This study investigates the impact of Instructional Leader Partnerships (ILPs) on superintendent leadership practices and their influence on school improvement. Recognizing the significant role of effective leadership in student achievement, this project explored the effects of pairing superintendents with thought partners within a regional…

Objective of the Case--There is a large volume of theoretical and "how to" literature on professional learning communities (PLCs), but little documenting the challenges of implementation and even less on the challenges of system-wide implementation of PLCs. This case is about the role of the central office in initiating and supporting…

Educational leadership coaching is a job-embedded, school-based form of professional development and an approach to transformational conversations that has the potential to change school cultures and improve student achievement (Stevenson, 2009). In this type of professional development, conversations and reflective questions guide educational…

This study investigated the perceptions of Black and White central office administrators regarding the Black-White achievement gap. Four research questions (RQ) were explored: RQ1: How do central office administrators understand the causes of the Black-White achievement gap? RQ2: How do central office administrators perceive their role in…

The Texas Literacy Initiative (TLI) was first implemented in Austin Independent School District during the 2012-2013 school. This report summarizes Spring 2014 survey responses from administrators at TLI campuses.

Benchmarking against similar districts, ideally higher-performing ones, can be a valuable tool for determining the appropriate level of central-office investment. Unfortunately, reliable benchmarks on district spending in teaching and learning support are not readily available. This should not preclude districts from using this valuable method to…

"Before there were meetings, planning processes, or any other techniques, there was conversation--people sitting around, interested in each other, talking together," writes Margaret Wheatley (2002). It has been through simple conversations that authoritative leadership roles traditionally held by those at central office in Rockwood…

Every April, the staff of Stilwell Junior High School (West Des Moines, Iowa) spend a day analyzing student data together. Staff members consider standardized tests scores, look at item-by-item results and trends, and consider how groups are performing. They also look at social data, gathered from students about how the youth view their school…

This report summarizes main results from a national study of how leaders in urban school district central offices fundamentally transformed their work and relationships with schools to support districtwide teaching and learning improvement. All three study districts had been posting gains in student achievement and credited their progress, in…

Professional development that improves teaching and student learning meets research-based standards to ensure high-quality educator learning experiences. Since the quality of professional learning affects its results, many states, districts, and schools want to measure the effectiveness of their professional development to make targeted…

This interview with Phillip Schlechty, a leader in school reform, discusses assumptions about teachers' roles, suggesting teachers be viewed as inventors and leaders of knowledge workers. The interview addresses teachers as inventors; developing school leaders; assumptions about behavior; structural changes in education; building capacity for…

A valuable lesson about teacher ownership and its power to move a school forward was learned by the author as she worked with a professional development initiative on assessment: No matter how closely a district-level leader thinks she is connected to and trusted by a staff, the collective commitment, focus, and action of the teachers themselves…

The business services department staff found they could make a difference in a districtwide literacy initiative when they joined in school leaders' professional development.