Contents

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

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

"Close collaboration and coordination between states and districts has not been the historic norm. It is complex, time-consuming and challenging to maintain. And it takes the sustained backing of top government and education leaders with the authority to make change happen." 41

  • Collaboration between states and school districts promotes more supportive conditions for school leaders.
    • Where policies are closely aligned, school principals report greater authority over hiring teachers, determining school schedules, and defining student achievement goals. They are also able to devote more time on average to improving instruction.42
    • Principals in less coordinated states report greater frustration over time spent in improving instruction and less authority over evaluating and removing teachers and administrators.43
  • Effectively connecting state and district policies, while rare, can be a promising path to statewide school improvement.
    Places making the most progress in creating and sustaining more cohesive education leadership policies had the following in common:
    • Strong political support and the engagement of top leaders (state, city, district);
    • Comparatively little staff turnover at key policy positions;
    • Common state-level policies, such as academic standards and graduation requirements;
    • Pre-existing social networks and collaboration among governmental and non-governmental organizations; and
    • Shared vision and goals among school boards and superintendents – essential if districts are to translate state policies into local practice.44
  • Top leadership commitment is also essential in coordinated efforts to expand learning opportunities outside the school day and year.
    • Committed public and private leadership is “the price of admission” for achieving large-scale improvements in out-of-school time learning opportunities.45
    • Similarly, committed and inclusive leadership has been crucial to recent efforts to expand access to and quality of arts education in New York City, Los Angeles, Alameda County, CA, Boston, Chicago and Dallas.46

RESOURCES

To learn more about the topics covered in this guide, here are some of the key new resources that can be downloaded for free from The Wallace Foundation’s website at www.wallacefoundation.org:

IMPROVING LEADERSHIP TO TURN AROUND SCHOOLS:

Learning from Leadership: Investigating the Links to Improved Student Learning, Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement/University of Minnesota and Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto, 2010

Districts Developing Leaders: Lessons on Consumer Actions and Program Approaches from Eight Urban Districts, Education Development Center, Inc., 2010

The Three Essentials: Improving Schools Requires District Vision, District and State Support, and Principal Leadership, Southern Regional Education Board, 2010

Central Office Transformation for District-Wide Teaching and Learning Improvement, Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy, University of Washington, 2010

Learning-Focused Leadership and Leadership Support: Meaning and Practice in Urban Systems, Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy, University of Washington, 2010

The School Turnaround Field Guide, FSG Social Impact Advisors, 2010

Improving School Leadership: The Promise of Cohesive Leadership Systems, RAND Education, 2009

Assessing the Effectiveness of School Leaders: New Directions and New Processes, The Wallace Foundation, 2009

Preparing School Leaders for a Changing World: Lessons from Exemplary Leadership Development Programs, Stanford University, Finance Project, 2007

EXTENDING LEARNING TIME:

Hours of Opportunity (Volumes I, II & III), RAND Education, 2010

America After 3PM: Special Report on Summer, Afterschool Alliance, 2010

Engaging Older Youth: Program and City-Level Strategies to Support Sustained Participation in Out-of-School Time, Harvard Family Research Project, Public/Private Ventures, 2010

Effective and Promising Summer Learning Programs and Approaches for Economically-Disadvantaged Children and Youth, Child Trends, 2010

Revitalizing Arts Education Through Community-Wide Coordination, RAND Education, 2008

A Place to Grow and Learn, The Wallace Foundation, 2008

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References

41Leadership for Learning: Making the Connections Among State, District and School Policies and Practices, The Wallace Foundation, 2006, 6

42 Catherine H. Augustine, et al., Improving School Leadership: The Promise of Cohesive Leadership Systems, RAND Education, 2009, 83-4

43 Augustine, 85

44 Augustine, xix

45 A Place to Grow and Learn: A Citywide Approach to Building and Sustaining Out-of-School Time Learning Opportunities, The Wallace Foundation, 2008, 4

46 Susan J. Bodilly, Catherine H. Augustine, Revitalizing Arts Education through Community-Wide Coordination, RAND, 2008, 65