Six key strategies characterize how SEAs implement SEA and LEA roles in school improvement under ESSA¶

Design · All designs
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 1 study (1 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

From interviews with school improvement leads in 10 SEAs, the authors identified six strategies present in every SEA's approach: taking on multiple roles with LEAs, balancing support and accountability, differentiating support by district characteristics, building district capacity for sustainable change, prioritizing local contexts and needs, and leveraging ESSA requirements to specify roles. The authors state, "From these interviews, we identified six key strategies that were present in each of the 10 SEAs' approaches to implementing SEA and LEA roles in improvement." They present the set as building "a comprehensive, cohesive, and coherent system of support for school improvement."

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

SEAs must work with and through LEAs, which ESSA positions as key levers for school improvement

Constraints¶

Strategies were identified from interviews with 10 purposively selected SEAs chosen for well-established and varied approaches, so breadth beyond these states is not established

Target Learners¶

State education agency and local education agency staff supporting school improvement

Learning Goals¶

Improving outcomes in comprehensive support and improvement (CSI) and targeted support and improvement (TSI) schools

Claims¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

Dunn, L., & Ambroso, E. (2019). Balancing act: State and district roles in school improvement under ESSA. San Francisco, CA: WestEd. http://centeronschoolturnaround.org

Page metadata

Field	Value
`type`	`design`
`id`	`six-sea-strategies-school-improvement-essa`
`title`	`Six key strategies characterize how SEAs implement SEA and LEA roles in school improvement under ESSA`
`description`	`From interviews with school improvement leads in 10 SEAs, the authors identified six strategies present in every SEA's approach: taking on multiple roles with LEAs, balancing support and accountability, differentiatin...`
`status`	`review`
`generated`	by `process:settle-candidates` on `2026-10-09`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
`sources`	1 — `dunn-2019`

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