Linked Learning Alliance, 2023). Twenty administrators from California schools and districts were interviewed using a protocol developed using Curry's (1992) model of reform implementation and institutionalization and the four core components of Linked Learning. Four significant themes emerged from the data related to advice that administrators shared for implementing a comprehensive school reform: know your stuff, follow your passion, plan your route, and build your team. Overall, these administrators recommended that the reform initiative within an organization should start with the hiring process to build a knowledgeable, passionate team and that personnel, including leaders, need support and training in order to effectively move a reform from the implementation to the institutionalization stage.

Routine child immunizations in India during the COVID-19 pandemic

Disruptions in health service delivery and utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic may have caused many children worldwide to not receive vital preventative health services. We investigate the pandemic’s effects on routine childhood vaccinations in India, which has the world’s largest child immunization program. Using data from the Government of India’s health management information system and interrupted time series analyses, we estimate district-level changes in routine child vaccinations during the pandemic relative to typical monthly vaccinations in the pre-pandemic period. Our results indicate there were significant reductions in child vaccinations during the pandemic, with declines being extremely large in April 2020 when a strict national lockdown was in place. For example, district-level administration of the final required dose in the polio series declined by about 60% in April 2020 relative to the typical monthly vaccination levels observed prior to the pandemic. Vaccinations subsequently increased but largely remained below levels observed before the outbreak of COVID-19. Additional declines in vaccinations occurred in 2021 during the second wave of COVID-19 infections in India. Heterogeneity analyses suggest that vaccinations declined the most in districts with the strictest lockdowns and in districts with low health system capacity at baseline. There is a vital need for corrective actions, such as catch-up vaccination campaigns, to limit the deleterious consequences that will arise for the children who missed routine immunizations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Community-Based Organizations and the Sustainability of Indigenous and Latinx Educators During COVID-19: Academia Cuauhtli Case Study

Schools often experience rapid turnover among teachers of color. Yet research and practice highlight the importance of teachers of color in the K–12 education system. As such, school and district-level administrators, educational leaders, and students need to conceptualize and develop new approaches aimed at sustaining Indigenous and Latinx public school teachers. This case study describes a community-based organization’s efforts to support and sustain new and established Indigenous and Latinx teachers during COVID-19. Recognizing the problem with retention about 7 years ago, two university professors decided to create Academia Cuauhtli, a community-based organization in Austin, Texas. In addition to serving as a cultural and language revitalization Saturday school program for students from third to fifth grade, the space also promotes the curricular recognition of alternative epistemologies and the development of culturally relevant pedagogies that foster students’ culture, language, and funds of knowledge via teacher professional development pláticas. Since its inception in 2014, Academia Cuauhtli has been able to successfully train and sustain more than 60 public school teachers. However, COVID-19 has created a new set of challenges for teachers and, in particular, for Indigenous and Latinx teachers.

Chilean public school administrators are not supporting whole-school approaches to school climate: a multilevel analysis

ABSTRACT Although whole-school, multitiered approaches have been recommended as evidence-based practices for managing school violence and school climate, initial evidence in Chile has shown that an individual approach prevails. In this study, we question whether these types of strategies deployed at the school level are related to how school districts manage school climate. Using a representative sample of public municipal schools (n = 194) in all macro zones of Chile and their respective district-level administrators (n = 65), we used a two-level multilevel linear regression to analyze the contribution of school-level and district-level variables on the frequency of schools’ report of deploying multitiered whole-school approaches. Results show that a greater district-level emphasis on school climate, in terms of human resource allocation and strategic planning, was associated with higher individual crisis attention and lower whole-school approaches. These findings suggest that school districts influence schools to manage school violence and school climate through individual student interventions. We discuss the need to overcome both at the district and school level an individual theory of change model, which is short term and shown to be ineffective, and embrace whole-school evidence-based approaches.

Digital self-care for improved access to family planning and reproductive health services among adolescents in Rwanda: preliminary findings from a pilot study of CyberRwanda

Adolescents experience significant barriers, including stigma and discrimination, to accessing voluntary family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) services in Rwanda. Self-care interventions have been shown to reduce social barriers to FP/RH care, but little is known about the effectiveness of digital self-care for adolescents, particularly in low-resource settings. This paper presents findings from a pilot study of CyberRwanda, a digital self-care intervention providing comprehensive sexuality education and confidential online ordering of contraceptives for school-aged youth in Rwanda through a rights-based approach. A mixed-methods pilot study was conducted from November 2019 to February 2020 to assess feasibility, acceptability, and engagement and to inform a future impact evaluation. Surveys were administered to a random sample of 158 students aged 12–19 years in three secondary schools. In-depth interviews were conducted with students, parents, teachers, pharmacists, district-level administrators, and youth centre staff. Descriptive statistics were calculated and qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic coding approach. One hundred and fifty-eight surveys and 28 interviews were conducted. Results revealed high demand for CyberRwanda in schools. Students were interested in engaging with the program and found the FP/RH content relevant to their needs. However, few purchased contraceptive products through the online ordering system. There are preliminary indications that CyberRwanda may improve access to FP/RH information. An extended implementation period and further research are needed to measure the long-term impacts of the program and evaluate whether this digital self-care intervention can increase uptake of contraceptive methods and reduce adolescent pregnancy among school-aged youth.

One Health approach for elimination of human anthrax in a tribal district of Odisha: Study protocol.

BackgroundAnthrax is a major but neglected zoonotic disease of public health concern in India with Odisha contributing a major share to the disease burden. Bacillus anthracis spores can be found naturally in soil and commonly affect both animals and humans around the world. Domestic and wild animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, and deer can become infected when they inhale or ingest spores from contaminated soil, plants, or water. Anthrax can be fatal if patients are not treated promptly with antibiotics. This protocol aims to describe the implementation and evaluation of the ‘One Health’ intervention model based on the principles of Theory of Change (ToC) to eliminate human anthrax from a tribal district in Odisha, India.MethodsThis study would test the effectiveness of a complex public health intervention package developed using the ToC framework for the elimination of human anthrax in Koraput district by a comparative analysis of baseline and end-line data. We plan to enroll 2640 adults across 14 geographically divided blocks in Koraput district of Odisha for baseline and end-line surveys. After baseline, we would provide capacity building training to stakeholders from the department of health, veterinary, forest, academic and allied health institutions followed by workshops on sensitization and awareness through IEC (Information Education Communication)/BCC (Behavior Change Communication) activities in the community. We would establish a state-level laboratory facility as a robust system for timely diagnosis and management of human anthrax cases. Surveillance network will be strengthened to track the cases in early stage and risk zoning will be done for focused surveillance in endemic areas. Advocacy with district level administration will be done for maximizing the coverage of livestock vaccination in the entire district. Interdepartmental coordination would be established for the effective implementation of the intervention package.ConclusionThis would be a first study applying One Health concept for the elimination of human anthrax in India. The findings from this study will offer important insights for policy-making and further replication in other endemic regions of the state and country.Trial registrationThe authors confirm that all ongoing and related trials for this intervention are prospectively registered with the Clinical Trials Registry of India [CTRI/2020/05/025325] on 22 May 2020.

Managing School Climate Issues at the School District Level: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature

Several research have studied how school management impacts cognitive and non-cognitive components of students’ lives. However, less is known about what district level administrators do when dealing with issues concerning school climate. This study aims a comprehensive review of the literature on school district level involvement in school climate, with focus on the underlying school climate construct, methods, and associated outcomes. The results show four dominant dimensions: community, safety, risk, and academic performance. District level administrators are concerned not only of students’ but also of teachers’ wellbeing, with special focus placed on teacher stress and burnout. Despite the positive impact of informed decision making on school performance, accountability pressures involved in meeting evaluation criteria may offset the benefits. Our review confirms the need to support district leadership to set the goals and measure the progress of successful strategies to manage school climate issues.

Epidemiological findings and policy implications from the nationwide schistosomiasis and intestinal helminthiasis survey in Sudan

BackgroundThe World Health Assembly endorsed the WHO Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) Roadmap in 2013, in which NTDs were suggested as tracers of equity in the assessment of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Nationwide surveys were undertaken in all 18 states of Sudan to identify the geographical distribution and to estimate the prevalence and intensity of schistosomiasis and other intestinal helminthiases from December 2016 to March 2017.MethodsWe used two-stage random sampling. Each district was subdivided into one to three different ecological zones (EZs) based on proximity to water bodies. Probability-proportional-to-size sampling was used to select schools from each EZ. We estimated schistosomiasis and intestinal helminthiasis prevalence by the centrifugation method and Kato-Katz smears. Multi-level mixed-effect models were used to investigate the relationship between the prevalence of infections and risk factors, including improved water or latrine status at the household or school level. We estimated the cost-effectiveness of a one-time mass drug administration (MDA) intervention with 75% coverage at the district and EZ levels.ResultsA total of 105,167 students from 1772 schools were surveyed. The overall egg-positive rates were: Schistosoma haematobium, 5.2%; S. mansoni, 0.06%; and intestinal helminths, 5.47%. Severe endemic areas were concentrated in East and South Darfur States. Children living in a house or attending schools with an improved latrine were less likely to be infected with schistosomiasis than those without a latrine (adjusted odds ratio, aOR: 0.45, 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.41–0.51 and aOR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.70–0.81 at the household or the school levels, respectively). Open defecation was strongly associated with schistosomiasis (aOR: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.35–1.66). In community-wide mass treatment at the district level with an 8% threshold for schistosomiasis, 2.2 million people would not benefit from MDA interventions with 75% coverage despite high endemicity, whilst 1.7 million people would receive the MDA intervention unnecessarily. EZ-level MDA was estimated to be more cost-effective than district-level administration under all circumstances.ConclusionsOur findings provide updated prevalence figures to guide preventive chemotherapy programmes for schistosomiasis and intestinal helminthiasis in Sudan. Schistosomiasis was found to be common among the inhabitants of fragile and conflict-affected areas. In addition, we found that MDA interventions would be more cost-effective at the sub-district level than at the district level, and there was a strong association between schistosomiasis prevalence and latrine status, at both the household and school levels. This study will help the Sudanese government and its neighbouring countries develop adequate control and elimination strategies.

Epidemiological Findings and Policy Implications from the Nationwide Schistosomiasis and Intestinal Helminthiasis Survey in Sudan

Background: The World Health Assembly endorsed the WHO Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) Roadmap in 2013, in which NTDs were suggested as tracers of equity in the assessment of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Nationwide surveys were undertaken in all 18 states of Sudan to identify the geographical distribution and estimate the prevalence and intensity of schistosomiasis and other helminthiases from December 2016 to March 2017. Improved water and sanitation coverage at the household and school levels and the proportion of respondents who engaged in risk behaviours were assessed. Methods: Using two-stage random sampling, each locality was subdivided into one to three different ecological zones (EZs) based on proximity to water bodies. Probability-proportional-to-size sampling was used to select schools from each EZ. We estimated schistosomiasis and intestinal helminthiasis prevalence in 105,167 school children by urine concentration microscopy and Kato-Katz smears. Risk factors and the impact thereof were investigated using multi-level mixed-effect models. Findings: The overall egg-positive rates were: Schistosoma haematobium, 5·2%; S. mansoni, 0·06%; and intestinal helminths, 5·47%. Severe endemic areas were concentrated in East and South Darfur States (S. haematobium prevalence, 25·23% and 13·91%, respectively). Households and schools with latrines, and especially improved latrines (ventilated improved pit latrines or flush toilets) were associated with lower odds of schistosomiasis infection. Open defecation was strongly associated with schistosomiasis (aOR: 1·50, 95% CI: 1·35-1·66). EZ-level mass drug administration was estimated to be more cost-effective than district-level administration under all circumstances. Interpretation: Endemic schistosomiasis is concentrated in fragile border states. This study provides insight into possible programmes to effectively reduce infections by presenting possible diverse, innovative strategies to disrupt the transmission cycle. Funding Statement: This project was supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) under the Integrated schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis control program, Sudan. Declaration of Interests: We declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: This study protocol was reviewed and approved by the institutional review board of the Federal Ministry of Health, Sudan (FMOH/DGP/RD/TC/2016) and the Korea Association of Health Promotion (130750-20,164-HR-020).

Changing Classroom Practice: Elementary Teacher Experiences of a Professional Development Program

K-12 teachers participate in formal professional development programs to improve the art of teaching and learning. This qualitative study explored the experiences of elementary educators as they implemented their newly acquired blended learning skills in the classroom. Analysis of the results revealed how teachers understand and make meaning of a professional development training program experience. After formal professional development programs, district level administrators failed to support K-6 professionals who desired change at the classroom level, therefore undermining their efforts to grow. Findings point to recommendations for improving district-wide professional development programs.

Assessing Unrealized Yield Potential of Maize Producing Districts in India

The projected demand of maize production in India in 2050 is 4–5 times of current production. With the scope for area expansion being limited, there is need for enhancement of yield. This calls for identifying areas where huge unrealized yield potential exists. With a view to address the issue, the present study delineates homogeneous agro-climatic zones for maize production system in India taking district as a unit and using the factors production, viz. climate, soil, season and irrigated area under the crop. There are 146 districts in India that grow maize as a major crop. They were divided into 26 zones using multivariate cluster analysis. Study of variation in yield between districts within a zone vis-a-vis crop management practices adopted in those districts was found useful in targeting the yield gaps. These findings can have direct relevance to the maize farmers and district level administrators.

Changing Course in Jefferson City: Reevaluating a District Initiative to Convert Under-Enrolled Elementary Schools

This case positions the reader as the superintendent of Jefferson City Public Schools (pseudonym). Like many urban school districts in the United States, Jefferson City faces a complex milieu of fiscal challenges attributed to inadequate state funding and declining student enrollment. Within this case, the superintendent must address the failing implementation of a district-wide initiative, which converted K-5 elementary schools to K-8 combination schools in response to declining middle school enrollment. The case invites the reader to consider how the district might engage in strategic planning to revise or eliminate the initiative. The case is appropriate for use in administrator preparation programs, particularly those preparing district-level administrators.

Talk About a Racial Eclipse

During a student teaching experience, teacher education candidates affiliated with an urban School of Education school–university partnership witnessed a disturbing interaction between an early career White male teacher and a first-grade Black male student at an assigned elementary school. The subsequent interactions among the teacher, principal, district administrators, and university partners illumine the racial implications at varying levels from the individual to the structural level. The ways in which race is centered, yet is evaded by school actors, raises important considerations for leadership. Authors suggest combining critical race theory with organizational narratives to explore the dilemmas at various structural levels, but in particular for the principal and district-level administrators.

A Counternarrative Autoethnography Exploring School Districts’ Role in Reproducing Racism: Willful Blindness to Racial Inequities

BackgroundRacialized suspension gaps are logically and empirically associated with racial achievement gaps and both gaps indicate the endurance of racism in American education. In recent U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Office of Civil Rights data, it was revealed that nationally, Black boys are four times more likely to be suspended than White boys. In some geographic areas and for certain offenses, some intersections of race, class, and gender are dozens of times more likely to be suspended for than others. Although most educational leaders and district-level official express disapproval of racism in schools, racialized gaps in achievement and discipline stubbornly persist.Purpose/ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine how school district-level administrators react to investigations and indications of racism in their school districts. It is relevant because in many school districts that have disciplinary and achievement gaps, the administrators ostensibly and publically express a hope to reduce or eliminate the racist trends. Yet, one administration after another, they seem unable to disrupt the racially oppressive discipline and achievement gaps. In this study, we examined administrators’ responses to our requests about their districts’ racialized disaggregated disciplinary data, and their responses to our sharing of our findings with them. We use counternarrative autoethnography to describe that school district administrators play a significant role in maintaining practices that reproduce racial oppression in schools.SettingThis study was conducted in large urban school districts in Texas. The profiled districts were predominantly Latino; however one district was over 90% Latino and the other just slightly more than half with sizable White and Black student populations in some schools and areas.ParticipantsAs this is an autoethnography, we are the primary participants of this study; we interrogate our experiences with school district administrators in our investigations of racial disciplinary gaps.Research DesignOur autoethnography is counternarrative, as it counters bureaucratic narratives of impartiality, colorblindness, and objectivity espoused by school districts. In addition to our own self-interviews, we base our counternarrative on the examination of 11 phone calls and 35 email exchanges with district administration, and on field-notes taken during seven site visits. These collective experiences and data sources informed our counternarratives, and led to our findings. Our research encompasses three phases. The initial phase was our attempt to obtain disciplinary data from various school districts in Texas. Only two school districts made the data accessible to us, despite being legally obligated to do so. For the second phase of our study we calculated risk ratios from those two school districts to determine how many more times African Americans and Latinos are suspended than Whites in all of the schools of TXD1 and TXD2. The third phase was the district administrators’ reactions to our presentation of our findings in regards to their district schools with the most egregious disciplinary gaps. Based on the administrative responses to them, we thought that it was important to highlight our experiences through a counternarrative autoethnography.ConclusionsFrom our qualitative data analysis we theorize three bureaucratic administrative responses contributed to the maintenance of racism in school—(1) the administrators discursive avoidance of issues of racial marginalization; (2) the tendency of bureaucratic systems to protect their own interests and ways of operating, even those ways of operating that are racist; and (3), the (perhaps inadvertent) protection of leadership practices that have resulted in such racial marginalization. These responses were enacted through four technical–rational/bureaucratic administrative practices: subversive, defensive, ambiguous, and negligent.

RtI at West Elementary

This case, which addresses supplementing or supplanting special education in a school, is applicable to aspiring and practicing principals who require more experience in special education law and practice. We cover the use of special education personnel to provide intervention activities for students who have not been classified as students with disabilities through a pre-referral strategy called Response to Intervention (RtI). Concerns about the principal’s role as instructional leader for all students and operations manager are raised. Opportunities to work with district-level administrators can also be explored. The case highlights ethical and legal practice in providing students with needed instruction prior to a special education referral. Students can research and become familiar with their state and district special education policies.

A Preliminary Investigation of Emotional and Behavioral Screening Practices in K–12 Schools

Recently, the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders (CCBD) highlighted the need to “actively screen for those in need of mental health services.” Questions remain, however, about the prevalence of screening and associated processes. The purpose of this study was to gather initial evidence through an electronic survey about current screening practices such as the types of screeners being used in K-12 schools and barriers to implementation. Participants in the study were 454 school or district-level administrators representing a range of school levels, locales, and socioeconomic levels. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the chi-squared test of goodness-of-fit statistic. Only 12.6% of respondents indicated their school or district conducted schoolwide emotional or behavioral screening (SEBS), with access-and awareness-related issues cited as reasons for not conducting SEBS. Results of this preliminary investigation are discussed in terms of CCBD’s goals, and with caution, recommendations for research and practice are offered.

Destabilizing Anti-Gay Environments through Gay-Straight Alliances: Possibilities and Limitations through Shifting Discourses

Drawing upon research with Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) advisors, high-school principals, and two district-level administrators, we examine the potential and limits of the safe-space discourse that encompasses the aims of GSAs. We argue that this discourse conceals heteronormative school environments, which supplies the groundwork for hostility perpetrated against LGBT students. We then delineate three strategies–organizational, pedagogical, and systemic–toward altering the safe-space discourse to a forward-looking, social-justice discourse that fosters the eradication of heteronormative school processes.