In a learning system, central office personnel assume collective responsibility for schools and go about their work very differently. They are responsible not only for departments and programs, but also for student learning. They demonstrate that responsibility by engaging in data informed conversations about student achievement. Central office…

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 work attempts to examine instructional leadership from a peer influence perspective within a districtwide network of educational leaders. This approach to instructional leadership supplements a conventional understanding of technical core of professional collaboration. We argue from a social network perspective that individual perception is…

Teacher attrition has become a challenge in many educational systems worldwide. Many studies have focused on teachers' perspectives, while attempting to identify the factors that motivated teachers' decision to leave the profession. The present study aimed to explore teacher attrition from the point of view of school leaders - principals and…

This study investigated what research district leaders find useful. It draws on evidence from interviews and surveys of central office leaders in three large urban districts in the United States. We find that although leaders did report using research as federal policies intend--to select among curricula, programs, and interventions to adopt--the…

Public school districts across the nation are exploring the best ways to support their schools, students, and communities, but in the context of educational reform, districts are underused as a lever for change. Hartford Public Schools is a portfolio management district serving approximately 22,000 students, who get to choose the program that best…

In this paper, we document development of administrator networks around teacher evaluation and Common Core in an urban district over four years. Using social network analysis, we look at the extent to which networks focused on instructional initiatives spanned formal roles. Findings highlight influences of role and grade level as well as the…

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…

The following study provides a unique internal perspective on changes made in schools that "turned around" versus schools that are in the process of "turning around" versus schools that are "stuck." After comparing and contrasting these three groupings of schools who received similar state-level support, we learned…

The study is an explanatory qualitative research that seeks to investigate the processes of Ethiopian primary school principals' selection and training for professionalising principals. The participants are seven faculty members, 11 school principals and five education officials. Data are collected through semi-structured interview, focus group…

Purpose: The social aspect of leadership is often overlooked in the educational reform. This study aims to address the dearth of work in the social space around leadership and examines two different types of relational ties between leaders that capture the affective and work-related aspects of interpersonal relationships. Research Method: This…

This policy brief examines new ways that US public school districts are organizing and managing instruction, ways that family and community organizations can engage those efforts, and ways that states can support them in doing so. In a complex education reform landscape, understanding the different ways districts are reforming instructional…

School district leaders nationwide aspire to help their schools become vibrant places for learning--where students have meaningful academic opportunities and develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Historically, though, school district central offices have been ill-equipped to support such ambitious goals. A new wave of research…

School district leaders nationwide aspire to help their schools become vibrant places for learning--where students have meaningful academic opportunities "and" develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, the ability to communicate effectively, and other deeper learning capacities that are essential to success in later life.…