JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. American Educational Research Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Review of Educational Research.Defining sense of community as a feeling of belongingness within a group, this article reviews research about students' sense of acceptance within the school community to address three questions: Is this experience of belongingness important in an educational setting? Do students currently experience school as a community? And how do schools influence students' sense of community? Conceptually, the review reflects a social cognitive perspective on motivation. This theoretical framework maintains that individuals have psychological needs, that satisfaction of these needs affects perception and behavior, and that characteristics of the social context influence how well these needs are met. The concern here is how schools, as social organizations, address what is defined as a basic psychological need, the need to experience belongingness. The findings suggest that students' experience of acceptance influences multiple dimensions of their behavior but that schools adopt organizational practices that neglect and may actually undermine students' experience of membership in a supportive community.Hargreaves, Earl, and Ryan (1996) echo the voice of many researchers and educators who believe that "one of the most fundamental reforms needed in secondary or high school education is to make schools into better communities of caring and support for young people" (p. 77). The term "community" is used in different ways in the literature, but common to many of these definitions is the concept of belongingness (Solomon, Watson, Battistich, Schaps, & Delucchi, 1996). While there are differences in opinion on specific characteristics of organizations that constitute communities, as Furman (1998) explains, community is not present until members experience feelings of belonging, trust in others, and safety.Reflecting that perspective and the definition guiding this paper is that of McMillan and Chavis (1986). The term "community", they maintain, has two uses. The first refers to a territorial or geographic unit; the second is relational and describes the quality or character of human relationships. In the present discussion, the primary concern is the relational nature of community within organizational boundaries, and specifically those of the school. Operationally, McMillan and Chavis propose that community consists of four elements: mem-323 This content downloaded from 130.240.43.43 on Thu, 19 Sep 2013 07:34:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsOsterman bership, influence, integration and fulfillment of needs, and a shared emotional connectio...

Defining sense of community as a feeling of belongingness within a group, this article reviews research about students' sense of acceptance within the school community to address three questions: Is this experience of belongingness important in an educational setting? Do students currently experience school as a community? And how do schools influence students' sense of community? Conceptually, the review reflects a social cognitive perspective on motivation. This theoretical framework maintains that individuals have psychological needs, that satisfaction of these needs affects perception and behavior, and that characteristics of the social context influence how well these needs are met. The concern here is how schools, as social organizations, address what is defined as a basic psychological need, the need to experience belongingness. The findings suggest that students' experience of acceptance influences multiple dimensions of their behavior but that schools adopt organizational practices that neglect and may actually undermine students' experience of membership in a supportive community.

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This exploratory study gathered information about the use of action research within doctor of education programs in educational leadership and explored faculty understanding of and perspectives on action research. Survey data established that action research is used infrequently to meet dissertation requirements. Contributing factors include lack of clarity regarding the nature of action research (AR) and concerns about methodological legitimacy. Because the development of collaborative leadership skills and the pursuit of social justice objectives are inherent to the action research process, these results call for additional discussion regarding this distinctive methodology and its role in the preparation of educational leaders at the doctoral level.

As principals assume their roles in an urban bureaucracy, what are some of the personal and organizational factors that support or restrict their efforts to bring about school change? Based on interviews with newly appointed principals, this study concludes that external and internal factors interact to influence leadership behavior. External factors, particularly role models, district expectations, and personal and organizational support, influence principals’ sense of self-efficacy. This internal factor, in turn, appeared to play an important mediating role influencing principals’ interpretation of the organizational context and their problem-solving processes.