This case study describes the experience of three teacher leaders who attempt to lead from within their classroom. Interview and biographical data were collected and analyzed both within case and across cases. The cases individually describe the experiences of teacher leaders and the cases collectively help us define the components of teacher leadership along with the barriers and facilitators that teacher leaders face. The results of these analyses identify the following assertions: teacher leaders navigate the structures of schools, teacher leaders nurture relationships, teacher leaders model professional growth, teacher leaders help others with change, and teacher leaders challenge the status quo by raising children's voices. These assertions suggest the need for rethinking organizational structures that inhibit as well as facilitate teacher leadership from within the classroom.
In recent years, there has been an increase in paraeducator supports, in large part because students with low incidence disabilities are being included more frequently in general education settings. As a result, special education teachers have been given additional supervisory responsibilities related to directing the work of paraeducators in special and general education settings. Many teachers, however, feel unprepared for this supervisory role. Therefore, to gain a better understanding of current practices in paraeducator supervision, the authors interviewed 13 special education teachers who were nominated by district special education administrators as exemplary supervisors of paraeducators. From the interviews, three themes emerged: creating effective teams, ensuring appropriate training and evaluation, and recommendations for the field. Practices for paraeducators working with students with low incidence disabilities in general education settings are noted in the first two themes. Implications for policy, practice, teacher preparation, and future research are also discussed.
Transit agencies in the USA must provide service under increasing operating constraints. Using data from 1989-1993, technical efficiency among these firms is estimated and characteristics indicative of differential efficiency in transit agencies are identified. This paper verifies the robustness of the second step regression results to the choice of efficiency measure by comparing results of the two step regressions using a pair of non-parametric efficiency estimators. It is discovered that the structure of government subsidy to this industry negatively affects not just cost efficiency, but technical efficiency as well. Furthermore, maintenance appears to be an important component of operational efficiency in this industry.
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