Improving School Leadership: The Promise of Cohesive Leadership Systems 

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An evaluation by RAND examines efforts by ten states and 17 districts that have participated in Wallace’s education leadership initiative to develop “cohesive leadership systems” whose goal is to create well-aligned state-district policies to ensure that principals have the training and conditions they need to improve teaching and learning in their schools. Among RAND’s key findings: achieving and sustaining such policy cohesion is very difficult. But in states where progress has been greatest, principals say they are better able to devote more time to improving instruction and feel more empowered to control resources (people, time and money).

Published: December 2009, 178 pages

Author(s): Catherine H. Augustine, Gabriella Gonzalez, Gina Ikemoto et al.

Publishing Organization: RAND Education, a unit of the RAND Corporation

Companion document(s): Wallace Knowledge in Brief: What States and Districts Can Do – Together – To Improve School Leadership

Document Type: Report

Document Format: PDF

Leadership for Learning: Making the Connections Among State, District and School Policies and Practices

Research Findings to Support Effective Educational Policymaking: Evidence and Action Steps for State, District and Local Policymakers

State Strategies for Turning Around Low-Performing Schools and Districts

The District Leadership Challenge: Empowering Principals to Improve Teaching and Learning

Improving Leadership for Learning: Stories from the Field