Improving America's Schools Together

Contributors Erin Anderson, Douglas W. Anthony, Cynthia K. Barron, Carole Basile, Michelle M. Beavers, Barnett Berry, Manuelito Biag, Regina Biggs, Anthony S. Bryk, Susan Carlile, Charoscar Coleman, Diana Cornejo-Sanchez, Shelby Cosner, Kathleen M.W. Cunningham, Kris DeFilippis, Mark E. Deschaine, Felice Desouza, David Eddy-Spicer, Segun Eubanks, Christina Flesher, Louis Gomez, Betsy Hargrove, Marni Herrington, Brian Harvey, Zipporah Hightower, Randy Hitz, David Imig, Janice Jackson, Julia Jacobsen, Kara Libby, Sandra Lochhead, Peter Martinez, David Mayrowetz, Tania McKey, Peter Moyi, Christine M. Neumerski, Margaret Terry Orr, Deborah S. Peterson, Meisha Porter, Bradley Roberson, David Rock, Natasha Saunders, Farnoosh Shahrokhi, Claire Silva, Denise A. Soares, Jean Snell, Elizabeth Leisy Stosich, Steve Tozer, Samantha Viano, Sam Whalen, Tinkhani Ushe White, Paige Whitlock, Paul Zavitkovsky About the Editors Louis Gomez is professor of education (and of information studies) at the University of California, Los Angeles. Gomez has served since 2008 as a senior fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, where he leads the Network Development work. Beginning in 2009, he held the Helen S. Faison Chair in Urban Education at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was also director of the Center for Urban Education and a senior scientist at the Learning Research and Development Center. From 2001 to 2008, he held several faculty appointments at Northwestern University, including the Aon Chair in the Learning Sciences at the School of Education and Social Policy. Prior to joining academia, he spent fourteen years working in cognitive science and person–computer systems and interactions at Bell Laboratories, Bell Communications Research Inc., and Bellcore. His research interests have encompassed the application of computing and networking technology to teaching and learning, applied cognitive science, human–computer interactions, and other areas. Manuelito Biag currently serves as the managing director of the Carnegie Foundation’s Center for Postsecondary Innovation. His interests include design thinking, research–practice partnerships, educational leadership, and networked improvement science. Manuelito comes to Carnegie from Stanford University, where he served as senior researcher at the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and their Communities at the Graduate School of Education. His work, which has been presented in community forums, professional conferences, and published in academic journals, policy briefs, and edited volumes, examines the organizational structures, policies, and programs that influence students’ learning and overall development—particularly those from vulnerable and historically-marginalized backgrounds. David Imig holds emeritus status from the Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership program at the University of Maryland, College Park. He studies and writes in the area of school leader preparation and teacher education policy and practice. He served as president and chief executive officer of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) from 1980-2005. He is past chair of the National Policy Board for Educational Administration, the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education’s Executive Committee and the National Society for the Study of Education. He was a senior associate for the National Network for Educational Renewal and helped to establish the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED), serving as chair of the Board of Directors from 2010-2020. He has taught and directed dissertations in the cohort EdD program at Maryland for aspiring school leaders. He serves as a senior fellow for the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and is co-leader of the Improvement Leadership Education for the Advancement of Teaching (iLEAD). He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers in the UK. Dr. Randy Hitz is Dean Emeritus of the Graduate School of Education at Portland State University. His higher education administrative experience spans three decades and includes positions at Portland State, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Montana State University. He also served in the Oregon Department of Education as the Early Childhood Education Specialist where he led the effort to create Oregon’s State Prekindergarten Program. His teaching experience ranges from preschool to graduate school. Dr. Hitz’ publications focus primarily on educational policy and curriculum and he has addressed policy matters directly through serving on and leading a variety of state and national boards and committees, including the teacher licensing boards of Montana and Hawaii, the Board of Directors of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and the Board of the American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education where he served a term as Chair. He was chair of the Unit Accreditation Board for NCATE and he chaired the Council for Accreditation of Education Professionals (CAEP) Commission as well as participating on CAEP’s Board of Directors. After retiring from full-time work at Portland State University he was appointed to a Senior Fellow position with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. In that role he has worked primarily with the iLEAD project dedicating his time to working with school/university partnerships to create and support educational leaders who can lead continuous improvement efforts to improve education for all students and redress longstanding educational inequities. Steve Tozer is professor emeritus and past university scholar in educational policy studies at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), where he was founding director of the UIC Center for Urban Education Leadership. Steve previously chaired the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; the Department of Educational Policy Studies at UIC; the Governor’s Council on Educator Quality in Illinois; and a State Legislative Task Force that resulted in a new state school leader certificate. His collaborations with colleagues from UIC and Chicago Public Schools were continuously funded for eighteen years by the U.S. Department of Education and numerous foundations. He is lead author of a textbook, School and Society: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, 8th Edition (McGraw-Hill, 2020), and lead editor of The Handbook of Research in Social Foundations of Education (Routledge, 2011). Steve is a fellow of the George W. Bush Institute and currently works with Chicago Public Schools and other districts on research-practice partnerships for continuous improvement of school leadership.

Foreword

Anthony Bryk

Introduction: Getting to Mutual-Benefit Partnerships

Navigating the Tangles of Inter-Organizational Work

“It Takes a Village” to Redress Inequities

The Improvement Leadership Education and Development (iLEAD) Network

Social Learning Theory and Culture

Moving Beyond Transactional Relationships

Trading Zones and Boundary Objects

iLEAD’s Developmental Progressions Framework as a Boundary Object

The Desiderata to Sustain Trading Zones



Continuous Improvement
Equity
Coordination
Capacity Building

Conclusion

References

Section I: Improvement Methods, Equity, and Problems of Practice in Local Context

1 – Braiding Improvement into the Fabric of District Leadership Preparation and Practice

University of Virginia and Chesterfield County Public Schools

David Eddy-Spicer, Tinkhani White, and Michelle Beavers

Partnership Context



University of Virginia
Chesterfield County Public Schools

An Educational Leadership Preparation Partnership Emerges

The “Improvement Sandwich”: Cooperation into Coordination



CCPS Strand: Focus on Programmatic Equity and School Improvement Planning
UVA Strand: Redesigning the M.Ed. Program

Field-Based Learning as Boundary Infrastructure



Securing the Braid: Coordination into Collaboration



Deepening Coordination Across School Levels and With Central Office in CCPS

Collaborating across School Levels in CCPS
Collaboration in Teaching and Learning at UVA



Results: Organizational Practice & Partnership

Conclusions and Lessons Learned



CCPS Lessons Learned

From Professional Development to Intrapreneurial Collective Learning


UVA Lessons Learned

A&S Faculty Collective Learning


Partnership Lessons Learned: Co-Development of Leadership Pedagogies
Essential Lessons of Partnership Work

Questions for Discussion

References

2 – A University-School District Collaboration to Improve Equity- and Inquiry-Driven School Leadership

Fordham University and Bronx School Districts 9 & 11

Margaret Terry Orr, Kris DeFilippis, Meisha Ross Porter, and Elizabeth Leisy Stosich

Context

Problem

Challenges, Solutions and Evidence



Development
Advanced Leadership Preparation

Redesigning Fordham’s EdD Program
Creating a Bronx EdD Cohort in Equity-Focused Improvement Science


Leadership Development

Assistant Principal Math Networked Improvement Community
Creating Positive Change through the Bronx Academic Response Team Initiative
Principal Equity Improvement Networked Improvement Communities



Conclusions and Lessons Learned

Questions for Discussion

References

3 – Moving a Partnership from Itinerant to Integral: Using Improvement Science as a Catalyst for Change in Leadership Preparation & Induction

George Mason University and Fairfax County Public Schools

Samantha Viano, Farnoosh Shahrokhi, Regina Biggs, Natasha Saunders, Claire Silva, and Paige Whitlock

Context



EDLE Program at GMU
FCPS
FCPS and GMU Partnering Prior to iLEAD
Joining Together as iLEAD Partners

Problems



Stagnant Progress on School Improvement
Mismatch Between EDLE Leadership Preparation and FCPS Practice

Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence



Improvement Science as Our Catalyzing Agent to Come Together

Making Improvement Science EDLE’s Signature Pedagogy



EDLE Faculty’s Introduction to Improvement Science
Commitment to Improvement Science through Curriculum Development

Diverse Approaches to Supporting the Use of Improvement Science in FCPS



Professional Development Opportunities
School-Based Leadership Induction
Title I Comprehensive Needs Assessment

Our Partnership Driven Initiative: Piloting an Improvement Science Approach to School Improvement



Phase 1: Cultivating Cultures of Continuous Improvement, 2019-20 School Year
Phase 2: Redressing Inequities, 2020-21 School Year
Phase 3: Spreading What Works, 2021-22 School Year
Showcasing Our Joint Efforts

Synergy between Leadership Preparation and School Improvement

Conclusions and Lessons Learned



Starting with a Foundational Relationship to Build upon
Garner Immediate Excitement about Improvement Science
Leverage Eagerness and Capacity to Make Time for Collaboration
Concluding Thoughts
Attending to the Mission of our Partnership Work

Questions for Discussion

References

4 – Improvement Science as a Collaborative Effort for Equity

High Tech High and High Tech High Graduate School of Education

Julia Jacobsen and Diana Cornejo-Sanchez

Context



High Tech High & the High Tech High Graduate School of Education

Problems



Induction as a Lever for Teacher Retention
Experimenting with Improvement in Teacher Induction

Challenges, Solutions and Evidence



Challenge #1: Entry Planning that Incorporates Continuous Improvement

Root Cause Analysis
Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycles
Sharing Learning


Challenge #2: Operating in a One-Year Time Frame
Challenge #3: Developing the Capacity of Improvement Coaches

Deficit Thinking
Compliance Orientation
Improving Coach Development
Facilitating Continuous Improvement for Equity
Induction Improvement Coach Summit
Impact



Conclusions and Lessons Learned



CI Can Be an Effective Framework for Adaptive Learning
The Importance of Improvement Science in our own Program Processes
Developing New Organizational Capacity for Continuous Improvement

Teachable Moments



How Might Improvement Processes Foster Connection and Belonging?
How Can Both the Process and the Outcome of Improvement Efforts Support Equity?
How Can We Develop Sustainable Improvement Efforts?

How Can Improvement Science Help Organizations Grow Toward a Common Mission and Develop Concrete Understandings?



Questions for Discussion

References

Section II: A New Kind of Partnership: Continuous Improvement as an Animating Force

5 –From a Transactional Relationship to a Transformational Partnership

University of Maryland College Park and Prince George’s County Public Schools

Segun Eubanks, Jean Snell, Doug Anthony, Charoscar Coleman, Felice Desouza, Kara Miley-Libby, and Christine M. Neumerski

Context



Not Your Father’s MOU
The Back Story: People Building Trust, Institutions Leading Change

A Change in Perspective
PGCPS Initiates a Catalyst for Change – the EdD in School System Leadership
UMD Initiates a Catalyst for Change: The Ceii
iLEAD Initiates a Catalyst for Change: Getting to the Work of Improvement
Getting to Work: Our First Problem of Practice



Problems



A Shared Problem of Practice: Putting the “Improvement” in the School Improvement Process
Leveraging the New Strategic Plan

Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence



Improvement Science as a Shared Methodology and “Solution”

The Partnership “Solution” to the Challenge of District Capacity Building with SPPing


Looking Forward to Future Work: The Launch of 2 Partnership Networked Improvement Communities
Showing Evidence of Partnership Impact

Evidence of Engagement and Commitment is Strong and Growing
Growth on the iLEAD Developmental Progressions
Emerging Data of Change in Systems Practice



Lessons Learned



Key Learning #1: Building Strong Relationships is the Starting Point
Key Learning #2: Focus on Problems of Practice and Stay Prepared for Change

Teachable Moments



You're Not Really Married if You Don’t Have the Paper
Adapt, Don’t Abandon
Shifts Happen
Just Do Something

References

6 – Redesigning School Staffing Models through Team-Based Residencies

Arizona State University and Avondale Elementary School District

Betsy Hargrove, Christina Flesher, Nicole L. Thompson, and Carole Basile

The Next Education Workforce: A Growing Idea

Context: MLFTC and AESD Partnership

Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence Based Teacher Preparation



Challenges for AESD
Changes and Vision at MLFTC
A Renewed Partnership
Serendipity and Early Models
Improvement Science: Planning, Doing, Studying Acting

Residents
Lead Teachers
Site Lead
Instructional Configurations
Studying the Innovative Approach



Lessons Learned



Invested and Involved Leadership
Systems and Structures
Challenges of Teams
Developmental Progressions and Growth in Collaboration
Characteristics of Successful Teams

Conclusion

Afterword: Beyond Teacher Preparation

Questions for Discussion

References

7 – District-University Partnerships for Continuous Improvement: How Can UM Help? University of Mississippi and Oxford School District

Denise A. Soares, Mark E. Deschaine, W. Bradley Roberson, David Rock, Marni Harrington, and Brian Harvey

Context: Beginning the Partnership Work

The Achievement Gap Project

Chronic Absenteeism PDSA Cycle



Plan
Do
Study
Act
Building Capacity
Spread and Scale Progress

OSD Improvement Science Problems of Practice



Passion Professional Development PDSA Cycle

Plan
Do
Study
Act


Youth Truth Survey PDSA Cycle

Plan
Do
Study
Act



UM-SOE Improvement Science Problems of Practice



Graduate Studies Office PDSA Cycle

Plan
Do
Study
Act


UM-SOE Dean’s Office Staff PDSA Cycle

Plan
Do
Study
Act



UM-Developmental Progression



The “How” of Partnerships (Partnership Mechanisms)
Expectations, Sustainability, Norms & Routines
Vision for the Future
NCSUP Mission

Lessons Learned

Questions for Discussion

References

8 – Equity-Focused Improvement Science

Portland State University and Portland Public Schools

Susan P. Carlile, Deborah S. Peterson, and Tania McKey

Key Leaders



Professor of Practice Susan Carlile
Associate Professor Emerita Dr. Deborah S. Peterson
Assistant Professor and Senior Director of Humanities Dr. Tania McKey

Context of the PSU-PPS Partnership



Portland State University
Portland Public Schools

Chronology of Improvement Science Efforts

Networked Improvement Communities



Partner Districts
Newberg School District (NSD)
Changes in the Partnership with the Newberg School District

The New District Partnership: Portland Public Schools

Challenges and Solutions

Tools to Identify Next Steps



Progress (Strengths) at the Partnership Level
Progress (Strengths) at PPS
Progress (Strengths) at the PSU Level
Areas of Focus (Challenges) at the Partnership Level
Areas of Focus (Challenges) in PPS
Area of Focus (Challenge) in PSU

Contextual Complexities

Theory of Improvement



Program Redesign
Redesign PPS Practices for Principal Support
Hire Scholarly Practitioners as Principal Preparation Cohort Leaders
PPS Hires PSU Principal Licensure Completers

Lessons Learned

Next Steps

Conclusion

Questions for Discussion

References

Section III: Partnerships Ain’t Easy: Learning from Short-Term Efforts and Long-Term Sustainability

9 – Shared Goals, Methods, and Learning: Partnering for Equity-focused, Systems-level Improvement

University of Denver and Denver Public Schools

Erin Anderson and Sandra Lochhead

Context

Problem

District Context

Sustainable Improvement in the District

Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence



Shared Goals: Embedded Process Over External Program

Where Did We Start?
What Steps Happened Along the Way?
Where Are We Now?


Shared Methodology: The Design Improvement for Equity (DI4E) Model

Where Did We Start?
What Steps Happened Along the Way?
Where Are We Now?


Shared Learning: Shared Research Agenda in a Research-Practice Partnership

Where Did We Start?
What Steps Happened Along the Way?
Where Are We Now?



Summary of Impact

Conclusions and Lessons Learned



Lesson 1: Be Clear About your “Why”—Your North Star Guides the Way
Lesson 2: Create a Shared Theory of Improvement for your Partnership Work and Use It as a Map to Reach your Destination
Lesson 3: Interdependence Was Essential to the Partnership and to Increasing Equity in the System
Lesson 4: Be Disciplined about a Shared Learning Agenda or Research Plan
Lesson 5: Despite Shared Values, Norms, and Goals, There Are Still Organizational Values and Conditions That Will Limit Systems Change

Questions for Discussion

References

10 – Organizational Changes’ Impacts on University-District Partnership Development

University of South Carolina and K-12 School District in South Carolina

Kathleen M. W. Cunningham, Peter Moyi, and Barnett Berry

Context



University of South Carolina College of Education
The Partnership Between CoE/EDLP and MCSD

Developing and Sustaining a District-University Partnership



Two Partnership Frameworks: iLEAD’s Developmental Progressions and the Stage Model

Developmental Progressions (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 2020)
Stage Model (Trubowitz, 1986)


Partnership Journey

Improvement Work Begins
Establishment of a Core Improvement Team


Organizational Progress: Partnership
Organizational Progress: UofSC (i.e., CoE and EDLP)

Challenges



Challenge 1: Multiple, Evolving Goals
Challenge 2: Logistics (Distance, Funding, Time-Competing Priorities)
Challenge 3: Personnel and Leadership Transitions
Challenge 4: COVID-19 Pandemic

Conclusions and Lessons Learned



Consideration 1: Clearly Defined Goals and Expectations
Consideration 2: Core Partnership Team with Consistent Membership, Leadership, and Active Commitment
Consideration 3: Lean on a Continuous Improvement Mindset to Reflect and Learn

Questions for Discussion

References

11 – Preparing Principals for Urban Schools: The Challenge of Equitable Outcomes at Scale

University of Illinois Chicago and Chicago Public Schools

Steve Tozer, Peter Martinez, Cynthia K. Barron, Shelby Cosner, Zipporah Hightower, Janice Jackson, David Mayrowetz, Sam Whalen, and Paul Zavitkovsky

Partnership Context: Chicago school reform and UIC’s “Urban Mission”



Chicago School Reform and State Legislation
The Principal Preparation Program Design and Redesign: 11 Key Components
Impact of Program Design and Redesign
“We Want to Be as Good as People Think We Are”

Using the Development Progressions to Tell the CPS/UIC Partnership Story



From MOU to Vendor Contract
A Missing Objective?
Preparation of CPS Principal Supervisors (Network Chiefs) and Central Office Personnel
A Next Edge of Growth

Developing Capacity as a District Partner: the UIC Ed.D. Program

Elaborations and Qualifications on the IHE Narrative



Vision, Systems, and Above All, People
Our First Targeted Program Hire
Building the Team
Leadership Coaches as Boundary Spanners
Creating “Boundary Objects”
Next Edges of Growth
Need for New Resources

How Did the District Sustain its Share of the Partnership for 20 Years across 9 CEOs?

Conclusions and Lessons Learned

1.Equity

2.Partnership

3.Leadership Development: Vision, Systems, and People

4.Continuous Improvement

Questions for Discussion

References

Conclusion: How Continuous Improvement Partnerships Can Transform Education

Louis Gomez and Manuelito Biag

Tightly Tethered Mutuality

Attending to the How of Partnerships

The Role of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

Building a Strong Field: Infrastructure that Recasts Partnerships

Creating Social Infrastructure for Collective Action

Looking Forward: The Sustainability of Mutually Beneficial Partnerships for Leadership and Continuous Improvement

References

References

Index

About the Contributors