This series of biannual events is designed to strengthen the capacity of state education agencies (SEAs) to understand research and conduct evidence-based decisionmaking around leadership development and support.

In April of 2018, the series launched with an introduction to the research on school leadership, especially in the context of ESSA evidence requirements. Dr. Rebecca Herman provided an overview of the research on school leadership at different ESSA levels. She also introduced participants to a logic model guide that state and district leaders can use to understand the theory behind the different ways that leadership interventions work to improve student outcomes and also identify the key components of evidence-based programs to inform the design, adoption, or refinement of their own leadership initiatives. See a video of Dr. Herman and related materials. State teams worked on developing their own logic models.

“Our biggest take away was the logic model and mapping out our actions from all the things we learned from today. Thanks for the time to do that work together.”

An event in November of 2018 examined more closely the role of principal supervisors, to inform states' initiatives to strengthen the skills of supervisors. If site leaders are key to educator effectiveness and satisfaction, the principal supervisors are a major avenue for development and support of site leaders. Dr. Ellen Goldring shared her research in six urban districts. See a video of her presentation. State teams then engaged in planning, refined their local plans, and engaged in peer sharing and consultation.

In April, 2019, the research focus was on understanding more deeply how site leaders actually influence student learning. Dr. Elaine Allensworth shared her research on the strategies that successful principals use to influence instruction and learning in practice, specifically developing and sustaining a strong learning climate, with high academic and behavioral expectations for all students and teachers having collective ownership over all academic decisions related to curriculum and instruction at the site.

“It was all helpful: hearing from experts, hearing from peers, and have time to work as a SEA team. The pacing was perfect!”

SEA teams met once again in December 2019 to learn from recent research by Dr. Meredith Honig and Dr. Mathew Clifford. Dr. Honig focused on the conditions under which principal supervisors can improve principals’ instructional leadership, and Dr. Clifford shared findings on the impact of a principal professional learning intervention. A video containing highlights from Dr. Honig’s presentation is available.

“The two research presentations were excellent and timely. Information shared will help shape our work going forward.”

In May 2020, Dr. Susan Gates discussed her recent research about effective school leadership pipeline interventions and SEA teams further developed their plans for evidence-based leadership supports and engaged in cross-state learning and support.

Summaries of and resources from future events in this bi-annual series will be added as they occur.

REL West is providing individualized coaching, between biannual cross-state convenings, to help SEA teams identify and implement key components of evidence-based leadership supports appropriate to their settings and evaluate their initiatives. Each of the states has one or more leadership development initiatives, and sees site leadership—by administrators and teacher leaders—as key to student outcomes and teacher retention.

In Arizona, the focus is on increasing the capacity of principals to conduct meaningful observation and feedback cycles with teachers. To this end, Arizona Department of Education (ADE) officials have for several years trained principals at a Qualified Evaluator Academy (QEA), which focuses on the guidelines emphasized in the statewide Arizona Framework for Measuring Educator Effectiveness. ADE is now developing and piloting a parallel training for principal supervisors, known as ADE's Supervisors of Principals Academy (SOPA). REL West is assisting ADE in 2019/20 to plan and pilot a network of district leaders who will collectively explore redesigning the role and training of their principal supervisors to provide site leaders with improved coaching on effective observation and feedback to teachers.

In Nevada, SEA staff are designing workshops to support district leaders' use of results from the Nevada Educator Performance (Evaluation) Framework (NEPF). REL West is assisting NDE in planning and piloting data use workshops focused on supporting district and school leaders to better use NEPF data to make strategic decisions around teacher assignment and professional development and promote continuous improvement.

In Utah, the focus is on regional learning networks of Utah principals facilitated by Utah SEA officials. REL West is helping SEA staff to further define the desired outcomes of these network sessions, develop training materials for network facilitators (experienced principals), and plan how best to collect and review evidence to track their implementation and outcomes. Utah SEA officials are also exploring an initial pilot cohort of district leaders interested in redesigning the role and training of their principal supervisors (as in Arizona).

A statewide initiative in Arizona has engaged five school districts in more deliberate and effective use of formative assessment, shifting it from a periodic interim assessment to a regular facet of daily instruction. To help teachers make this shift, districts engaged in blended professional development through face-to-face events along with online training and discussion activities. REL West assisted two participating districts, Chandler and Sunnyside, in learning from the data they collected during their 2016/17 pilot of this professional learning initiative. As a result, the two districts were able to design and implement new district programs that helped site leaders better support teacher professional learning. During the state conference on formative assessment held in November 2017, the districts shared their experiences and REL West presented on the blended (online and in-person) professional learning format. A planning session at the conference was turned into a video on designing technology-mediated professional development.

REL West studied the relationship between teachers’ implementation of formative assessment practices and students’ self-regulated learning. Educators wanted to learn how formative assessment worked in three leading Arizona districts (Chandler, Flagstaff, and Sunnyside), which helped the districts consider potential new ways to design, refine, and support formative assessment practice in classrooms. The study explored the relationships between teachers’ formative assessment training and practices, and between teachers’ formative assessment practices and students’ self-regulated learning strategies.