District Transformation in the Pandemic Era: Lessons From a Five-Year Initiative, Disrupted

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Fourteen
  In Roundtable Session: Transforming Organizations and Systems for Educational Improvement (Table 4)

Abstract

After decades of declining performance, leaders of a mid-sized urban district and their partners designed a districtwide vision for change, acknowledging that without comprehensive support and leadership from the district level, school-level change was unlikely to be sustained. A local foundation extended a generous grant over five years to stimulate, support, and sustain improved practices and outcomes. Starting in the 2017–18 school year, the district embarked on an ambitious transformation journey. To evaluate progress and to inform decisions throughout the course of the grant, the district contracted with an external evaluator to conduct a longitudinal study of the district’s efforts. This presentation will tell the five-year story of the district transformation, including the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Authors

• Kerstin A. Carlson Le Floch, American Institutes for Research
  Presenting Author

• Kimberly Carter, Battle Creek Public Schools
  Presenting Author

• Melissa Brown-Sims, American Institutes for Research
  Non-Presenting Author

• Drew Atchison, American Institutes for Research
  Non-Presenting Author