2018 Spring Journal of Scholarship and Practice

The AASA Journal of Scholarship & Practice is a refereed, blind-reviewed, quarterly journal with a focus on research and evidence-based practice. It is designed to benefit AASA members and full-time and adjunct professors.

Journal editor Ken Mitchell has written a piece that has been peer-reviewed by other editors focusing on the congressional ban on research dealing with gun violence. This prohibition known as the Dickey amendment does not allow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct any research on gun violence. That, for Mitchell, is a problem.

His editorial is punctuated by his personal experience as a superintendent who was held hostage in his office by an armed gunman. He comes to this discussion with a clear understanding that “It is our ethical responsibility as superintendents and scholar-practitioners to advocate for members of Congress to not only repeal the Dickey amendment but go beyond it by providing the funding of research and research-supported measures to maximize school safety.”

The research article, written by Patrick Jarrett, Henry Tran and David Buckman, investigates the issue of whether candidates’ gender and professional experience influence superintendent selection decisions.

In a commentary, Robin Henrikson discusses the potential of addressing needed changes to superintendent evaluations by suggesting an integrated formative evaluation process that balances both the need for accountability and ongoing professional growth and support. Practical tips for improving the evaluation process are offered.

The final article and second commentary by William Penuel, Philip Bell, Tiffany Neill, Sam Shaw, Megan Hopkins and Caitlin Farrell discusses how a 13-state team, titled A Networked Improvement Community (NIC), can support district-level change efforts by improving coherence and equity in state systems of science education.