Faculty: Michael A. Owens

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to better understand how the leadership of 11 principals impacted their schools’ level of engagement in a district-wide deep learning initiative. Findings clustered in three primary areas of principal leadership: vision for learning, leadership approach, and mindset toward others. Principals leading highly engaged schools placed equal emphasis on students’ acquisition of knowledge, skills, and dispositions; distributed school leadership widely; and spoke about their work with other-centric language. Principals at less engaged schools placed more importance on content knowledge acquisition, were either disengaged or top down in their leadership approaches and spoke with more egocentric language. This article provides implications for schools and districts interested in pursuing deep learning and leadership, along with recommendations for future research.

This study analyzes nationwide patterns in due process hearing decisions regarding one-on-one special education aides for students with disabilities in general education classrooms during a calendar year. Findings show that students with a wide variety of disabilities were provided with aides more frequently than we had anticipated. However, the national sample seemed to show that students with hearing impairment received one-on-one aides more consistently than those with other disabilities such as autism or emotional disturbance. Patterns of difference exist among the states both in the number of cases reaching due process hearings and in the number of cases in which parents received one-on-one aides for their children.