Spencer Weiler

The issue ofThe issue of school safety has been interrogated as school shootings have occurred multiple times each year in the United States. This devastating reality has captured the attention of many throughout the United States. School leaders have implemented strategies to increase school safety, including the creation of practices to deter shooting incidences in schools. One such practice, the arming of school district employees, is the focus of this study. We sought to answer the following research questions: 1) How do superintendents describe their experiences implementing and leading the practice? and 2) What lessons have superintendents learned related to the practice? The data sources for this study included superintendent interviews, school district policies, and relevant documents. The findings included descriptions of the practice, the process of implementation, legal and policy guidelines, and advice for school leaders.

We sought to quantify the fiscal impact of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ released time program in Utah on funding for public education. The guiding research question for this study was: How much money does the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ seminary program save public education in the state of Utah? <b>Research methods</b>: To answer this research question, we collected data from one school district in Utah and then extrapolated those findings, on a per pupil basis, to the entire state. This approach is predicated upon several assumptions. As a result, the findings are reported in three approximates of the actual fiscal impact of the Church’s seminary program in Utah: high, medium, and low. Our conclusion is that the actual fiscal impact of seminary on funding for public education lies within this reported range. <b>Findings</b>: We report that the Church’s seminary program saves the state of Utah between $45,000,000 and $64,000,000 annually. While these figures only constitute 0.6% to 0.8% of the total funding for public education, this robust released time program provides school district officials with financial and scheduling flexibility. <b>Implications</b>: For a released time program to make any sort of fiscal impact, it needs to be as robust as the Church’s seminary effort. In addition to the direct fiscal impact, there are indirect fiscal benefits associated with seminary as well as direct and indirect costs. This study is not a call for increased released time programs across the nation. Instead, we sought to quantify the fiscal impact of a robust program on a state’s budget for public education.

<i>Purpose: Isolate the voice of recently retired educational leaders to better understand</i><br><i>the essential elements of educational leadership from individuals who spent a career</i><br><i>supporting schools and leading people. Research Methods: This qualitative study</i><br><i>used snowball sampling to identify 10 recently retired educational leaders who were</i><br><i>willing to complete a survey and eight who participated in qualitative interviews. The</i><br><i>data were analyzed using open and axial coding approaches. Five interconnected</i><br><i>themes related to effectively leading school systems emerged from the data. Findings:</i><br><i>We used a conceptual framework of the Earth’s crust, mantle, and core as analogous to</i><br><i>educational leadership’s focus on performance, people, and purpose to illustrate the</i><br><i>interplay between the five themes: 1) Role and responsibilities of educational leaders;</i><br><i>2) Collaboration; 3) Relationships and love; 4) Building capacity in others; and 5) Selfcare. </i><i>Implications: When compared to existing principal standards, we noted an</i><br><i>important omission. Current principal standards make no mention of self-care. In <i>addition, too much of principal preparation and principal professional development</i><br><i>occurs in silos, or in isolation from other aspects of leadership, and the findings from</i><br><i>this study suggest an integrated approach might better prepare and support educational</i><br><i>leaders in their efforts to effectively lead school systems.</i></i>

Despite all of the disruption the pandemic introduced into public education, COVID-19 also serves as an invitation for leaders to creatively explore ways to better utilize existing resources for the benefit of all students. The pandemic is the crisis that educational leaders cannot allow to go to waste. Instead of striving merely to return to a pre-pandemic normal, all stakeholders involved in public education should explore ways to better utilize existing resources to support each and every childs academic growth. In this call to action, we encourage public education stakeholders to work toward maximizing the utilization of time, facilities, funding, personnel, and instructional materials. We believe that this focus on maximizing utilization will result in the necessary transformational power to change the system of public education and will have a far greater impact on the improvement of public education than efforts focused on curriculum and instruction reform. This is not to say that curriculum and instruction are not important; rather, the systemic transformation needed represents the foundation of all that happens in public education.

Due to advances in medical treatments, students with terminal illnesses are more likely to attend public schools, increasing the possibility that they may die on school property. However, educational health plans often fail to consider end-of-life care decisions. In the absence of federal or state statutes, school boards are left to navigate the issue of minors with Do Not<br>Resuscitate Orders while at school. We examine state statutes and school board polices for minors with Do Not Resuscitate Orders attending or wishing to attend school. Themes from school district policies are discussed, and recommendations for federal, state, and local policymakers are made.

The threat of a pandemic places P-20 educational leaders in the difficult position of having to make decisions with incomplete information that affect the welfare of students, employees, and the community. Due to extraneous factors, pandemics are almost impossible to plan for in detail. In an effort to illustrate the unique position P-20 educational leaders find themselves in during the threat of a pandemic, a leaders dilemma matrix is presented to illustrate possible outcomes based on leaders responses. While educational leaders may feel a need to take unilateral actions, national- and state-level systems exist to guide appropriate responses. Ultimately, some preparatory steps are enumerated.

Relying on survey research, the purpose of this study was to collect the data necessary to answer the following question: What are students perceptions of the different asynchronous assignments used in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (ELPS) programs online graduate courses? The survey, which consisted of close- and open-ended items, was circulated to 121 former and current ELPS students, with a response rate of 24.79%. The data from the completed surveys were analyzed to identify themes. These themes demonstrate that the participants found value in both asynchronous assignments examined in this study. In addition, the participants identified different benefits associated with each asynchronous assignment. The subsequent discussion of the findings focuses on the value of each asynchronous assignment, the importance of determining the purpose for using asynchronous assignments before assigning them, and the limitations of exclusively using one asynchronous assignment.

The aim of this study was to measure the impact of the overall school facility condition for traditional Colorado elementary schools, according to Colorado's Facilities Condition Index (FCI), on student achievement, as measured by the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP). Control variables included Special Education (SPED), English Language Learner (ELL), and Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) populations. Hierarchical multiple regression (HMR) analyses were conducted to investigate this relationship between these variables in this correlational study.

In the year following the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, political commentators and policymakers considered a number of options aimed at increasing student safety in public schools. One of the options was to provide educators with a loaded weapon to increase protection in the form of a possible deterrent, a quicker response time to an armed intruder, and a force multiplier. There is a perception held by some that arming educators is nearly a cost neutral solution to augmenting student safety at school; however, there is a lack of empirical data supporting this assumption. The purposes of this research are twofold: 1) To capture the perspective of public school district superintendents about the desired safeguards for schools to properly arm educators. 2) To ascertain the estimated costs associated with arming educators. Based on the findings reported in this study, the authors conclude there are two types of costs associated with arming educators - one-time costs and annual, or on-going, costs. Collectively, these costs represent a financial burden on school district budgets. As a result, if state policymakers decide to arm educators, there must be ongoing resources made available to school districts to cover the added expenditure.

The purpose of this legal analysis was to determine if there was evidence suggesting that courts, when ruling on off-campus student speech cases that result in on-campus discipline, take into consideration the degree of discipline imposed by school officials. The analysis consisted of reviewing the 34 adjudicated<br>and published cases that specifically address the issue of off-campus student speech resulting in on-campus discipline, dividing the cases into reasonable and unreasonable discipline groups, and<br>documenting the outcomes of the cases in the two groups. Further analysis of themes in off-campus speech, the response by schools, and similarities in court decisions were noted.

Note that this study was cited in the following adjudicated lawsuit: Martinez/Yazzie v. State of New Mexico (July 2018).

In November of 2009 Mr. Sean Lyndon was elected to the Verde Mountain School Board and by February 2012 he resigned from this position. During his tumultuous tenure, Mr. Lyndon's antics proved divisive, caustic, and disruptive to the governance process. These actions included belittling and intimidating fellow school board members and school district personnel, voicing inflammatory comments regarding Martin Luther King, Jr., and exercising his right to bring a concealed weapon to all school board meetings. This qualitative study attempted to capture the voices of those who worked with Mr. Lyndon to identify the lessons learned from working with a caustic school board member.

The potential of the charter school movement to positively influence traditional public education lies in the ability of charter school officials to provide all students access to the curriculum. The aim of this study was to document potential registration and enrollment barriers incorporated into the practices of Colorado charter schools. The barriers discussed in this article include parent commitment requirements, fees, registration, and lottery information. The findings from this study suggest that<br>Colorado charter schools have created specific barriers to registration that could impede some students from fully participating in charter schools. The researchers conclude the study with a call for charter schools to increase transparency related to every aspect of the registration and enrollment process<br>and work to eliminate the identified barriers.

The United States has experienced several<br>mass killings by firearms in the recent past, but none<br>has stirred the passions of the nation’s citizens like the<br>killing of innocent schoolchildren in Newtown, Connecticut.<br>Debates immediately began regarding proposed<br>solutions for making students safer in schools.<br>One recommendation for promoting school safety in<br>school was to arm school personnel, including building<br>principals and teachers. Several states and individual<br>school boards have already taken steps to begin arming<br>educators, but there is no indication that the perceptions<br>of building-level principals have been documented related<br>to this proposal. The authors of this article surveyed<br>current school principals to determine how they<br>felt about the idea of arming school personnel. This article<br>reports on the results of the survey and capsulizes the<br>principals’ quantitative and qualitative input regarding<br>the topic of having armed educators in schools.

Various state and national forces are influencing principal preparation programs, including competition from online for-profit institutions, teacher evaluation, school accountability, equity, and Response to Intervention mandates that require university-based leadership preparation programs to re-examine and revise program delivery and content. The changes in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies program at the University of Northern Colorado are described in detail and are presented in three categories: curriculum changes, accountability changes, and delivery changes. These changes illuminate the social, economic, and political forces to which a principal preparation program must be attuned and responsive in order to serve as a model for other programs to consider in an era of rapidly increasing demand for effective school leadership.

<br> Laptops have been introduced into classroom across the nation as a way to improve teaching and learning. In 2007 Littleton Public Schools (LPS) introduced a focused approach to providing all students with a laptop at a significantly lower cost to the traditional ubiquitous laptop programs. The purpose of this study was to document the LPS model and measure its impact on instruction and learning. In addition, a cost analysis comparing the LPS model to other approaches at infusing laptops into classrooms was conducted. The LPS is not only cost effective, the quantitative and qualitative data collected in this study suggest that this approach to laptop infusion in the classroom positively impacts instruction and learning. One implication from this study is that school districts, when considering adopting a ubiquitous laptop program, should work to incorporate a focused curricular approach to increase the likelihood of the laptops improving instruction and learning.

Principal standards and license requirements in each of the 50 states are analyzed in this qualitative study in light of federal Race to the Top incentives for states to strengthen school leadership preparation and practice. Nineteen states have adopted the 2008 Educational Leadership Consortium Council (ELCC) standards<br>verbatim and the remaining 31 state principal standards include the basic tenets of ELCC standards, as well as additional standards that reflect each states particular focus. These standards are increasingly being used as the basis of practicing<br>principals evaluations as part of states initiatives to secure federal Race to the Top funds. The ELCC standards also serve as the criteria for national principal preparation accreditation from the Council for the Accreditation of Educational Programs. State requirements for obtaining a principal license, however, do not<br>necessarily align with these professional standards of practice, which might indicate a gap in the principal development pipeline. Common license requirements focus primarily on basic requirements of teaching experience, degree or program<br>completion, and passing a state assessment, but many states do not specify that preparation programs must be accredited, nor are state assessments necessarily aligned with ELCC standards. A rubric is provided for assessing the alignment of the components of a state school leadership licensure system that is aligned with<br>the ELCC standards and reflects best practices found in the research regarding qualifications for school leadership.

Because leadership for school improvement is now becoming essential for future principals, educational leadership preparation programs must adequately prepare administrators for this important role.

We look at the costs of education, analyze revenues and spending in public education, private education, and charter schools.

<br> Online instruction offers students a convenient way to access higher education. However, convenience must never trump quality when it comes to participation in a graduate program. Synchronous learning activities in graduate online courses are an effective way to enhance the learning experiences of all students, and especially those from different countries. Synchronous learning activities enable international students to overcome cultural differences and fully engage in the curriculum. Student observations related to synchronous learning activities are shared to illustrate the value of this sound online pedagogical strategy.

National advocacy groups have undertaken significant efforts to define the performance capacities needed by principals to lead schools in this era of continuous improvement and accountability. There has been little articulation between the core skills essential to new principals and the leadership capacities of experienced peers. This study focused on the needs of new principals as noted by superintendents. This study posed an open-ended question to superintendents asking for a list of challenges observed in newly hired school principals. Superintendents identified three discrete areas of deficit: experience with and understanding of the range of demands faced by principals, understanding differentiated instructional practices and best practices, and functional use of personnel management strategies.

In response to questions related to school<br>safety, in the 1990s the school resource officer (SRO)<br>program gained prominence as an effective intervention<br>strategy. Despite the widespread utilization of SROs in<br>Americas public schools, there exists a lack of meaningful<br>research related to practices and effectiveness of<br>SRO programs. A school resource officer is a sworn police<br>officer assigned to a school or a group of schools<br>during the school year. The SRO presence in a school is<br>intended to increase school safety for students, staff, and<br>community members. However, little is actually known<br>about the SROprogram and its ability to increase school<br>safety. SRO assignment patterns are documented in this<br>study along with the use of memorandums of understandings<br>(MOU), or other intergovernmental agency<br>agreements, and the role of the MOU in promoting a<br>safe learning environment. School officials interested<br>in increasing school safety through the use of the SRO<br>program are encouraged to develop meaningful MOUs<br>that establish clear guidelines related to the conduct of<br>the sworn police officer in the school building.

The school resource officer (SRO) program<br>began in the United States in the early to mid-1950s,<br>however, the program did not gain prominence until the<br>1990s in response to various school shootings. According<br>to national data, SROs can be found in 35 percent<br>of school across America, regardless of level (elementary,<br>middle, or high school), urbanicity (rural, town,<br>suburban, or city), or enrollment size. However, there<br>is currently a dearth of meaningful research addressing<br>the role and effectiveness of SROs. This article reviews<br>what is known concerning SROs in an effort to establish<br>a foundation for future research centered on the<br>effectiveness of SROs in ensuring students attend safe<br>learning environments.

As a result of ability-based tracking, schools that appear desegregated, or even integrated, on the surface, are<br>extremely segregated when the demographics of students in either advanced or remedial classes are compared to that of<br>the school's overall student population. ... The purpose of this article is to review the historical and legal nuances<br>associated with desegregation and resegregation and to highlight the efforts of one educator who successfully created<br>opportunities for all students in advanced mathematics courses. ... The significance of all types of resegregation is that<br>separating races strongly correlates with the quality of education students receive and that minority-dominated schools<br>offer students unequal and inferior educational opportunities. ... Table 1: AP Calculus Enrollment *2*2007-2008<br>*2*2008-2009 *2*School Year *2*School Year Number Percent Number Percent White 17 94.5% 42 70% Latino 1<br>5.5% 18 30% Total Enrollment 18 100% 60 100% Table 1 illustrates the overall impact of the summer geometry<br>program on three significant aspects of AP Calculus demographics: the total enrollment in AP Calculus increased by<br>233% (eighteen students to sixty students in one school year), the increased Latino representation in AP Calculus<br>(which grew from one student to eighteen in one school year), and the overall percentage of Latino students taking AP<br>Calculus (increased from 5.5% to 30%). ... One possible explanation for the current resegregation trend is an over<br>reliance on judicial action to force large organizations, such as schools and school districts, to become socially<br>responsible by integrating students into heterogeneous learning environments.

Update on the state funding formula for Colorado.