Fostering Continuous Improvement in Districts: Affordances of a Design for Professional Development for Educational Leaders

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Developing and Stretching In-Service School Leaders (Table 14)

Abstract

Continuous improvement (CI) methods have garnered increasing attention in education, but little research exists about the learning processes entailed for leaders to undertake CI in typical district environments. This paper uses field notes and audio records from participant observation over eight months with a district leadership team participating in a professional development series about a CI method designed by a university team in a research-practice partnership. The findings show how professional development about a CI method can offer affordances for education leaders’ problem solving. At the same time, the findings raise questions about adaptations needed to bridge gaps in leaders’ domain knowledge and the cognitive and emotional difficulty of establishing an action space amid adversity.

Authors

• Rick Mintrop, University of California - Berkeley

• Elizabeth A. Zumpe, University of Oklahoma

• Corrine Aramburo, University of California - Berkeley