Educational policy

Demographics of the United States’ school system continue to change and diversify. Meeting the needs of diverse learners is critical to the success of all children. Building and sustaining equitable learning environments has proven to be a challenging task for school leaders. Barriers that hinder equity continue to plague schools and are rooted in systems of organizational injustice. Research suggests that leaders who are able to utilize socially just and culturally responsive leadership practices build and sustain equitable learning environments. School leaders have a large impact on the equity driven practices that exist within the organization; however, research indicates that they may not be prepared to lead such practices. Therefore, supporting the path of aspiring leaders through coaching, since they will eventually lead the charge, has great potential to be critical in the success of equity in our schools, and was the focus of this study.
The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore and describe the coaching relationship between the principal and aspiring leader in order to understand how this relationship furthers the development of the aspiring leader into a school leader devoted to building and sustaining equitable learning environments.

In today’s educational climate highly focused on accountability, often measured through high stakes testing and graduation rates, it is critical that school leaders return to a focus on the initial aim of public education and ensure all students are afforded a quality education until graduation. Unfortunately, over 25,000 school-aged children in Florida are arrested for a felony offense annually, which is just one of many paths leading to an interruption in their learning and often entrance to the school-to-prison pipeline. Additionally, these students are often not allowed to return or have their return to traditional school settings postponed by being placed at alternative school settings.
The purpose of this qualitative phenomenology study was to describe the K-12 educational experience as perceived by males ages 15-21 who had an interruption in their education while attending a public school in Florida. The perceptions of the K-12 educational experiences were generally defined as what each participant reported as his personal experience while attending a K-12 public educational setting.