Mollie K. Galloway

Cheating in Advantaged High Schools: Prevalence, Justifications, and Possibilities for Change

The current study explored high school student cheating in communities of advantage, gathering survey data from 4,316 high school students in upper middle class communities and qualitative data from a smaller group of students, school leaders, teachers, and parents. Results indicated pervasive cheating among students (93% reported cheating at least once and 26% of upperclassmen indicated cheating in 7 or more of 13 ways listed on the survey). Students described schools as lacking clarity or consequences regarding cheating and expressed feeling forced to cheat in a school culture that promotes getting ahead over learning. The discussion focuses on why advantaged contexts are ripe for student cheating and proposes strategies for change.

Students Matter in School Reform: Leaving Fingerprints and Becoming Leaders.

Our examination of three schools demonstrates how students can be involved in school reform by giving input about problems, helping design the reform, and sharing implementation responsibilities with adult leaders. Their involvement affects both the reform—as students leave their fingerprints on it—and the students themselves, who show signs of emerging leadership.

Nonacademic Effects of Homework in Privileged, High-Performing High Schools

This study used survey data to examine relations among homework, student well-being, and behavioral engagement in a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper middle class communities. Results indicated that students in these schools average more than 3 hr of homework per night. Students who did more hours of homework experienced greater behavioral engagement in school but also more academic stress, physical health problems, and lack of balance in their lives. To better understand the role homework played as a stressor in students’ lives, the authors explored students’ qualitative descriptions of their experiences with homework. The discussion addresses how current homework practices in privileged, high-performing schools sustain students’ advantage in competitive climates yet hinder learning, full engagement, and well-being.

Beyond Individual Effectiveness: Conceptualizing Organizational Leadership for Equity.

Despite increasing policy focus on individual leadership effectiveness, the literature offers limited guidance regarding how organizational leadership might address persistent opportunity and outcome disparities by student race, class, ethnicity, home language, and/or ability. We propose a conceptual framework of equitable leadership practice, describing three drivers to catalyze organizational growth in 10 high-leverage equitable practices designed to mitigate disparities for non-dominant students. We articulate what each of 10 key leadership practices might look like along a continuum from little to exemplary equitable practice, offer a tool to catalyze organizational leadership growth, and discuss theoretical and practical implications of the framework.

Radical Recentering: Equity in Educational Leadership Standards

Background: The widely adopted Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium standards are designed to guide the preparation and professional development of educational leaders. However, the standards’ limited mention of race, class, ethnicity, ability, gender, sexuality, or other marginalized identities suggests that addressing persistent inequities need not be a central concern of preparation programs and leaders in P-12 schools. Purpose and Proposed Model: In this article, we put forth a new set of standards with equity at the core. We seek to advance the conversation about why standards centered on equity are needed—particularly in light of a proposed standards refresh—and what implications would follow from equity-focused standards. To this end, we offer 10 high-leverage equitable leadership practices, identified through research and the extant literature as those most likely to mitigate disparities for students who have not been well served due to their race, class, ethnicity, home language, and/or ability. We discuss how a set of equity-focused leadership standards would facilitate radical changes in leadership preparation programs, professional development, and evaluation. Implications: We aim for this work to augment the conversation around leadership standards and compel action to bring equity to the center.

Stressed-Out Students-SOS: Youth Perspectives on Changing School Climates

In May 2004, an interdepartmental advisory board at Stanford University designed a conference entitled, SOS-Stressed-Out Students: Helping to Improve Health, School Engagement, and Academic Integrity. The purpose of this conference was to initiate a community dialogue about academic stress in suburban middle schools and high schools and to help practitioners, parents, and students on school teams devise strategies to address the causes and consequences of academic stress at their sites. Chapter authors, Galloway, Pope, and Osberg each served on the SOS advisory board at Stanford and designed this annual conference, now in its second year, with the intention of gathering students’ perspectives on academic stress and empowering students to become change agents in their schools. In this chapter, we review relevant literature, describe the conference components that encourage student engagement and voice, and share findings from our 2004 and 2005 conferences on student perspectives of academic stress. The results focus on students’ perceptions at the beginning of the reform process, reflecting their initial ideas about how to change the culture of competition at their schools and how to reform their schools to support student voice, well-being, and motivation to learn. Findings also explore students’ perceptions of the potential supports for and challenges to being part of a school reform effort. The chapter ends with lessons learned about including students in the school reform process.

Perpetuating Privilege: Students’ Perspectives on the Culture of a High-Performing and High-Pressure High School

Abstract The present study used focus group data to explore students’ perceptions of the culture of their upper-middle-class high school. Although students described a high-pressure school with negative physical and psychological consequences, they valued the social and educational advantages this context conferred. They also simultaneously faulted and appreciated parents’ efforts to maintain the schools competitive climate and status. The discussion addresses how stakeholders work to sustain a culture of privilege, despite costs entailed.