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Problem Formulation in an Emerging Improvement Community: Implications for Improvement-Focused Leadership

Tue, April 21, 8:15 to 9:45am, Virtual Room

Abstract

This paper presents findings from an exploratory qualitative case study that examined how leaders charged with initiating a Networked Improvement Community (NIC) supported classroom teachers, school principals, and central office administrators in formulating a problem of practice during the initiation phase. The paper finds that inadequate attention to problem framing and formulation led to increasing incoherence in the NIC. Leaders often lacked capacity to identify when or how to support teachers and principals in revisiting their problem as well as considering the problem in relation to the goals for NIC. This incoherence reduced opportunities for the NIC to impact practice on a wider scale and ultimately impeded its initiation. Implications for improvement science and improvement-focused leadership practice are discussed.

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