Use intensive training and residency programs for school leaders to share best practices across district-charter schools¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 4 claims (4 for) · 3 studies (3 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 3 report an effect size · 4 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The report describes intensive training and residency programs for school leaders as a mechanism that helped facilitate sharing of best practices among collaborating schools. Shared practice areas named in the report include "teaching English-language skills, working with students with disabilities, small-group instruction, teacher coaching, and strategic data use."

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Intensive training or residency programming for school leaders
• Willingness of participating schools to move from sharing practices to implementing them

Constraints¶

• Some schools involved in the study often had not progressed to implementing these shared practices

Target Learners¶

• School leaders (principals) in district and charter schools
• Students in collaborating schools, including English-language learners and students with disabilities

Target Learning Goals¶

• Sharing and implementation of effective practices in English-language instruction, special education, small-group instruction, teacher coaching, and strategic data use

Claims¶

• Intensive training and residency programs for school leaders helped facilitate sharing of best practices, but some schools had not progressed to implementing the shared practices [+W]
• Cross-sector collaboration is less widespread among school leaders than central office administrators but is particularly strong among participants in grant-funded intensive leadership training or principal residency programs [+W]
• School co-locations or partnerships, aspiring-leader programs, and shared Common Core preparation are the most promising avenues for cross-sector collaboration [+W]
• Several collaboration activities show promise in spreading effective practices across schools and staff, but overall progress in increasing collaboration has been limited [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Establish purposeful partnerships among co-located schools with leaders invested in all students in the building

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Moira McCullough, Luke Heinkel, Betsy Keating. (2015). Seeking Common Ground: Early Lessons in District-Charter School Collaboration. Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/seeking-common-ground-early-lessons-in-districtcharter-school-collaboration