School management committees' (SMCs) roles are crucial in the smooth, unfettered administration, development and provision of quality basic education. However, the preponderance of research evidence available indicates that in sub-Saharan Africa SMCs are not adequately involved in preparing and implementing school performance improvement plans…

With the passage of the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states were required to add a fifth indicator on "School Quality or Student Success" (SQSS) to their school accountability systems. An analysis of submitted ESSA state plans found that 13 states included measures of school climate as their SQSS indicator or incorporated…

Inclusion rates for students with disabilities in general education settings have increased nationwide. To further extend this progress, schools, districts, and educational service agencies in rural areas have sought ways to improve their own inclusion metrics. This article describes a technical assistance arrangement that was initiated between a…

In this brief we summarize findings from three surveys that sought to learn how county offices of education (COEs) are changing in response to the implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and the Statewide System of Support (SSS). COEs have been assigned critically important responsibilities in the implementation of these…

Rural school districts face unique challenges in procuring funds, recruiting staff, and obtaining high-quality technical assistance. This environment creates problems in identifying high-quality instructional materials and implementing best practices. A collaborative learning network can address these challenges by providing access to professional…

The Schoolwide Integrated Framework for Transformation (SWIFT) employs six technical assistance (TA) practices that support an initial transformation process while simultaneously building system capacity to sustain and scale up equity-based inclusion in additional schools and districts over time. This paper explains these individual practices and…

In the report, "Addressing Education Inequality with a Next Generation of Community Schools: A Blueprint for Mayors, States, and the Federal Government" (ED614128) the Brookings Institution's Task Force on Next Generation Community Schools recommends the transformation of U.S. schools into community schools. This executive summary of the…

During few times in America's history has leadership in education been more critical. Far too many communities continue to face the enduring impacts of systematic racism and generational poverty. The nation's schools have also been impacted by COVID-19 and, for many, the effects are staggering and could last for years. At the same time, as the…

What does it take to transform a large, bureaucratic institution with a fractured culture and a compliance orientation into a nurturing, collaborative, vision-directed organization? This report and the accompanying research brief endeavor to answer that question by examining a humanistic and systems thinking approach to cultural change that took…

Since Congress enacted the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965, the federal government has emphasized states' shared responsibility for improving student achievement. When Congress reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 2001 as the No Child Left Behind Act, it called upon states to provide technical support to…

This study investigated the perceived factors that enabled an Alabama School Assistance Team (ASAT) to be effective in helping improve a low performing school. A case study was conducted with the ASATs and the Local Education Agency (LEA) site they served. Data were collected from interviews, documents and observations. The perceptions explored in…

How can institutions of higher education, local education agencies, and departments of education partner to build capacity for 21st-Century school leadership? The model (IMPACT V) we describe utilizes a systems-wide partnership approach to cultivate shared leadership within influenced middle and high schools statewide to leverage technology as a…

The federal School Improvement Grants (SIG) program, to which $3 billion were allocated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), supports schools attempting to turn around a history of low performance. School turnaround also is a focus of Race to the Top (RTT), another ARRA-supported initiative, which involved a roughly $4…

In Nebraska, pursuant to Nebraska statutes 79-1014, districts must submit a Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Plan by mid October of each year as specified by statute. The LEP plan is meant to specifically address the needs of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students and will be used in calculation of state funding for the following fiscal school…

The federal School Improvement Grants (SIG) program aims to improve student achievement by promoting the implementation of four school intervention models: transformation, turnaround, restart, and closure. Previous research provides evidence that low-performing schools adopt some practices promoted by the four models, but little is known about how…