EDUCATION LEADERSHIP
Evaluation of the Wallace-Funded Executive Leadership Program Implemented at Harvard University and the University of Virginia
Principal investigators: Brenda Turnbull and Bruce Haslam, Policy Studies Associates (PSA)
Wallace Foundation contact: Edward Pauly, director of research and evaluation
Wallace’s site-based work has shown that the decisions of senior district and state leaders heavily influence the extent to which school leaders are supported or impeded. However, research sponsored by Wallace in 2004 found that few high-quality training programs for senior district and state leaders were available. To help fill that gap Wallace funded Harvard University and the University of Virginia to provide high-quality training for executive-level teams of legislators, board members, senior staff and others from the state department of education and high-needs districts in those states to strengthen their capacity to lead and manage systemwide improvement.
This evaluation study will examine changes in the behavior of participants in these programs, changes in their relationships with others with whom they work, and any significant changes likely to have been influenced by the programs in the policies, practices, communication, structures and governance arrangements of the agencies or districts where they work.
A publication is anticipated in mid-2010. Meanwhile, click here to download a Wallace journalistic account of these programs.
Evaluation of Wallace-Funded School Districts’ Influence on the
Quality of University-Based Principal Leadership Preparation Programs
Principal investigators: Cheryl King, Education Development Center (EDC), Michelle LaPointe, EDC, and Margaret Orr, Bank Street College of Education
Wallace Foundation contact: Edward Pauly, director of research and evaluation
Principal training programs have been the subject of criticism for years. A Public Agenda survey found that 80 percent of superintendents and 69 percent of principals think that leadership training in schools of education is out of touch with the realities of school life today. This evaluation will identify positive and negative outcomes for districts and universities when districts, in their capacity as consumers, seek to change these training programs so that they better respond to their leadership needs.
The research team will gather lessons about the outcomes of different approaches by Wallace-funded districts aimed at bringing university-based principal preparation programs into line with districts’ needs.
A published report is anticipated in 2010.
Evaluation of the School Administration Manager (SAM) Innovation
Principal investigators: Brenda Turnbull and Bruce Haslam, Policy Studies Associates (PSA)
Wallace Foundation contact: Edward Pauly, director of research and evaluation
In addition to the larger evaluation of the SAM project published in late 2009, follow-up supplemental evaluation reports are due to be completed by early 2011. They will address additional findings on: different models of SAM implementation; costs of SAM implementation; and limited findings on student achievement.
Learning From District Efforts to Strengthen Education Leadership
Principal investigators: Kyla Wahlstrom and Karen Seashore, Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement at the University of Minnesota, and Kenneth Leithwood, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto
Wallace Foundation contact: Edward Pauly, director of research and evaluation
This study is designed to produce empirical evidence on the connections between leader performance and changes in student learning. It offers the potential for more robust evidence of leadership effects than has been available to date. The findings will enable practitioners, policy-makers and education theorists to understand how student achievement is linked to leadership at all levels of the education system, from state-level policymaking to classroom practice. Reports will discuss how superintendents and principals can most effectively drive gains in student learning, and how and why their practices result in instructional improvement in some contexts and not others.
The projected completion date is 2010.
The Leadership Issue Group Project
Principal investigators: Mike Knapp and Brad Portin, Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy (CTP) at the University of Washington
Wallace Foundation contact: Edward Pauly, director of research and evaluation
A team of researchers from CTP is in the midst of a three-part research project of leadership in districts and state systems that seek to improve both learning and leadership in schools and classrooms. Parts I and II have been completed. In Part I, researchers worked with Wallace’s Leadership Issue Groups to produce seven state-of-the-field reports. click here to download the reports that explored central issues in the exercise of educational leadership and that synthesized studies, conceptual work and examples of current and emerging practice. The reports were intended to clarify each leadership issue (data-informed leadership, resource allocation, redefining leadership roles, leadership assessment, improving governance, high school transformation and a synthesis framework across issues), while assembling what was known from empirical studies. The information in these reports laid the groundwork for further study and practical experimentation by leaders and reformers in states, districts and schools.
Part II involved the production of five journalistic accounts of site-specific work written by journalists. Click here to download a volume containing all five reports.
Part III, currently in progress, consists of three empirical studies, each examining a different issue: the reconfiguration of school leadership roles; the transformation of the district central office; and rethinking the reallocation and development of staffing resources.
The project is expected to be completed in early 2010.
OUT-OF-SCHOOL-TIME LEARNING (OST)
Evaluation of the OST AfterZone Service Delivery Model
in Providence, RI
Principal investigators: Lauren J. Kotloff and Tina Kauh, Public/Private Ventures
Wallace Foundation contact: Ann Stone, senior research and evaluation officer
Providence’s AfterZone strategy was launched in January 2006 with The Wallace Foundation’s support. The AfterZones seek to provide accessible, coordinated OST activities in neighborhoods throughout the city for middle school youth within and outside schools and through a range of youth-serving program providers including parks and recreation, the YMCA, tennis leagues, environmental groups and arts organizations. This evaluation will focus on the challenges of implementing the AfterZone service delivery model and the benefits to youth who participate. The evaluation has two main components: an implementation and quality study designed to document the structure and operations of the AfterZones service delivery model, the services provided and the quality of the services; and a participation and outcomes study designed to examine the patterns of youth participation in the AfterZones and the effects of participation on youth’s developmental outcomes.
A interim report was published in 2010, and a published final report is anticipated by early 2011.
Assessment of City-Level OST Systems and
Management Information Systems (MIS) in the OST Sector
Principal investigators: Jennifer McCombs and Susan Bodilly, RAND Education
Wallace Foundation contact: Ann Stone, senior research and evaluation officer
RAND Education will conduct research on how city OST systems are working to align their assets to deliver high-quality OST programming to children and youth. The research team will study how OST systems have developed in Wallace-supported cities, as well as their role in enhancing OST programs. The study will include an in-depth examination of the design, implementation and use of OST management information systems (MIS) in selected cities.
Published reports are anticipated in early 2010.
Evaluation of Chicago's After School Matters OST Apprenticeship Program
Principal investigators: Barton Hirsch and Larry Hedges, Northwestern University
Wallace Foundation contact: Edward Pauly, director of research and evaluation
In 2000, Chicago’s After School Matters (ASM) organization launched an apprenticeship program offering paid after-school activities to teenagers in the arts, technology, communications and other fields. ASM is supported, in part, through The Wallace Foundation’s OST learning initiative grant to Chicago. In 2006, ASM commissioned a random assignment evaluation of the teen apprenticeship program led by researchers from Northwestern University. After the evaluation was launched with support from other funders, Wallace provided modest support for additional research staff and incentives.
This multi-year study will use a randomized design to understand the effects of the After School Matters programs on socio-emotional, academic and work-readiness outcomes.
The research is expected to result in a final publication by early 2011.
Evaluation of the “Building on Quality: Strengthening Financial Management in Out-of-School Time” Initiative in Chicago
Principal Investigators: Jean Grossman and Lauren Kotloff, Public/Private Ventures
Wallace Foundation contact: Edward Pauly, director of research and evaluation
In 2009, The Wallace Foundation launched the “Building on Quality: Strengthening Financial Management in Out-of-School Time” Initiative in Chicago. The initiative seeks to support improved financial management by exemplary out-of-school time (OST) provider organizations. This five-year evaluation will examine changes in the financial and managerial activities of the participating organizations, and will identify lessons for other non-profits nationwide.
The evaluation is expected to produce a published interim report in 2012, and a published final report in 2014.
ARTS PARTICIPATIONThere are currently no Arts reports in progress.