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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 March 2024

Laura Hedin, Lydia Gerzel-Short, Lisa Liberty and Jason Pope

District-university partners increasingly rely on “grow-your-own” licensure programs to address teacher shortages. Because vacancies in special education represent a chronic…

Abstract

Purpose

District-university partners increasingly rely on “grow-your-own” licensure programs to address teacher shortages. Because vacancies in special education represent a chronic issue, our district-university partnership developed LEAP – the Licensed Educators’ Accelerated Pathway, successfully preparing 26 paraprofessionals as special education teachers (SEs). We describe a model university-district partnership in which we collaborated to design and implement paraprofessionals’ SE licensure program.

Design/methodology/approach

In this general review, we describe a district-university partnership collaboration that resolved barriers experienced by paraprofessionals working toward licensure in special education (Essential #4, Reflection and Innovation). The specialized design and partnership solutions were grounded in SE preparation research literature.

Findings

25 (28 entered the program and 25 completed) paraprofessionals from one large urban and several regional districts completed special education licensure through LEAP. Slightly more than half of LEAP participants were Black or Hispanic (see Table 1), contributing to the diversification of SE workforce. University-district partnership was successful in designing and delivering a program that allowed participants: a) to remain employed, b) attend evening classes in their geographic region or online, c) complete all field experiences in sponsoring districts (Essential #2) and d) receive concierge advising from a “completion coach.” We describe solutions to barriers experienced by paraprofessionals and advocate for district-university collaboration to address chronic teacher shortages.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations include lack of data on success of program completers during their first year of teaching as they began this work in Fall 2023. Further, because the participating district was large and urban, generalization of program details for small and rural districts is difficult.

Practical implications

Practical tips for developing grow-your-own special education licensure programs are providing. Detailed descriptions of barriers candidates experienced and ways the district-university partners resolved these issues are included. Programs like the one described has the potential to positively impact teacher pipeline issues.

Social implications

The program described provided highly-trained teachers to fill chronic vacancies in special education in three participating districts/agencies. Because students receiving special education services are at risk for school failure and are disproportionately impacted by teacher turnover, addressing this area through grow-your-own licensure programs represents a diversity, equity and inclusion initiative. Further, upskilling diverse paraprofessionals to licensed teacher roles represent an economic boost, which they might not otherwise have achieved.

Originality/value

Available research literature signals alarm over persistent teacher shortages in hard-to-staff districts and lack of diversity in the teacher workforce, but few published accounts describe successful programs. Partner collaboration fostered a re-imagining of course formatting and delivery to accommodate adult learners, avoiding problems often reported with alternative programs.

Details

PDS Partners: Bridging Research to Practice, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2833-2040

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 June 2013

Stephen E. Anderson

The purpose of this paper is to present the author's commentary on the special issue of Journal of Educational Administration entitled “Systemwide reform: examining districts

596

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the author's commentary on the special issue of Journal of Educational Administration entitled “Systemwide reform: examining districts under pressure”.

Design/methodology/approach

The major thesis of this commentary and reflection on the preceding papers is that there is a need to recognize that “school districts” as known in the USA are examples of a more general phenomenon of intermediary organizational entities in education systems in North America and elsewhere in the world and that there is a need to problematize, not take for granted, the form, purpose, and influence of these mediating layers of the school system on the quality and improvement of schools, and on the implementation of government policies that are intended to regulate and support education in schools.

Findings

This issue of the Journal of Educational Administration presents a series of papers that highlight different aspects and contemporary trends in school district practice and research – organizational characteristics associated with district effectiveness (see Trujillo this issue), how districts are responding to political and public demands for accountability (see Hamilton et al., this issue), the invention of school district authorities as portfolio managers of diverse school provider systems (see Marsh et al., this issue), and how social communication networks linking school and district staff interface with the use of evidence to support school improvement (see Finnigan and Daly, as well as Wohlstetter and Smith this issue).

Originality/value

The simple thesis of this commentary is to argue that school districts function as an intermediate level of education governance, management, and support within national and state education systems, and that current research and discussion on the school district role in improving and sustaining the quality of education would be strengthened by broadening the scope of research and discussion to alternative kinds of intermediate level governance and support systems that exist in North America and in other regions of the world.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 51 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1977

FRANK W. LUTZ and WILLIAM L. GARBERINA

This study is based on the earlier work of Iannaccone and Lutz, Kirkendall and Le Doux and Burlingame and uses socio‐economic data obtained from 77 school districts in…

Abstract

This study is based on the earlier work of Iannaccone and Lutz, Kirkendall and Le Doux and Burlingame and uses socio‐economic data obtained from 77 school districts in Massachusetts through the period 1963–1972. The study examines a series of hypotheses related to the “gap” that may develop between community demand and school board response. Some of the findings are (i) the Iannaccone‐Lutz model of school board member incumbent defeat is valid and the “gap” between community demands and the school board's response is an important factor in the operational model; (ii) the school board's response to community's demands (tax rate) is an important variable in determining the “gap” resulting in incumbent defeat and in predicting the variance in this political phenomenon in school districts; (iii) socio‐economic‐political indicators of school district change selected by Kirkendall are related to school board member incumbent defeat.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 15 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1998

C. William Garner

Can school districts become too large whereby their size exceeds their point of efficiency? To investigate this question, all K-12 school districts in New Jersey were divided into…

Abstract

Can school districts become too large whereby their size exceeds their point of efficiency? To investigate this question, all K-12 school districts in New Jersey were divided into three groups based on student body size. In a comparison of six average cost measures, larger districts were found to be more efficient on only one of the six measures. A more optimum size for school districts appeared to be in moderate sized districts. The theoretical grounds for this investigation regarded the suggested effects of vertical and horizontal decentralization.

Details

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, vol. 10 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1096-3367

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2004

George Beck and Sharon L. Segrest‐Purkiss

The LAUSD is the largest school district in the State and is charged with the responsibility of educating over one‐fifth of the children in California. Taken individually, each of…

421

Abstract

The LAUSD is the largest school district in the State and is charged with the responsibility of educating over one‐fifth of the children in California. Taken individually, each of the LAUSD’s eleven local districts would rank in the top twenty in the State in terms of student population. The District is LA County’s second largest employer, and with an annual operating and capital budget of over nine billion dollars, it brings together a diverse range of active and dynamic stakeholders. In 2000 the LAUSD found itself at a crossroads. In response to growing criticism and the threat of a State‐mandated break‐up due to the poor performance of their schools, the District created eleven mini‐districts to improve accountability and take instructional programs closer to the people who use them. This paper provides background on the LAUSD’s decentralization effort and power sharing aspects of the District’s self‐imposed break‐up, and recommendations for addressing these issues are postulated.

Details

Management Research News, vol. 27 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0140-9174

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 October 2012

Stephen H. Davis, Ronald J. Leon and Miriam L. Fultz

In this chapter, we describe the strategies used in establishing the Great Leaders for Great Schools Academy (GLGSA), a high impact and sustainable university–district partnership…

Abstract

In this chapter, we describe the strategies used in establishing the Great Leaders for Great Schools Academy (GLGSA), a high impact and sustainable university–district partnership and the first program to be accredited under California’s experimental standards for principal preparation. The partnership has evolved into a robust professional learning community dedicated to the task of preparing practice-ready school leaders with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to turn around low performing schools in the Pomona Unified School District. Chapter contents also include descriptions of the key elements of the GLGSA and seven recommendations for those who desire to establish innovative and collaborative approaches to leadership preparation.

Details

Successful School Leadership Preparation and Development
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-322-4

Book part
Publication date: 19 October 2015

D. Michael Risen, Jenny Tripses and Anne Risen

The chapter examines school administrator responsibilities to special education students and their families from case scenarios based on conflicts between parents and districts

Abstract

The chapter examines school administrator responsibilities to special education students and their families from case scenarios based on conflicts between parents and districts regarding services provided by schools to special education students. From these case studies based on real case law, readers are exposed to situations intended to pose questions as to whether administrators met their responsibility to ensure the rights of the special education students. Principals, superintendents, and special education administrators committed to work together to make their school environment and optimal place for children to learn. An equally important role for school administrators is to create and maintain cultures where faculty understand their advocacy role for all children, but in particular, those children most in need of support. Effective administrators hold themselves and other professionals in their district to high standards related to knowledge of school law, particularly special education school law; communication with parents and other professionals; and collaborations based on the value of what is best for the student. This chapter concludes with a section on ethical leadership or the values underlying administrative actions affecting individualized education program students, their families, and all students who are different whether due to socioeconomic status, cultural differences, or race.

Book part
Publication date: 25 May 2022

Subrata Pradhan and Ramesh Chandra Das

Reaching at the true development state is one of the important policy agenda of any country or its provinces under it. The true development state can further be ensured if the…

Abstract

Reaching at the true development state is one of the important policy agenda of any country or its provinces under it. The true development state can further be ensured if the country or province does inclusive development. Financial inclusion is one of the important agenda through which a country or a province's inclusive growth and development can be ensured. The present study aims to compute the magnitudes of financial inclusion and its associated income link across the 18 districts of the state of West Bengal in India, with the help of the four banking indicators or dimensions – number of branches, number of accounts, amounts of deposits, and amounts of credit of the scheduled commercial banks, for the period 1997–2018. It finds that except Kolkata, all the other districts have low IFI values. Kolkata is at the top with near 100 percent financial inclusion. Mostly the districts from the North Bengal region are having very low magnitudes whereas the districts from the South Bengal region are having relative high magnitude of financial inclusion. The ultimate effects of these levels of financial inclusion have led to very low level of net domestic products of the districts.

Details

Globalization, Income Distribution and Sustainable Development
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-870-9

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 2 April 2015

Jeffrey C. Wayman, Vincent Cho, Jo Beth Jimerson and Virginia W. Snodgrass Rangel

The effective use of student data has gained increasing attention in the past 10 years. Although district leaders would like to support data use and improvement, exactly how to go…

Abstract

The effective use of student data has gained increasing attention in the past 10 years. Although district leaders would like to support data use and improvement, exactly how to go about such work systemically is often unclear. Accordingly, the aim of this chapter is to illuminate the inner workings of data use throughout a mid-sized school district. In doing so, we highlight issues in how data were used and supported, and provide discussion about how districts such as this one may improve data use throughout the district.

Details

Leading Small and Mid-Sized Urban School Districts
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-818-2

Book part
Publication date: 2 August 2021

Clara Bassano and Paolo Piciocchi

The aim of the chapter is to highlight the limits and opportunities linked to the use of tools such as interactive marketing and communication in small creative businesses…

Abstract

The aim of the chapter is to highlight the limits and opportunities linked to the use of tools such as interactive marketing and communication in small creative businesses comprising Italian jewellery districts to achieve greater competitiveness of local systems on global markets.

From secondary data and the analysis of district websites, the specificity of Italian jewellery districts is analysed in terms of relational and learning differences. Starting from a circumscribed (isolated), experience of hands-on learning, it is suggested that systemic progress can be made within a collective local system of learning (i.e. a virtuous and widespread knowledge of the district system) by virtue of internet-based technologies (IBT). In this respect, the chapter evidences how the productive and creative specificity of Italian jewellery district systems can gain impetus, in terms of greater competitiveness, from the use of IBT.

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