The Study of Leadership for Learning Improvement had three primary strands of investigation:  

• Resource Investment study strand. This investigation examined the ways districts and school leaders allocate staffing and other resources to improve learning and equity within the district. 
• School Leadership study strand. This investigation focused on the exercise of 
• instructional leadership in schools in response to environmental demands and conditions in the district, community, and state.
• Central Office Transformation study strand. This investigation examined how district central offices reformed to better support teaching and learning. 

Each strand operated as a separate study, but they shared some study sites and data collection. All three also shared some overarching design similarities: They were largely qualitative, multiple-case designs, featuring repeated visits across a year and a half. They triangulated findings and conclusions among interview, observational, and archival data sources. They also focused on leadership phenomena at the district and school levels, although their degree of emphasis on these levels differed.