bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Utility of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio plus C-reactive protein for infection in systemic lupus erythematosus
Authors: Broca-Garcia B E , Saavedra M A , Martínez-Bencomo M A , Montes-Cortes D H , Jara L J , Medina G , Vera-Lastra O , Cruz-Dominguez M P
Published: January 2019

Distinction between infection and flare in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a challenge in clinical practice.

Objective

To analyze the utility of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) plus C-reactive protein (CRP) to differentiate between infection and active disease in patients with SLE.

Methods

A cross-sectional study of a cohort of patients with SLE was carried out. Blood samples from four groups (patients without infection or active disease, patients with infection, patients with active disease, and patients with both infection and active disease) before therapeutic interventions were analyzed. We excluded patients with current malignancy, pregnancy, ischemic heart disease or use of antimicrobials during previous 7 days. Hematological cell count, CRP and cultures were obtained. We constructed receiver operating characteristic curves; sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated.

Results

Forty patients were included. NLR cut-off ≥6.3 had sensitivity 70%, specificity 85%, PPV 83% and NPV 74% to detect patients with non-viral infections. A CRP cut-off ≥7.5 mg/L had sensitivity 90%, specificity 75%, PPV 78% and NPV 88% to detect infections regardless of SLE activity. Combination of CRP plus NLR improves the specificity to 90% and PPV to 88%. Excluding the group with both infection and active disease, CRP plus NLR expands specificity to 95% and NPV to 90%.

Conclusion

In our experience, levels of CRP, particularly CRP plus NLR, were useful in differentiating patients with SLE from those with suspected non-viral infection regardless of the activity of the disease.
Effect of MMT Clay Content on Thermal Behaviour of MDPE/MMT Nanocomposite
Authors: Sargolzaei J. , Tavakol M. , Akbarabady
Published: January 2019

The thermal stability of medium-density polyethylene (MDPE)/Montmorillonite nanocomposite was studied by TGA and DSC methods in a wide range of temperature. The dispersion of the MMT clays on microscopic scales was examined using a Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The mass loss from thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to study decomposition temperature in a temperature range from room temperature to 800 °C and DSC was used to probe melting and crystallization in a temperature range from room temperature to 300°C.

Simultaneous TGA made possible to show that non modified MMT clay and MMT clay modified with alkyl ammonium salt exhibit a significant stabilizing effect on MDPE macromolecules in air atmosphere and DSC shows natural MMT and MMT clay modified with alkyl ammonium salt exhibit a significant change in melting, crystallization, enthalpy and crystalline content of samples. TEM image shows uniform dispersion and intercalation of MMT clays in nanocomposites.
Removal of Cobalt (II) Ions from Aqueous Solution on Zinc(II) Ions Doping Chitosan/Hydroxyapatite Composite
Authors: Liu CunPing
Published: January 2019

In the present investigation, bio-inorganic composite, which was synthesized with chitosan and hydroxyapatite by adding zinc(II) ions, have been prepared by precipitation method and was characterized by Fourier Transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDXA). Then, the composite was used for removal of Cobalt(II) from synthetic aqueous solution. The effects of initial pH, contact time, kinetic and isothermal adsorption were studied in detail using batch adsorption at different temperature. The results showed that Cobalt(II) ions can be efficiently removed and also demonstrated that the kinetic data were best described by the pseudo-second-order model (R2>0.99), While thermodynamic investigation of Cobalt(II) ions adsorption by zinc(II) doping Chitosan/hydroxyapatite (Zn-HAPCS) composite confirmed a spontaneous adsorption. Further investigations demonstrated that the adsorption pattern fitted well with Langmuir model (R2 > 0.99), but less-satisfied with Freundlich model (R2 < 0.95).
Morphological, Thermal and Mechanical Properties of 90/10 (WT %/WT %) PP/ABS Blends and their Polymer Nanocomposites
Authors: Kubade Pravin R. , Tambe Pankaj , Kulkarni Hrushikesh B.
Published: January 2019

Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) are modified successfully using polyethyleneimine (PEI). The HNTs and HNTs modified using PEI filled 90/10 (wt/wt) polypropylene (PP) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) blends and its nanocomposites are prepared by melt mixing technique in presence of dual compatibilizer. Droplet morphology is refined in matrix as well as selective localization of HNTs modified using PEI shows increase in crystallinity of PP phase and formation of β-form of PP crystals. Uniform dispersion of HNTs modified using PEI in PP resulted in improvement in impact strength, tensile modulus and thermal stability. The enhancement in tensile strength, tensile modulus, and impact strength for 1 wt% of HNTs modified using PEI filled 90/10 (wt/wt) PP/ABS blends with dual compatibilizer are 14.9, 20 and 15%, respectively.
Dynamic Mechanical Properties of a Cement-Based Fibre-Reinforced Composite
Authors: Horta J. M. , Hernández J.B. , Márquez L. , Pérez M.A. , Castaño V.M.
Published: January 2019

Vibration modes and damping behaviour of a Portland cement-based, fibre-reinforced composite, were evaluated experimentally and the results compared to computer simulations performed based on the measured properties of the composite. The remarkable agreement between simulation and experiment demonstrates the feasibility of producing Hi-Tech cement-based materials for non-conventional applications.
A New Evaluation Method of Interface between Fiber Bundles in Woven Fabric Composites
Authors: Hamada H. , Nakai A. , Hana K. , Harada T.
Published: January 2019

Evaluation method of interface between fiber bundles in woven fabric composites called “Fiber bundle pull-out test” was proposed. Apparent shear deformation could be applied to the fiber crossing part and the strength could be obtained. The effects of concentration of silane coupling agents on shear strength of fiber crossing part were clarified.
Passive Vibration Damping of Composite Laminates by a Combination of Tough Interleaves and Resistively Shunted Piezoelectric Ceramics
Authors: Radtke Andreas , Tanimoto Toshio , Friedrich Klaus
Published: January 2019

Quasi-isotropic carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP) are widely used as structural materials in aerospace structures or other fields of engineering. They provide excellent strength and stiffness at low density, but their vibration damping capabilities are very low, making their application in vibration-subjected structures not efficient. This study deals with the improvement of the damping capabilities of quasiisotropic CFRP laminates by passive damping methods using both tough interleaves in the stacking sequence and surface bonded piezoelectric ceramics. Furthermore an analytical method for the calculation of loss factors and resonance frequencies for such laminates is introduced. The experimental results were also confirmed by a FEM-simulation.
Compliance-Derived Strain Determination in Fibre (Bundle) Tests at High Temperatures
Authors: Paar R. , Bonnel P. , Steen M.
Published: January 2019

In high temperature fibre tensile tests direct strain measurement is not a straightforward task, due to the limited accessibility and the fragile nature of the specimen. A compliance method which allows to determine the true specimen strain within the gauge length from the cross head displacement of the testing machine is presented.
Divine Women? Irigaray, God, and the Subject
Authors: Hekman Susan
Published: January 2019

One of the central themes of contemporary feminist literature is the exclusion of the female subject from the Western tradition. Luce Irigaray has made significant contributions to this literature. In this article I examine one aspect of Irigaray’s work on the feminine subject, her discussion of divine women. She argues that in order to achieve full subjectivity women must worship a female god that will give them the divinity that they lack, the divinity that the patriarchal god provides for men. I argue that this thesis is both counterproductive and incoherent. It perpetuates the male/female binarism that is at the root of patriarchy. It also fails to define the concept of a female god which is at the centre of Irigaray’s argument. I conclude that the approach of process theology is much more successful in removing the maleness of God and providing women with a deity compatible with feminist beliefs.
Women and the Eucharist: Reflections on Private Eucharists in the Early Church
Authors: O’Donnell Karen
Published: January 2019

The position and power of women in the early church has been much explored by scholars such as Karen Jo Torjesen and Virginia Burrus. Research has often indicated that women had little power, especially sacramental power, at this time. This article challenges such a perspective by examining and comparing three accounts of women’s experience of the Eucharist in the private sphere during the third century. Drawing on Gregory of Nyssa’s account of Macrina, his sister, and her making of the eucharistic bread, Pseudo-Athanasius’ instructions to virgins celebrating their own eucharistic meals, and Gregory Nazianzus’ description of his sister, Gorgonia, anointing herself for healing with the Eucharist, this article demonstrates that, in the private setting, sacramental power was not the preserve of the male. The Eucharist, in far more varied forms than might be anticipated, is potent in the domestic setting of these women of the early Church.
Lilith’s Comeback from a Jungian-Feminist Outlook: Contemporary Feminist Spirituality Gets into Bed with Lilith
Authors: Ruah–Midbar Shapiro Marianna
Published: January 2019

The article presents the feminist discourse on Lilith and asks why she has returned to the centre of activity and creation? It begins with Lilith’s Integrative Myth – a description of the classic Lilith myths – whilst trying to define her image’s central characteristics. Following, I offer one integrative myth: a complex essence that contains contrasts, and stems from a variety of sources, each contributing to the formation of Lilith’s story’s numerous aspects. Lilith’s Revival is discussed, surveying the different ways in which Lilith appears in today’s feminist spiritual discourse, while presenting some of the ways in which her story is re-interpreted and used towards contemporary feminist needs. A feminist Jungian outlook on Lilith’s Myths is included, deciphering Lilith as a symbol of the life-death-life cycle, which leads to a summary of the Jungian analysis’ implications.
Discrimination and prediction of polyphenolic compounds and total antioxidant capacity in sorghum grains
Authors: Alfieri Michela , Cabassi Giovanni , Habyarimana Ephrem , Quaranta Fabrizio , Balconi Carlotta , Redaelli Rita
Published: January 2019

One hundred and forty-seven sorghum samples, grown in 2015 and 2017, were used to build different near infrared spectroscopic calibration models able to predict total antioxidant capacity, total phenolics, total flavonoids and condensed tannins content. Samples were separated into calibration and validation sets using a nearest neighbours algorithm. The r2pred values ranged from 0.84 (condensed tannins) to 0.95 (total phenolics), whereas the Ratio of Performance to Deviation (RPD) values ranged from 1.9 (total flavonoids) to 3.0 (total phenolics). Comparison of prediction error estimates highlighted the best models with significant differences. Model robustness was tested through a reduction of sample numbers in the calibration set; the highest robustness was found for total antioxidant capacity and total flavonoids. In addition, a partial least squares discriminant analysis model to screen the samples for their tannins level was developed and resulted in good performance; it should be useful to select tannin-free genotypes for the food industry. These models could be used for rapid screening of sorghum breeding genotypes with high antioxidant compounds.
Moderating Effect of Management Support on the Relationship Between HR Practices and Employee Performance in Nigeria
Authors: Ismail Abdussalaam Iyanda , Majid Abdul Halim Abdul , Jibrin-Bida Mohammed , Joarder Mohd Hasanur Raihan
Published: January 2019

Given that management support and decisions do influence all the aspects of organization, this study investigates moderating effect of management support on the relationship between recruitment and selection, training and development, compensation, performance appraisal and succession planning and employee performance. The cross-sectional survey approach was used in which data were collected from 450 academics in the state-owned polytechnics in Nigeria. The partial least squares method (PLS) algorithm and bootstrapping techniques were used to test the study’s hypotheses. The results provided full support for four out of five hypothesized direct relationships. Likewise, the seventh and ninth hypotheses were supported. The overall findings signify that recruitment and selection, training and development, performance appraisal and succession planning are strong and positive predictors of employee performance, and management support is a moderator in training and development–employee performance relationship, and in compensation–employee performance connection. The result signifies that management support fortifies the effectiveness in the human resource practices–performance relationship. Limitation and suggestion for the future research are also discussed.
Assessment of an Alternative Cohort Model for Part-Time Students in an Educational Leadership Program
Authors: Twale Darla J. , Kochan Frances K.
Published: January 2019

This study examined the effectiveness, of an alternative cohort model, designed primarily for part-time doctoral students in an educational leadership program. Results of a survey, student evaluations, and input from focus groups indicated that the experience was personally and professionally rewarding, promoted friendships, networking, and a system of support, and served as an avenue for the expression of ideas. Meeting in small groups, sharing experiences, and engaging in group interaction were important elements in fostering positive outcomes. However on the negative side, students did not use the opportunity to take risks during the seminars and decreased contact with one another following the seminar sequence. Furthermore, females found the experience more valuable than males. Findings suggest a part time cohort may be valuable in preparing students to develop and operate in collaborative work environments but transfer of learning to the work environment was not immediately evident. Readers may find the survey instrument and assessment procedures of value when examining the impact of similar program designs.
Capacity Building of Beginning Teachers from Alternative Certification Programs: Implications for Instructional Leadership
Authors: Ovando Martha N. , Trube M. Barbara
Published: January 2019

This study explored the role of principals in building teacher capacity. It identified principals’ perceptions of teachers’ capacities, methods of assessment, and capacity-building strategies. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey. A total of 134 principals from 52 districts participated. These principals served schools that employed alternatively certified teachers from education service center, university-based, and district programs. Most principals perceived significant differences in second year beginning teachers’ capacities related to their knowledge, skill, disposition, and sense of self. Principals credited traditionally certified teachers’ greater levels of capacity to their preservice programs and recognized the benefits of broader work experience and knowledge of the alternatively certified teachers. Findings revealed that principals used similar assessment methods, but alternatively certified teachers required additional forms of assessment. While principals used similar capacity-building strategies with both groups they provided more guidance to alternatively certified teachers on matters of instruction. Principals’ responses suggested that alternatively certified teachers need closer supervision, additional staff development in specific areas, collegial support, mentoring, and feedback.
Transforming School Culture through Teaching Teams
Authors: Uline Cynthia L. , Berkowitz Joann M.
Published: January 2019

This study uses the experiences of school restructuring and reform as a context for the study of cultural change and cultural learning. Drawing on theories of organizational culture and cultural change, the article considers a particular school as a culture in transition. Instructional teams are central to the school's reform efforts and person-to-person relationships are at the heart of shared cultural assumptions. The study explores the impact of changing structures, policies, artifacts, and events in directing cultural change; the central role shared assumptions play within the process; the impact of cultural change on teachers’ images of themselves as teachers; and the role of school leaders in initiating cultural change.
Money Isn't Everything: Teaching School Finance in a Leadership Development Program
Authors: Plecki Margaret L.
Published: January 2019

This article describes an approach for preparing school-based educational leaders in school finance. In this approach, finance is treated as a learning opportunity that can assist school leaders in addressing the moral, ethical, political, and resource-related tensions that they face in their daily enactment of leadership responsibilities. The article begins with a brief overview of the general leadership challenge and discusses the particular matter of preparing school leaders to effectively manage resources and resource-related decision-making at the school site. The article then presents a conceptual framework and an instructional approach for teaching school finance in a leadership development program. In this framework, school finance serves as a forum for wrestling with the challenge of making difficult choices among competing interests in a manner that advances the school's capacity for improvement. Finally, some observations from school leaders who have participated in such an approach are provided to illuminate the main argument of the article.
Organizational Health of High Schools and Dimensions of Faculty Trust
Authors: Smith Page A. , Hoy Wayne K. , Sweetland Scott R.
Published: January 2019

This research is an analysis of organizational health and faculty trust in high schools in a midwestern state. Seven dimensions of school health and four aspects of faculty trust—in students, colleagues, principal, and parents—were examined. In general, the better the organizational health of a school, the greater the degree of faculty trust. However, as predicted, each dimension of faculty trust had a different set of school health predictors. Moreover, trust in students and trust in parents were not separate aspects of faculty trust. They combined to form a single unitary concept of trust, which we labeled faculty trust in clients.
A Critical Sociocultural View of Accountability
Authors: Waite Duncan , Boone Mike , Mcghee Marla
Published: January 2019

This critical sociocultural view of accountability illuminates heretofore hidden, obscured, or neglected aspects of accountability—its meanings, intended and unintended consequences, and the processes by which it was institutionalized. This perspective exhumes the social and cultural processes—power, democracy, policy making, schooling, and language games—implicated in contemporary notions of accountability. Our unique positioning allows us to critically examine the “Texas model” of accountability from the inside, with implications for other regimes of accountability presently in place or being considered elsewhere.
Making Sense of Policy Paradoxes: A Case Study of Teacher Leadership
Authors: Patterson Jean A. , Marshall Catherine
Published: January 2019

In this article we present findings from case study research conducted in one district that was implementing inclusive special education programs and new testing and accountability policies in site-managed schools. We specifically examined how, in the absence of direction from school- and district-level administrators, teachers provided the leadership in their schools and helped others make sense of and manage these paradoxical policies. We concluded that leadership emanates from those willing to step forward and help others make sense of paradox. In this case, teachers filled the leadership void and facilitated special education reform in their schools. Their values, vision, and preferences provided the framework for sensemaking. However, in the absence of a unified district-wide vision, teachers’ efforts were idiosyncratic and isolated, which limited their abilities to effect systemic change. We propose that teacher leadership cannot be allowed to happen by chance, but must be supported with changes in role, training, and structure.
Kids Say (and Don't Say) “The Darndest Things” about School Leadership
Authors: Doyle Lynn H.
Published: January 2019

There is much to be learned from the candid comments of young students. Within their straightforward language are complex ideas of what leadership is and is not. To determine students’ beliefs about leadership and the application of these beliefs to schools, interviews were conducted with 28 middle school students. While their perspectives put a new spin on existing theories, they also reveal key elements that are missing. Students described leadership as shared and reciprocal, but this was primarily with teachers. In their eyes, principals manage schools rather than lead them toward visions of critical democracy and instruction that flows from that vision.
Doctoral Curriculum Studies in an Age of Shifting Boundaries
Authors: Ansaldo Jim , Goodman Jesse
Published: January 2019

In response to the tremendous changes that the contemporary field of curriculum studies has undergone, this article explores the ways in which the faculty and students at Indiana University have reconceptualized the doctoral curriculum studies program during the past decade. We begin with a portrayal of the structural manifestations of our doctoral program and then turn our attention to the way in which this program is currently experienced by at least some of our students. Our purpose here is not to suggest that we have “found the answer,” but rather to invite an interchange with others interested in doctoral education within our program and others in the field of education.
Leadership for Socially Just Schooling: More Substance and Less Style in High-Risk, Low-Trust Times?
Authors: Blackmore Jill
Published: January 2019

This article argues that radical shifts in school governance arising from wider social, political, and economic relations toward what are described as high-risk and low-trust societies challenge past notions of leadership. I explore the tensions between the pluralism of postmodernist thinking and modernist notions of social justice that produce “predicaments” for school leaders through a series of paradoxes of educational management around centralized decentralization, markets and management, new educational professionalism, parental choice and community participation, and between the substance and style of leadership. The values underpinning the corporatization of public and private life most evident in education do not provide a satisfactory grounding for effective school leadership.
Differentially Weighting High School Grades: A Critique from the Perspective of Social Justice
Authors: Rice Suzanne , Ebmeier Howard H.
Published: January 2019

This article calls into question the key assumptions underlying weighted grading and inquires into the likely consequences of this approach for different groups of students. Among the conclusions reached is that grade weighting tends to benefit students who are relatively advantaged educationally, while further disadvantaging students who face educational challenges.
School Superintendents’ Choices of Professional Periodicals
Authors: Mayo C. Russell , Zirkel Perry A.
Published: January 2019

In this national survey of public school superintendents, respondents indicated the “best” and the most read from a list of 34 periodicals in education leadership. Their top choices for both highest quality and most read were, in order, Educational Leadership, Phi Delta Kappan, School Administrator, and American School Board Journal. Their primary criterion for selecting these journals was practical utility, not refereed scholarship. Therefore, professors who conduct research and publish it solely in journals perceived as unfamiliar to practitioners are, at least in the field of education leadership, missing a broader audience and direct influence on practice. Additionally, other education periodicals were not ranked often, but at least one periodical outside of education— Newsweek—ranked second only to Educational Leadership, among the responding superintendents for actual usage.
Our Straitlaced Administrators: The Law, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Educational Administrators, and the Assimilationist Imperative
Authors: Lugg Catherine A.
Published: January 2019

Drawing upon queer legal theory, historical policy analysis, and social, legal, and educational history, this article explores the legal foundations and maintenance of what I describe as the assimilationist imperative for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered administrators working in public schools.
Professing Educational Leadership: Caring Ways
Authors: Carr Carolyn S.
Published: January 2019

This article focuses on the nature of caring in the university graduate classroom. Its purpose is to show how the ethic of care can be visible and should affect what occurs in administrative preparation programs. The article begins with a review of the literature. The second part of the article describes pedagogical practices utilized in pursuit of a caring community through a culturally responsive framework encompassing an “inclusive classroom culture,” “student funds of knowledge,” and “instructional conversations,” all aimed at helping students perform beyond their current capacity while accommodating community and cultural norms. The third section presents a factually based case study that raises key issues around the cultural encounter between a professor and a bilingual/bicultural graduate education class.
The Superintendent Shortage: Findings from Research on School Board Presidents
Authors: Glass Thomas , Björk Lars G.
Published: January 2019

Media reports of a crisis in the American superintendency, based on anecdotal reports and scattered superintendent opinions about a growing number of retirements, high turnover, and an inadequate pool of qualified applicants, are contributing to widespread public misperceptions. The Education Commission of the States (ECS) recently completed a nationwide survey of school board presidents, those with direct knowledge of the number and quality of candidates in superintendent search pools, to better understand the nature and scope of this issue. Findings indicate that a nationwide crisis in the superintendency does not exist. Rather, the number and quality of applicants appears adequate. Data also suggest, however, that some districts have a history of “churning” superintendents. These circumstances contribute disproportionately to these districts having high turnover rates and a relatively smaller number of qualified applicants in search pools. We suggest that the crisis has been misdiagnosed. It is not one associated with the superintendency per se but involves political conflict among local school board members.
Creative Destruction: Changing a High School's Administrative Structure
Authors: Armendáriz Abe Luján
Published: January 2019

This is a case study of a high school located in the southwestern United States that restructured its traditional hierarchical administrative structure to a Dean Model. The Dean Model is a collaborative system aimed at personalizing services to students by separating the school into smaller units through deanships. Observations and interviews were conducted to assess the rationale and philosophies behind the Dean Model as well as the principal's, deans’, and students’ attitudes and perceptions of the implementation of the model. Key issues in implementing the new model are identified and discussed. Advantages and disadvantages of the model are presented, as are implications for the future of high school administration.
Invisible, Limited, and Emerging Discourse: Research Practices that Restrict and/or Increase Access for Women and Persons of Color to the Superintendency
Authors: Brunner C. Cryss
Published: January 2019

The intent of this article is to provide some evidence that decisions—about the use of data—are critical and can result in discourse that is inaccurate about and unsupportive of women and persons of color. Evidence is gathered through an examination of the published data used in The Study of the American School Superintendency (Glass, Björk, & Brunner, 2000) published and funded by the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). In sum, the article illustrates how choices about which and how much data to publish can result in the reification of the status quo and/or generation of a tremendously powerful new discourse that establishes the inclusive norms for a new genre of superintendency.
Professing Educational Leadership: The Value of Listening
Authors: Duncan P. Kay
Published: January 2019

This article explores the imperative of fully incorporating the practice of “listening” within educational administration preparation programs. The purpose behind this exploration is to validate and substantiate the need for “open listening” in university classrooms so that those who are to be educational leaders will have models that habituate them to pedagogical social justice. The article begins with an examination of democratic pedagogy and democratic leadership practice, focusing on listening and the relevance of listening for learning and for leadership. The second part of the article is an authentic case study that presents an opportunity to link theory to practice by means of a complex real-life dilemma in which listening plays an important role. The article concludes with a section devoted to examples of learning activities that are designed so that all in the classroom are placed in a position of listening intently and respectfully to one another.
Preparing Leaders for Tomorrow's Schools: An Internship Project
Authors: Crow Gary , Southworth Geoff
Published: January 2019

This article reports on an internship project developed by the Department for Education and Skills (UK) to prepare headteachers (principals) for schools facing challenging circumstances. The project placed experienced deputies (assistant principals) in secondary schools to work alongside mentor headteachers who had demonstrated leadership competence for school improvement. We provide an extensive review of the knowledge base on school leader socialization, internship, and mentoring and describe the internship project. In addition, we report on an evaluation of the project using participants’ perceptions to identify strengths and areas for improvement. The conclusion discusses implications for learning to lead toward school improvement.
Teacher Empowerment and Charter Schools
Authors: Crawford James R. , Forsyth Patrick B.
Published: January 2019

This study investigates an assumption used to legitimate charter school legislation, namely that such schools will reduce regulatory constraint burdening schools and school personnel. Reformers and policymakers have argued that charter schools will increase teacher empowerment and enable teachers to better carry out their education functions. Testing this assumption by comparing empowerment levels of charter school teachers with noncharter school teachers, the study casts doubt on the assumption. Post hoc analyses are used to examine teacher characteristics and school contextual information in pursuit of possible explanations for the hypothesis’ failure. Two findings are suggestive. There appears to be an interaction between the length of teacher experience and the school type. Low experience teachers in charter schools are not empowered, whereas in noncharter schools, experience is unrelated to teacher empowerment. Additionally, analysis by school shows teacher empowerment to be much more variable both within and among charter schools, when compared to noncharters.
Sustaining Teacher Leadership in Enabling to Inchoate Cultures
Authors: Gonzales Linda Dawson , Behar-Horenstein Linda S.
Published: January 2019

This qualitative study used ethnographic and historical approaches to examine teacher leadership in both an enabling and an inchoate culture. The purpose of this study was to discover what factors contributed to or inhibited the sustainability of teacher leadership. Using original documentation from earlier studies that report on eight years of a middle school's reculturing and restructuring experiences, we describe a model for linking leadership and learning and identify components of an enabling culture for teacher leadership: learning, valuing, nurturing, supporting, sharing, and coaching. We describe the development of a learning culture, 5 teachers’ identification with a democratic teacher leadership style, and the sustainability of these leader identities in an inchoate school culture.
A Narrative Analysis of Scholar-Practitioner Teacher Leadership Preparation
Authors: Moss Glenda
Published: January 2019

This study moves from theory to practice to theory. Through multiple narratives, I present how theory and practice work together to produce praxis defined as critical pedagogy. The story takes place through my experience as teacher and researcher, but it shows how the theory takes place in practice on many different levels. I present a critical reflective-reflexive narrative analysis of teacher preparation from my point of view as teacher and scholar, transitioning from middle school teaching practice and the scholar-practitioner leadership doctoral program to university teaching practice. Postformal inquiry and narrative methods provide readers a rich description of the epistemology and context of scholar-practitioner leadership from an experiential point of view.
Cultural Competence, Educators, and Military Families: Understanding the Military in a Department of Defense Dependents School
Authors: Keegan Danette , Hyle Adrienne E. , Sanders Vicki
Published: January 2019

Military members have a strong cultural identity, one that distinguishes them from civilians. This qualitative study sought to identify the cultural competencies needed for educators to better understand an American military constituency. Data were obtained through semistructured interviews, collection of documents, and observations of public meetings. The results of this study appropriately extend and support the concept of cultural competency by focusing on a population not ordinarily viewed as a minority culture. Participants identified domains of the concept specific to military culture: duty versus job, moving, deployment, demanding schedules, living in a foreign country, availability of leave and support networks. They expected civilian educators to view the military positively, to be sensitive to the circumstances of their dependents, and to have the communication skills to build educational partnerships.
Effects of Student Achievement on Satisfaction of Newly Appointed Teachers: A Cognitive Dissonance Perspective
Authors: Young I. Phillip , Chounet F. Paul , Buster Amy , Sailor Scott
Published: January 2019

Research addressing attraction and selection of employees within the public school setting seems to indicate that the higher a school's student achievement the more likely a potential job candidate is to assess a position at that school favorably. However, the validity of this finding has failed to be assessed with “real teachers” accepting actual job offers. To fill this void, we compared the satisfaction with working conditions of newly appointed teachers in high- and low-performing elementary schools at the beginning and end of their work year. We cast these findings on a cognitive dissonance framework and our results are consistent with cognitive dissonance theory. That is, once teacher candidates choose to accept a position in a low-performing school district they experience a higher level of satisfaction with their working conditions than those accepting a new position in a high-performing school district. This initial difference between groups disappeared by the end of the work year.
Professional Development Coaches: Perceptions of Critical Characteristics
Authors: Ertmer Peggy A. , Richardson Jennifer , Cramer Jeffry , Hanson Laura , Huang Wenhao , Lee Yekyung , O'Connor Debra , Ulmer John , Um Eun Joon
Published: January 2019

Current recommendations for achieving high-quality professional development for teachers include the creation of a professional learning community. Key to the success of this approach, however, is the role of the peer mentor or coach. This study examined the experiences and perceptions of 31 professional development coaches in order to highlight the characteristics believed to be essential for success. Results suggest that, while content expertise is perceived to be important, coaches believe that strong interpersonal skills are more critical since, without them, they are unable to use their content knowledge to facilitate changes in teachers’ practice. Suggestions for selecting and training peer coaches are included.
Principal Quality, ISLLC Standards, and Student Achievement: A Virginia Study
Authors: Owings William A. , Kaplan Leslie S. , Nunnery John
Published: January 2019

A significant relationship exists between principals’ quality at certain grade levels and student achievement on the Virginia Standards of Learning tests. A statewide study finds principals rated higher on school leadership as measured by an Interstate School Leadership Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) Standards rubric. These schools have higher student achievement than comparable schools headed by lower rated principals controlling for socioeconomic status. Implications for increasing student achievement, developing and keeping a school achievement culture, and improving principal leadership are discussed.
The Mexican High School Principal: The Impact of the National and Local Culture
Authors: Cisneros-Cohernour Edith J. , Merchant Betty M.
Published: January 2019

In view of the increasingly global nature of the societies in which we live, it is important that we understand the ways in which national culture can impact the role of educational leaders. The exploratory study reported in this article was designed to contribute to our understanding of the relationship between culture and leadership behavior by focusing on the working lives of two male and two female principals in four public Mexican high schools in the southeast of Mexico. The study was part of an international study that focused on the impact of national and local culture in the principalship.
Guest Editor's Introduction: Edu-tainment: Popular Culture in the Making of Schools for the 21st Century
Authors: Gause Charles P.
Published: January 2019

As we head into the 21st century, rap music/hip-hop is in the earth-wide sound stream, the child of soul, R & B and rock n roll, the by-product of the strategic marketing of Big Business, ready to pulse out to the millions on the wild, wild web. It's difficult to stop a cultural revolution that bridges people together.
The Effects of Guided Reflection on Educational Leadership Practice: Mentoring and Portfolio Writing as a Means to Transformative Learning for Early-Career Principals
Authors: Creasap Sally A. , Peters April L. , Uline Cynthia L.
Published: January 2019

An in-depth, 2-year instrumental case study considered the degree to which ongoing reflection, within the context of mentoring relationships and administrative portfolio writing, supported the development of administrative leadership practice within an Administrative Leadership Academy: Entry Year Program. By observing the ways in which entry-year principals applied academy-supported knowledge, dispositions, and performances within the school setting, researchers sought to determine the impact of ongoing Leadership Academy experiences on leadership practice. Findings suggest that guided reflection through mentoring and reflective writing presented an effective means to improve leader learning and practice within the current context of state and federal accountability systems and standards-based education.
School Characteristics that Foster Organizational Citizenship Behavior
Authors: Dipaola Michael F. , Hoy Wayne K.
Published: January 2019

After a theoretical analysis of the concept of organizational citizenship is elaborated, we complete an analysis of the characteristics of school organization that promote citizenship behaviors. We assume that the leadership of the principal is critical in such an endeavor as well as the trust that colleagues have in each other and the extent to which there is a school press for academic achievement. Using a sample of 75 middle schools, our hypotheses were supported; all of these factors both individually and collectively have positive influences on organizational citizenship. Finally, the implications of the findings are considered.
Integrating Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/ Transgender Topics and Their Intersections with Other Areas of Difference into the Leadership Preparation Curriculum: Practical Ideas and Strategies
Authors: Capper Colleen A. , Alston Judy , Gause C. P. , Koschoreck James W. , López Gerardo , Lugg Catherine A. , Mckenzie Kathryn Bell
Published: January 2019

A theory and practice of social justice is fraudulent when it does not fully address lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) individuals and their intersections with other identities. Faculty who claim to be concerned with social justice cannot focus on one or perhaps two areas of difference while ignoring or giving short shrift to the others. After all, public school leaders oriented toward social justice cannot pick and choose among areas of difference with their students, staff, and community members. These leaders must lead for social justice across areas of difference; faculty should expect no less of themselves. Many LGBT students or students perceived to be LGBT face daily harassment at schools, and LGBT staff, families, and school leaders themselves generally find schools unwelcoming. This article offers practical teaching strategies and teaching resources that can raise consciousness, increase knowledge, and develop leadership skills to prepare leaders to confidently meet the needs of LGBT individuals in their schools.
Preparing Instructional Leaders for Social Justice
Authors: Mckenzie Kathryn Bell , Skrla Linda , Scheurich James Joseph
Published: January 2019

Neither providing a rhetoric of social justice in educational leadership preparation programs nor getting individual students to understand and to be committed to social justice is sufficient to enable them to succeed on the ground as leadership practitioners in creating socially just schools. They require additional practical knowledge, what might be called pragmatic knowledge, in various areas. One of these areas is instructional leadership; that is, how does the school leader facilitate teachers being successful in teaching literally all of their students well. This article offers a model of instructional leadership for social justice that school leaders can learn and apply. This pragmatic approach focuses on two specific teachable areas—equity consciousness and equity-oriented teaching skills.
Teacher Leadership Emerges within Professional Learning Communities
Authors: Moller Gayle
Published: January 2019

This article describes how teacher leadership emerged within schools with either a high level or a low level of readiness to establish a professional learning community. Through the perspectives of principals and teacher leaders, there were distinct differences in the emergence of teacher leadership the operation of shared leadership structures, and the principals’ actions to support the professional learning community. The schools were spread along an inclusive–exclusive continuum of participation. The differences in the principals’ perspectives of teacher leadership revealed either a collaborative or a detached association. Principal actions that supported teachers included listening, knowing, and learning about curriculum and instruction and consistent follow-through on commitments.
Navigating Rough Waters: A Synthesis of the Countervailing Pressures against Leading for Social Justice
Authors: Theoharis George
Published: January 2019

This article presents a synthesis of countervailing pressures against leading for social justice as described in the literature. This synthesis focuses on the present-day countervailing pressures that school leaders face as detailed in the literature on leading for social justice. These countervailing pressures include a deficit-thinking status quo, a marginalization of areas of difference, a preference for technical leadership, particular national and local policy, a burden of seeking social justice, and a lack of equity focus in administrator preparation. This article concludes with implications for overcoming these pressures.
The New Instructional Leadership: Creating Data-Driven Instructional Systems in School
Authors: Halverson Richard , Grigg Jeffrey , Prichett Reid , Thomas Chris
Published: January 2019

The recent press for high-stakes accountability has challenged school leaders to use data to guide the practices of teaching and learning. This article considers how local school leaders build data-driven instructional systems to systematically improve student learning. Such systems are presented as a framework involving data acquisition, data reflection, program alignment and integration, program design, formative feedback, and test preparation. The article reviews data collected in a yearlong study of four schools to describe how leaders structure opportunities to engage in data-driven decision making.
Dialogue, Identity, and Inclusion: Administrators as Mediators in Diverse School Contexts
Authors: Ryan James
Published: January 2019

This article describes a study that explores the identities that principals assume as they engage in dialogue in diverse school contexts. In particular it focuses on the various dimensions of one identity—that of mediator—and illustrates how this identity shapes the way in which administrators converse with others and how it affects efforts toward inclusion. Administrators in this study assumed either active or symbolic mediator identities in their quest to communicate with their respective school communities. They also devised strategies to deal with contradictions between their expressed inclusive values and their actual communication practices.
Examining the Satisfaction of Educational Leaders and Their Intent to Pursue Career Advancement in Public School Administration
Authors: Conrad Tracey L. , Rosser Vicki J.
Published: January 2019

This statewide study examined selected demographic characteristics, worklife experiences, and personal issues that influence the satisfaction of administrators (assistant principals, principals, assistant superintendents) and their intent to leave their positions and careers or pursue career advancement in public school administration. The results of this study suggest that this group of school administrators is satisfied with their worklife experiences; however, personal issues and individual demographic characteristics have a major influence on their intent to leave their careers and professions or pursue advancement. Moreover, few intend to pursue public school advancement, with the exception of assistant principals, who are the least qualified and experienced but most willing.