This paper presents a conceptual model which explains the challenges of providing high quality sustainable, teacher professional development at scale. It provides a framework to support holistic thinking at a systemic level, applicable across different systems. It draws on sociocultural theories of learning and encourages the user to think about…

District central offices are increasingly partnering with external organizations, such as professional development providers, to facilitate instructional improvement. Given the highly interdependent nature of partnership work, partners often need to coordinate their work together. We define coordination as how partners align different actions so…

This descriptive qualitative study explored the perceptions of central office administrators regarding the benefits and challenges experienced supporting teacher professional learning since the COVID-19 pandemic. Through semi-structured interviews with eight administrators, the study uncovered two themes regarding benefits and three themes…

The purpose of this study was to examine how district administrators use the standards for professional learning when planning professional development for a digital curriculum. By using standards, leaders can guide their professional development practices. Previous research indicates that professional development is essential for any significant…

This narrative study, examined the experiences of six school district leaders related to decision-making about professional development for a research-based instructional strategy in their school districts. The study incorporated James G. March's, Organizational Decision-making as a framework. A central research question guided this study: How do…

School district central offices make consequential decisions about teaching and learning every day that impact the educational opportunities and outcomes for millions of students in our nation's public schools. Given the consequential nature of these decisions, it is important that district leaders use the highest quality research, alongside other…

Demographic changes among the Latina population across the United States depict evidence that there is a need to develop current principals to become administrative leaders at the central office leadership level. These leaders would in turn represent the rapidly changing population. This study aims to understand the career pathway that Latina…

Do school district central offices and school principals have the same level of influence on school decisions? What does the district-principal power relationship look like? These two questions are discussed but are rarely examined in the literature. Based on a nationally representative sample from the 2007-2008 Schools and Staffing Survey data,…

This article reveals the multifaceted ways in which policy enactment was expressed as praxis in the context of assessment reform in Ontario, Canada. The research explores the way in which the Growing Success assessment policy was interpreted variously by different educators occupying senior roles within the district office in a single school…

A principal's job is complex, demanding, and multi-faceted. Effective principals shape a school's academic vision and foster a climate for learning. In addition, they develop leadership capacity in teachers and staff, promote sound instructional practices, and use resources and data to drive school improvement (Mendels, 2012). Given these…

Roaring Falls Unified School District (a pseudonym), an urban New Jersey district near NYC, was challenged by K-8 Multilingual Language Learners (MLLs) who lagged significantly behind general education students in English Language Arts (ELA). The District had roughly 12,000 students, of whom 93.0% were Hispanic, 26.2% were MLLs, and 32.0% were…

This analysis examines the process of one research-practice partnership (RPP) engaged in the activity of decomposing elementary principal practice in the context of an instructional improvement initiative in mathematics. Decomposing, or breaking apart, complex practice has been used primarily by researchers to inform the design of pre-service…

Parent participation continues to decline among African American communities in urban schools. Parental involvement is essential to closing the achievement gap in urban schools. This grounded theory study explored the principals' perceptions and experiences of elementary school principals, parents, and district office staff as it relates to…

Denver Public Schools' Professional Learning Center was still relatively new when it decided to tackle a problem of practice that has vexed systems and departments across the country: How to measure the impact of professional learning. To do so, the Professional Learning Center created a new comprehensive measurement approach--one that would…

This case was written to help prepare central office leaders who are expected to design systems and lead toward instructional improvement in the context of both educational accountability and implementation of standards with increased rigor. The intent of this case study is to encourage educators to examine the complex and multiple challenges of…