Getting on the Same Page: The Role of Principal Beliefs and Educational Environments in Improvement Networks

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: Navigating the Road to Improvement: Finding Comfort in an Ever-Changing Landscape

Abstract

Increasingly, school systems are forming improvement networks and using continuous improvement to realize more ambitious and equitable instruction. In this comparative case study, we explore how three elementary school principals enacted continuous improvement routines in a school turnaround network. The network implemented a common curriculum, implemented a shared vision of instruction, and trained school leaders on shared improvement routines. The analysis reveals that, despite this common infrastructure, each principal had different approaches to continuous improvement. These approaches were shaped not only by beliefs about mathematics instruction, but also as ways to contend with the accountability pressure and significant needs of students in turnaround schools. We argue that researchers should consider how leaders’ responses to the environment mediates continuous improvement in networks.

Authors

• Adrian Mohamed Larbi-Cherif, Manhattan Strategy Group

• Joshua L. Glazer, The George Washington University

• Ashley Ison, Harvard University