Joel R. Malin

Enhancing Students’ Transitions to College and Careers: A Case Study of Distributed Leadership Practice in Supporting a High School Career Academy Model

ABSTRACT Creating effective pathways for students to transition from high school to college or career is immensely important and, although challenging, some have developed promising approaches. This case study examined how formal and informal leaders in an urban high school and district collaborated to implement a college and career academy model, utilizing distributed-leadership theory as a lens. Data analysis yielded seven themes. This study’s documentation of considerable leadership distribution outside the organization is unique within the literature and underscores the need for researchers and practitioners to consider the important contribution of community leaders in promoting college and career readiness.

College and Career Readiness and the Every Student Succeeds Act

Purpose: This study addressed the current policy push to improve students’ college and career readiness (CCR) as manifested within the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and examined CCR policy in the state of Illinois as a case study, noting ways in which provisions for CCR programs prepare all students, including those historically underserved by higher education, to be prepared for education and employment post–high school. Research Methods: A critical analytic approach was undertaken, foregrounding equity. We conducted thematic content analysis of ESSA and Illinois policy, employing a CCR accountability paradigm. Findings: CCR-related content was contained throughout ESSA. Although content varied, themes were identified. Dual enrollment provisions were prominent in ESSA but not the Illinois’ CCR laws; however, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics was emphasized in both. ESSA introduced but did not fully clarify what constitutes a well-rounded education and did not identify particular reporting and accountability provisions, whereas two Illinois’ CCR bills focused on remedial education and the third evidenced a more comprehensive and integrated CCR approach. These findings suggest distinct federal and Illinois’ CCR visions. A more systematic equity focus was evident within ESSA. Implications for Research, Policy, and Practice: ESSA provisions providing new flexibilities to states portend wide variation in emphasis toward, and accountability for, long-standing equity issues. District officials will also likely have substantial flexibility in their administration, design, and implementation of ESSA-funded CCR programming, which may affect educational equity in ways that advantage and disadvantage. We thus provide several cautions and recommendations.

Urban high school principals’ promotion of college-and-career readiness

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to ascertain how two urban principals, in high schools that feature comprehensive college-and-career readiness practices, utilize distributed leadership to facilitate their implementation. Design/methodology/approach This study employed qualitative methods. Drawing upon semi-structured interview data, observational data gathered as part of site visits, and internal and electronic documents, case descriptions were developed of each school, focusing on principals’ activities in support of career pathways. Findings The principals contributed significantly to their schools’ college-and-career readiness reforms and programming. Although their approaches were distinct, six common themes were identified: facilitating processes to form a shared vision, developing relational trust, a focus on learning, successful partnerships, conducive structures, and developing leadership skills and capacity. The principals described utilizing distributed leadership approaches – including practices, structures, and tools – to support these reforms. Originality/value This study represents the initial phase of a multi-year research project investigating the implementation of college-and-career pathways in urban communities. Prior research has overlooked the important role of principals in leading and facilitating these reforms, and this study contributes to the literature because it focuses on principals’ contributions in supporting college-and-career readiness. Additionally, in both cases, substantive, regular leadership contributions were made by business representatives external to the organization.

Going for Broke: A Multiple-Case Study of Brokerage in Education

Although the central role of educational intermediaries that can connect research and practice is increasingly appreciated, our present understanding of their motivations, products, and processes is inadequate. In response, this multiple-case study asks how and why three large-scale intermediaries—Edutopia, the Marshall Memo, and Usable Knowledge—are engaging in brokerage activities, and compares the features of the knowledge they seek to share and mobilize. These entities were deliberately chosen and anticipated to reveal diversity. Multiple data sources were analyzed based primarily upon Ward’s knowledge mobilization framework. These entities contrasted widely, especially in relation to core knowledge dimensions, enabling us to identify two distinct brokerage types. To conclude, theoretical (how to conceptualize brokerage) and practical (how to foster interactive knowledge exchange) implications are presented. This study also reveals certain innovative mobilization approaches, including skillful use of social media and the production of videos depicting how and why to adopt particular strategies.

Characteristics of Tenure-Line Faculty in Leadership Preparation Programs: An Analysis of Academic Preparation and Administrative Experience

This study investigated the credentials of 755 tenure-line educational leadership faculty members, using data collected through an online questionnaire. Findings disclosed that research institutions were significantly more likely than doctoral or comprehensive institutions to hire faculty with a PhD from a research university and who identified research as their primary professional strength. A greater proportion of faculty in comprehensive universities had served as school administrators before entering academe than was the case for those at research universities. These findings have significant implications for the field, given that an increasing number of school leaders nationally are prepared at comprehensive institutions.

Mentoring as Socialization for the Educational Leadership Professoriate: A Collaborative Autoethnography

In this study, we analyzed the experiences of an educational leadership doctoral student and aspirant to the professoriate (protégé) and an educational leadership professor (mentor) during our two-year mentoring relationship. Collaborative autoethnography was employed, and our analysis relied primarily upon a process-oriented model of mentoring. Four main themes emerged: (a) reciprocal trust, (b) experiential learning, (c) stability and change, and (d) mutual benefit. Our relationship also was marked by several critical features, and we described the timing and sequence of the socialization experience. This productive mentoring relationship offers a detailed model for doctoral students and faculty members who wish to pursue a similar relationship. From our research, we also contribute to the broader mentoring literature, in which previous researchers have rarely delved simultaneously into mentor and protégé experiences. Scholars who study mentoring will gain from insights into the manner in which anticipatory socialization unfolds, as well as critical features that emerge and evolve in the process.

Career Academies: Effective Structures to Promote College and Career Readiness

Abstract Career academies promote smaller learning communities within high schools, creating personalized learning environments while promoting students’ readiness for college and careers. After describing the career academy structure, we present four research-based aspects that can assist school leaders and teachers in developing and implementing academies. We include practical examples from the Metro Nashville Public Schools, noting how educators have collaborated with civic agencies, businesses, and postsecondary partners to increase the graduation rate and improve student learning outcomes. Career academies can be effective in preparing students for college and careers, while also providing economic benefits to the community.

Mentoring for the Educational Leadership Professoriate: Perspectives From Jay D. Scribner Mentoring Award Recipients and Mentees

This article presents findings from a study of Jay D. Scribner Award recipients. The purposes were to learn why professors engage in mentoring and to identify activities and supports provided to mentees. Interviews were held with the 12 recipients and 24 mentees who submitted letters in support of their nominations, with Mertz’s conceptual model of mentoring guiding data analysis. Findings revealed mentoring activities were based upon mentees’ career stages and institutional contexts, and aligned with Mertz’s mentoring continuum. Relationships emerged informally, included individual and group mentoring, were characterized by relational equality, and resulted in long-term research partnerships and friendships.

Inspiring and implementing bottom-up change: the omnivore’s advantage

In this commentary, first I join with numerous educators who have argued for or produced evidence supporting bottom-up, professionally driven educational change. However, I then argue that, to fully realise the potential of this general change orientation, a significant and growing tendency toward parochialism within education must be surfaced and interrupted by bottom-up educational change agents. Specifically, I introduce two examples in support of the claim that powerful, well-developed change and improvement ideas – originated and refined in large part outside the education sector – nevertheless can be and have been adapted and applied by educators and their partners to noteworthy effects. My aim in this commentary is not to endorse a particular model or approach (though I do underline several viable options and point to supportive theory), but rather to strongly encourage bottom-up reformers to pragmatically adopt a form of professional omnivorousness so that their great base ideas can be operationalised to best effects.

State Auditors in Education Policy

Contemporary education reform movements in the United States have emphasized accountability for student performance. Policy actors serving within the executive branch have arguably gained power in part to provide this accountability function. The present study, in which Ohio and Pennsylvania serve as state case contexts, examines the changing education policy role of executive-level state auditors. Findings indicate their powers have expanded considerably between 2005 and 2017, with expansion attributable to four main factors: the proliferation of brick-and-mortar and online charter schools, auditors’ political motivations, auditors’ ability to conduct performance audits, and state legislatures’ reliance on auditors to provide oversight.