Evolving Leadership Perspectives on Integrated Student Support Implementation: Insights from a Midwestern Context

• In Event: From the Coast to the Heartland: Scaling Integrated Student Support Systems in the Post-Pandemic Era

Abstract

Objectives: The success and sustainability of school-based interventions depend heavily on leadership engagement (Forman et al., 2009). This is especially critical when programs are introduced to new policy or geographic contexts that differ from their origins. This paper examines the evolution of City Connects (CCNX), an evidence-based integrated student support (ISS) intervention, over a multi-year expansion in a Midwestern state. Drawing on multiple years of survey data, we explore how principals view CCNX’s impact, values, implementation, and improvement areas as the program adapts and matures in new settings.

Theoretical framework: We draw on sensemaking and implementation theories (Moir, 2018; Spillane et al., 2002; Weick, 1995) to conceptualize principals as active mediators of reform. In high-need schools, where complexity and constraint are the norm, leadership understanding and buy-in are critical for sustaining systemic change. Applying this lens, we examine how principals’ perceptions of ISS evolve over time. While our survey-based design limits deep cognitive tracing, changes in attitudes over time, supplemented by open-ended responses, offer insights into organizational learning and the local negotiation of system change. This perspective foregrounds leadership as a central driver of sustained ISS implementation.

Methods: This study utilizes three years of survey data collected from principals across more than 50 schools implementing CCNX in a Midwestern state from 2022-23 to 2024-25 school years (principal sample sizes: 70, 51, 40). The survey included questions with both qualitative and quantitative natures for a comprehensive understanding of principals’ experiences. Table 1 summarizes key survey measures. A pooled cross-sectional dataset was constructed to highlight group changes over time. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively to show response patterns. While principal samples varied from year to year, repeated measures ANOVA was used to identify differences over time. Qualitative data were thematically coded for overarching themes to emerge, then compared across years.

Results: Our results demonstrated a strong positive change in principal perceptions from year1 to year2, and remained consistent from year2 to year3. This pattern is particularly pronounced in perceived benefits related to program core practices (e.g., carrying out Whole Class Reviews, connecting students to services) and program impact on addressing students’ non-academic needs (Table 2). Qualitative data provided potential explanations for these trends. Our data suggest that principal expectations evolved over time from delivering core practices to making a broader impact in the school community. This was coupled with a shifted Coordinator focus from community partner outreach to cultivating relationships with the school community (see Figure 1). This was further supported by principal reports about the Coordinators’ areas of work in their schools (Tables 3-5).

Significance: Our findings on the evolving stakeholder expectations and how they influence program success add valuable learnings to the field of implementation science in education. The implication of this study lies in the fact that the success of ISS interventions not only requires the carryout of core practices, necessary adaptation based on evolving stakeholder expectations is also critical. This is central to sustaining system change in diverse policy contexts, adding to the symposium's collective contribution.

Authors

• Nan Yang, Boston College

• Kaylena Mann, Boston College

• Red Paulin, University of Wisconsin-Madison