As a project-based website dedicated to education leadership, the Education Leadership Action Network (ELAN) site is an extension of The Wallace Foundation’s Knowledge Center.
ELAN is jointly managed by The Wallace Foundation and the Education Development Center, Inc., with the participation of the Council of Chief State School Officers on behalf of the National Consortium; it is solely supported by The Wallace Foundation.
ELAN’s goals are to:
- Synthesize and share relevant, credible knowledge emerging from research on effective education leadership (Tools & Resources) and from Wallace-funded states and districts (States & Districts) which are developing innovative approaches to strengthen the ability of school leaders to raise student achievement;
- Serve as a tool to facilitate collective planning and implementation of innovative policies and practices in leadership among Wallace-funded states and districts, along with the expertise of a national consortium of policy associations, the Education Development Center and The Wallace Foundation;
- Promote the state-district connection as critical to school reform and share lessons learned from Wallace-funded sites and evidenced-based resources to policymakers, practitioners, researchers and members of the media; and
- Serve as a communications tool for Wallace-funded states and districts to engage key stakeholders and to conduct constituency outreach.
This site is a work in progress. It will follow the development of new policies and practices in Wallace-funded states and districts, along with the latest research, policy briefs, stories and commentaries pertaining to leadership for learning. Over time, as it develops, the site will include additional interactive features to encourage dialogue and the sharing of ideas, insights and solutions.
The Wallace Foundation
The Wallace Foundation seeks to support and share effective ideas and practices that expand learning and enrichment opportunities for all people. Its three current objectives are to strengthen education leadership to improve student achievement; enhance out-of-school learning opportunities; and expand participation in arts and culture.
As one of the largest private supporters of public education, The Wallace Foundation has made a major commitment to advancing student achievement by improving school leadership. Since 2000, Wallace has granted more than $145 million in supporting innovative projects in education leadership at the state and district levels, commissioning research where knowledge is needed, and sharing ideas and solutions, through such means as ELAN, to inform policy and practice nationwide.
For more information and research on these and other related topics, please visit our Knowledge Center.
Education Development Center (EDC)
The Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), through its Center for Leadership and Learning Communities, is funded by The Wallace Foundation to work collaboratively with the foundation in: 1) developing tools and methods that assist districts and states in assessing and improving the quality of their leader development programs; 2) assisting select Wallace-funded districts in their leadership development initiatives; and 3) developing and maintaining the Education Leadership Action Network (ELAN) website as a robust infrastructure of online resources designed to strengthen network communications and support the ongoing work of the education leadership initiative.
National Consortium (NC)
Funded by The Wallace Foundation, the National Consortium is comprised of the Council of Chief State School Officers, the Education Commission of the States, the National Association of State Boards of Education, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the National Governors Association. The NC works collaboratively with the foundation to assist selected Wallace-funded states and their decision makers, particularly governors, chief state school officers, state legislators, and state boards of education; to share national data on specific topics that inform the states’ work on improving the training and conditions of school leaders; and to communicate leadership messages to engage the broad constituencies each organization represents in improving education leadership.