District-Led Instructional Improvement in a Remote Town

• In Event: 70.014 - District Partnerships, Community Collaboration, and Programmatic Innovation: The Impact of Planning, Technology Use, and Building Capacity on School Improvement

Abstract

This study examined how stakeholders in one school district located in a remote town in the Midwestern United States perceived the instructional improvement efforts of the district, and identified constraints and enablers to implementing instructional reforms. A qualitative approach, consisting of interviews with teachers, principals, district administrators, and other school-level staff, was used for data collection. Six implementation factors were discussed by respondents, including: 1) the relationship between the district central office and its schools, 2) the human and physical capacity of the district and its schools, 3) the scope of the reform efforts, 4) the demographics of the district’s students, 5) the local, state, and national policy context, and 6) the district’s ongoing commitment to instructional changes.

Author

• Ryan Fink, University of Pennsylvania