Improving America's Schools Together: How District-University Partnerships and Continuous ImprovementCan Transform Education is the first definitive text on continuous improvement in school district-university partnerships, covering improvement methods, theory, research, and real cases across the country with practical improvement tools that can be adapted to any setting. Through an array of in-depth stories of district-university partnerships, the book aims to demonstrate how improvement scienceas a shared methodcan guide institutions of higher education and their local education agency partners to enact the types of infrastructures that foster leaders and educators capable of enhancing students learning outcomes and opportunity structures. Among other topics, readers will benefit from reading about how these partnerships developed course and program offerings for aspiring urban school leaders centered on local problems of practice; strengthened improvement capabilities within districts and schools; leveraged improvement science to transform how teachers are professionally supported; and spanned institutional boundaries through shared tools, frameworks, and practices. Through rich stories and detailed artifacts, including protocols, MOUs, and other practical tools, the authors provide deep insight and practical guidance on the mechanics of place-based, problem-focused, and improvement-minded district-university partnerships. Readers can assess their readiness and ability to work in such ways; identify the constraining and enabling conditions in their locales; and recognize the kinds of tools, resources, and strategies that allow for mutually-beneficial collaborations.
Recenzijas
This volume brings together a dream author teama mix of scholars and scholarly professionals with complementary research and practice-based expertise who have figured out how to work productively together in research-practice partnerships. Their contributions provide inspiration and concrete guidance for educational leaders in schools, districts, and institutions of higher education. The rich cases of higher educationschool district partnership reveal innovative structures and collaborative practices that enable joint work to build capacity for continuous improvement in service of creating more effective and equitable systems. For all these reasons and more, this book is on the cutting edge of the continuous improvement movement in education and is a must-read for educators seeking to transform U.S. education and create equitable learning opportunities for students. -- Jennifer Lin Russell, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University Leaders in public and higher education are facing unprecedented calls to advance quality and equity in students educational opportunities and outcomes. This volume provides remarkable perspective on the power of districts and universities learning togetherin partnerships and in communityto do more, for more students, than either could possibly do on their own. It serves as both a call and a blueprint for action, with the contributing authors inviting district and university leaders to follow in their footsteps to forge institutional change. -- Donald J. Peurach, Marsal Family School of Education, University of Michigan What excites me about this edited volume is that it provides illustrations of partnerships that are making an impact in education! It exists as a useful tool for individuals seeking images of the possible in co-designing and co-implementing partnerships that work. And, ultimately, it demonstrates the power of collaborationthat the future of education is through partnership, by tackling persistent problems of practice together. It shows that schools and universities are truly better together. -- Rebecca West Burns, Bill Herrold Endowed Professor, director of Clinical Practice and Educational Partnerships, College of Education and Human Services, University of North Florida These cases provide wonderful, concrete examples of how district-university partnerships for continuous improvement can benefit both school districts and schools of education. Anyone interested in engaging in such partnerships should read this book, especially to identify the benefits, but also to get a sense of the challenges such partnerships face. -- William Firestone, Rutgers University, Graduate School of Education (retired) Gomez, Biag, Imig, Tozer, and Hitz bring together powerful examples of howthrough thoughtful and deliberate continuous improvement processespartnerships can be formed to address complex problems of practice in our schools. This text will quickly become a go-to guide for those seeking to engage in equity-focused and contextually relevant collaborations designed to address public school challenges and to develop sustainable and impactful solutions. -- Karen L. Sanzo, Old Dominion University This book contains cases of district-university partnerships anchored in continuous improvement tools and methods. The book shows how those partnerships formed, catalyzed, integrated efforts, and facilitated organizational change. The multi-case approach is invaluable as a teaching resource because it enables learning conversations and coaching practice. -- Ben Cooper, California State University, Fullerton This text is full of pragmatic and versatile lessons on continuous improvement in education. I'm not a believer in 'one size fits all' methodologies, so improvement science cannot be a panacea to all education research initiatives. But where evaluation and other important traditional social science research methods stop short of actually fixing problems, improvement science can indeed transform practice through innovation, collaboration, and learning from data. The book covers a variety of common and unique education problems as well as how the continuous-improvement paradigm can be applied in context. Just as healthcare and other vital human service fields have embraced it, education must as well. -- Dane Joseph, George Fox University The idea that school district-university partnerships for educator preparation should be mutually-beneficial is almost universally acknowledged, but often poorly articulated by practitioners when asked to provide evidence of such a partnership. If youve wondered what 'mutually beneficial and co-constructed partnerships' look like in practice and how they can be authentic and sustainable over time, this book is for you. With one fell swoop, it silences those resistant to change who wield the argument that 'it can't happen here' as their justification for not innovating. -- Sean Kottke, PhD, Office of Educator Excellence, Michigan Department of Education Blending the expertise of researchers and practitioners with the use of case studies, this book will be valuable for universities and school districts who want to deepen their partnership work and to see what this work looks like in real life. -- Corrie Stone-Johnson, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York; editor-in-chief, Journal of Educational Change This volume brings together a number of the most important applied thinkers and doers about complex education partnerships active today. The editors are seasoned education researchers who also share an extensive background with using improvement science. Their necessary communication to co-create this volume has proven to be highly generative with each pushing the next to new insights shared and needed detail added, to the benefit of the reader. -- Edmund "Ted" Hamann, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; chair, Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) Council of Delegates; AERA Fellow This text provides examples of how IHEs can move to research partnerships instead of coming in and doing research on a particular problem and having the schools main function be as a participant. I highly recommend this text for school districts and institutions of higher education that want to form a partnership through the lens of improvement science. All IHEs should be training their candidates in school district administration on improvement science and how forming these partnerships not only improve outcomes for students in schools but also create equitable leaders that will be transforming schools and communities in which they are employed. -- Tori L. Colson, EdD, University of Southern Indiana This important text provides a multifaceted examination and discussion of partnerships between PK12 school districts and universities using real life examples from existing impactful partnerships across the US. The stories and lessons shared in each chapter can serve as a blueprint for others interested in forming similar partnerships with the aim of transforming their surrounding PK12 educational community. -- Christopher Benedetti, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi University-district partnerships have been hot topics for many years now. Many funding organizations look for this kind of partnership to ensure that research is done with and for Local Education Agencies (LEAs), versus being done on them. Improving America's Schools Together supports those who want to build partnership with universities or LEAs with some 'how to' information. Partnerships are not easy. However, this book demonstrates how improvement science is a rigorous but user-friendly way to get all stakeholders on the same page to do research in the name of making schools better. It showcases the tools of improvement, one of which is the chartera formal, co-constructed document that establishes the partnership. Such tools offer the reader an understanding of what building a partnership looks like and what is needed to sustain it in different contexts with different foci. Each case is co-written by a university faculty member and educational practitioner, which supports the notion of university-district partnerships and decolonizes who owns and produces knowledge. This book is a useful contribution to practitionersboth K12 and universityas they consider venturing into similar work. -- Jill A. Perry, PhD, Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate This book is a two for oneit discusses improving the content of the leadership development programs as well as the outcomes of the school-university partnerships required to make leadership development effective. Whats unique about this book is the discussion of improving leadership development and partnership using improvement science methods. The authors have actively used the methods discussed and have engaged in the partnerships themselves. I especially appreciate their documentation of iLEAD, an important effort to strengthening university-school district partnerships focused on leadership development. I highly recommend this book for people working in on improvement in the field of education from both practice and research roles and organizations. -- Laura Wentworth, director of research practice partnerships, California Education Partners This book captures multiple stories of how institutions of higher education can come alongside school districts to tackle complex problems of practice. Each case provides insight into how diverse actors and partners negotiate and engage in the trading zones and boundaries of policies, practices, programs, and processes to reimagine how we continuously improve schools but how we prepare educators and educational leaders to lead and work together. -- Edwin Nii Bonney, Radford University Heres a must-read volume for those building new disruptive relationships between IHEs and LEAs. Case studies tell examples of intentional, sustainable partnerships. They are held together through the mutual use of and belief in improvement science and continuous improvement; a leadership network; and efforts to develop mutualism through boundary spanners and braiders. Dont miss the excellent introduction by Tony Bryk and the conclusion by Louis Gomez. -- John Q. Easton, University of Chicago, UChicago Consortium on School Research This text is compelling in that it presents both varied, well-documented examples of effective, enduring partnerships and also provides a concise and clear conceptual framework for those cases. Readers seeking to evaluate or create similar inter-institutional partnerships have the proof of concept and the conceptual guidance needed to do so. At the same timeand this is crucialthe framework does not float above the particulars, but rather it starts from the premise that context matters as the foundation for successful joint work. It is both an ideal leadership and policy course text and a very practical guide for those involved in the work of partnerships. -- Mark LaCelle-Peterson, president and CEO, Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation
Foreword
Anthony Bryk
Introduction: Getting to Mutual-Benefit Partnerships
Navigating the Tangles of Inter-Organizational Work
It Takes a Village to Redress Inequities
The Improvement Leadership Education and Development (iLEAD) Network
Social Learning Theory and Culture
Moving Beyond Transactional Relationships
Trading Zones and Boundary Objects
iLEADs Developmental Progressions Framework as a Boundary Object
The Desiderata to Sustain Trading Zones
Continuous Improvement
Equity
Coordination
Capacity Building
Conclusion
References
Section I: Improvement Methods, Equity, and Problems of Practice in Local
Context
1 Braiding Improvement into the Fabric of District Leadership Preparation
and Practice
University of Virginia and Chesterfield County Public Schools
David Eddy-Spicer, Tinkhani White, and Michelle Beavers
Partnership Context
University of Virginia
Chesterfield County Public Schools
An Educational Leadership Preparation Partnership Emerges
The Improvement Sandwich: Cooperation into Coordination
CCPS Strand: Focus on Programmatic Equity and School Improvement Planning
UVA Strand: Redesigning the M.Ed. Program
Field-Based Learning as Boundary Infrastructure
Securing the Braid: Coordination into Collaboration
Deepening Coordination Across School Levels and With Central Office in CCPS
Collaborating across School Levels in CCPS
Collaboration in Teaching and Learning at UVA
Results: Organizational Practice & Partnership
Conclusions and Lessons Learned
CCPS Lessons Learned
From Professional Development to Intrapreneurial Collective Learning
UVA Lessons Learned
A&S Faculty Collective Learning
Partnership Lessons Learned: Co-Development of Leadership Pedagogies
Essential Lessons of Partnership Work
Questions for Discussion
References
2 A University-School District Collaboration to Improve Equity- and
Inquiry-Driven School Leadership
Fordham University and Bronx School Districts 9 & 11
Margaret Terry Orr, Kris DeFilippis, Meisha Ross Porter, and Elizabeth Leisy
Stosich
Context
Problem
Challenges, Solutions and Evidence
Development
Advanced Leadership Preparation
Redesigning Fordhams EdD Program
Creating a Bronx EdD Cohort in Equity-Focused Improvement Science
Leadership Development
Assistant Principal Math Networked Improvement Community
Creating Positive Change through the Bronx Academic Response Team Initiative
Principal Equity Improvement Networked Improvement Communities
Conclusions and Lessons Learned
Questions for Discussion
References
3 Moving a Partnership from Itinerant to Integral: Using Improvement
Science as a Catalyst for Change in Leadership Preparation & Induction
George Mason University and Fairfax County Public Schools
Samantha Viano, Farnoosh Shahrokhi, Regina Biggs, Natasha Saunders, Claire
Silva, and Paige Whitlock
Context
EDLE Program at GMU
FCPS
FCPS and GMU Partnering Prior to iLEAD
Joining Together as iLEAD Partners
Problems
Stagnant Progress on School Improvement
Mismatch Between EDLE Leadership Preparation and FCPS Practice
Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence
Improvement Science as Our Catalyzing Agent to Come Together
Making Improvement Science EDLEs Signature Pedagogy
EDLE Facultys Introduction to Improvement Science
Commitment to Improvement Science through Curriculum Development
Diverse Approaches to Supporting the Use of Improvement Science in FCPS
Professional Development Opportunities
School-Based Leadership Induction
Title I Comprehensive Needs Assessment
Our Partnership Driven Initiative: Piloting an Improvement Science Approach
to School Improvement
Phase 1: Cultivating Cultures of Continuous Improvement, 2019-20 School Year
Phase 2: Redressing Inequities, 2020-21 School Year
Phase 3: Spreading What Works, 2021-22 School Year
Showcasing Our Joint Efforts
Synergy between Leadership Preparation and School Improvement
Conclusions and Lessons Learned
Starting with a Foundational Relationship to Build upon
Garner Immediate Excitement about Improvement Science
Leverage Eagerness and Capacity to Make Time for Collaboration
Concluding Thoughts
Attending to the Mission of our Partnership Work
Questions for Discussion
References
4 Improvement Science as a Collaborative Effort for Equity
High Tech High and High Tech High Graduate School of Education
Julia Jacobsen and Diana Cornejo-Sanchez
Context
High Tech High & the High Tech High Graduate School of Education
Problems
Induction as a Lever for Teacher Retention
Experimenting with Improvement in Teacher Induction
Challenges, Solutions and Evidence
Challenge #1: Entry Planning that Incorporates Continuous Improvement
Root Cause Analysis
Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycles
Sharing Learning
Challenge #2: Operating in a One-Year Time Frame
Challenge #3: Developing the Capacity of Improvement Coaches
Deficit Thinking
Compliance Orientation
Improving Coach Development
Facilitating Continuous Improvement for Equity
Induction Improvement Coach Summit
Impact
Conclusions and Lessons Learned
CI Can Be an Effective Framework for Adaptive Learning
The Importance of Improvement Science in our own Program Processes
Developing New Organizational Capacity for Continuous Improvement
Teachable Moments
How Might Improvement Processes Foster Connection and Belonging?
How Can Both the Process and the Outcome of Improvement Efforts Support
Equity?
How Can We Develop Sustainable Improvement Efforts?
How Can Improvement Science Help Organizations Grow Toward a Common Mission
and Develop Concrete Understandings?
Questions for Discussion
References
Section II: A New Kind of Partnership: Continuous Improvement as an Animating
Force
5 From a Transactional Relationship to a Transformational Partnership
University of Maryland College Park and Prince Georges County Public
Schools
Segun Eubanks, Jean Snell, Doug Anthony, Charoscar Coleman, Felice Desouza,
Kara Miley-Libby, and Christine M. Neumerski
Context
Not Your Fathers MOU
The Back Story: People Building Trust, Institutions Leading Change
A Change in Perspective
PGCPS Initiates a Catalyst for Change the EdD in School System Leadership
UMD Initiates a Catalyst for Change: The Ceii
iLEAD Initiates a Catalyst for Change: Getting to the Work of Improvement
Getting to Work: Our First Problem of Practice
Problems
A Shared Problem of Practice: Putting the Improvement in the School
Improvement Process
Leveraging the New Strategic Plan
Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence
Improvement Science as a Shared Methodology and Solution
The Partnership Solution to the Challenge of District Capacity Building
with SPPing
Looking Forward to Future Work: The Launch of 2 Partnership Networked
Improvement Communities
Showing Evidence of Partnership Impact
Evidence of Engagement and Commitment is Strong and Growing
Growth on the iLEAD Developmental Progressions
Emerging Data of Change in Systems Practice
Lessons Learned
Key Learning #1: Building Strong Relationships is the Starting Point
Key Learning #2: Focus on Problems of Practice and Stay Prepared for Change
Teachable Moments
You're Not Really Married if You Dont Have the Paper
Adapt, Dont Abandon
Shifts Happen
Just Do Something
References
6 Redesigning School Staffing Models through Team-Based Residencies
Arizona State University and Avondale Elementary School District
Betsy Hargrove, Christina Flesher, Nicole L. Thompson, and Carole Basile
The Next Education Workforce: A Growing Idea
Context: MLFTC and AESD Partnership
Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence Based Teacher Preparation
Challenges for AESD
Changes and Vision at MLFTC
A Renewed Partnership
Serendipity and Early Models
Improvement Science: Planning, Doing, Studying Acting
Residents
Lead Teachers
Site Lead
Instructional Configurations
Studying the Innovative Approach
Lessons Learned
Invested and Involved Leadership
Systems and Structures
Challenges of Teams
Developmental Progressions and Growth in Collaboration
Characteristics of Successful Teams
Conclusion
Afterword: Beyond Teacher Preparation
Questions for Discussion
References
7 District-University Partnerships for Continuous Improvement: How Can UM
Help? University of Mississippi and Oxford School District
Denise A. Soares, Mark E. Deschaine, W. Bradley Roberson, David Rock, Marni
Harrington, and Brian Harvey
Context: Beginning the Partnership Work
The Achievement Gap Project
Chronic Absenteeism PDSA Cycle
Plan
Do
Study
Act
Building Capacity
Spread and Scale Progress
OSD Improvement Science Problems of Practice
Passion Professional Development PDSA Cycle
Plan
Do
Study
Act
Youth Truth Survey PDSA Cycle
Plan
Do
Study
Act
UM-SOE Improvement Science Problems of Practice
Graduate Studies Office PDSA Cycle
Plan
Do
Study
Act
UM-SOE Deans Office Staff PDSA Cycle
Plan
Do
Study
Act
UM-Developmental Progression
The How of Partnerships (Partnership Mechanisms)
Expectations, Sustainability, Norms & Routines
Vision for the Future
NCSUP Mission
Lessons Learned
Questions for Discussion
References
8 Equity-Focused Improvement Science
Portland State University and Portland Public Schools
Susan P. Carlile, Deborah S. Peterson, and Tania McKey
Key Leaders
Professor of Practice Susan Carlile
Associate Professor Emerita Dr. Deborah S. Peterson
Assistant Professor and Senior Director of Humanities Dr. Tania McKey
Context of the PSU-PPS Partnership
Portland State University
Portland Public Schools
Chronology of Improvement Science Efforts
Networked Improvement Communities
Partner Districts
Newberg School District (NSD)
Changes in the Partnership with the Newberg School District
The New District Partnership: Portland Public Schools
Challenges and Solutions
Tools to Identify Next Steps
Progress (Strengths) at the Partnership Level
Progress (Strengths) at PPS
Progress (Strengths) at the PSU Level
Areas of Focus (Challenges) at the Partnership Level
Areas of Focus (Challenges) in PPS
Area of Focus (Challenge) in PSU
Contextual Complexities
Theory of Improvement
Program Redesign
Redesign PPS Practices for Principal Support
Hire Scholarly Practitioners as Principal Preparation Cohort Leaders
PPS Hires PSU Principal Licensure Completers
Lessons Learned
Next Steps
Conclusion
Questions for Discussion
References
Section III: Partnerships Aint Easy: Learning from Short-Term Efforts and
Long-Term Sustainability
9 Shared Goals, Methods, and Learning: Partnering for Equity-focused,
Systems-level Improvement
University of Denver and Denver Public Schools
Erin Anderson and Sandra Lochhead
Context
Problem
District Context
Sustainable Improvement in the District
Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence
Shared Goals: Embedded Process Over External Program
Where Did We Start?
What Steps Happened Along the Way?
Where Are We Now?
Shared Methodology: The Design Improvement for Equity (DI4E) Model
Where Did We Start?
What Steps Happened Along the Way?
Where Are We Now?
Shared Learning: Shared Research Agenda in a Research-Practice Partnership
Where Did We Start?
What Steps Happened Along the Way?
Where Are We Now?
Summary of Impact
Conclusions and Lessons Learned
Lesson 1: Be Clear About your WhyYour North Star Guides the Way
Lesson 2: Create a Shared Theory of Improvement for your Partnership Work and
Use It as a Map to Reach your Destination
Lesson 3: Interdependence Was Essential to the Partnership and to Increasing
Equity in the System
Lesson 4: Be Disciplined about a Shared Learning Agenda or Research Plan
Lesson 5: Despite Shared Values, Norms, and Goals, There Are Still
Organizational Values and Conditions That Will Limit Systems Change
Questions for Discussion
References
10 Organizational Changes Impacts on University-District Partnership
Development
University of South Carolina and K-12 School District in South Carolina
Kathleen M. W. Cunningham, Peter Moyi, and Barnett Berry
Context
University of South Carolina College of Education
The Partnership Between CoE/EDLP and MCSD
Developing and Sustaining a District-University Partnership
Two Partnership Frameworks: iLEADs Developmental Progressions and the Stage
Model
Developmental Progressions (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching, 2020)
Stage Model (Trubowitz, 1986)
Partnership Journey
Improvement Work Begins
Establishment of a Core Improvement Team
Organizational Progress: Partnership
Organizational Progress: UofSC (i.e., CoE and EDLP)
Challenges
Challenge 1: Multiple, Evolving Goals
Challenge 2: Logistics (Distance, Funding, Time-Competing Priorities)
Challenge 3: Personnel and Leadership Transitions
Challenge 4: COVID-19 Pandemic
Conclusions and Lessons Learned
Consideration 1: Clearly Defined Goals and Expectations
Consideration 2: Core Partnership Team with Consistent Membership,
Leadership, and Active Commitment
Consideration 3: Lean on a Continuous Improvement Mindset to Reflect and
Learn
Questions for Discussion
References
11 Preparing Principals for Urban Schools: The Challenge of Equitable
Outcomes at Scale
University of Illinois Chicago and Chicago Public Schools
Steve Tozer, Peter Martinez, Cynthia K. Barron, Shelby Cosner, Zipporah
Hightower, Janice Jackson, David Mayrowetz, Sam Whalen, and Paul Zavitkovsky
Partnership Context: Chicago school reform and UICs Urban Mission
Chicago School Reform and State Legislation
The Principal Preparation Program Design and Redesign: 11 Key Components
Impact of Program Design and Redesign
We Want to Be as Good as People Think We Are
Using the Development Progressions to Tell the CPS/UIC Partnership Story
From MOU to Vendor Contract
A Missing Objective?
Preparation of CPS Principal Supervisors (Network Chiefs) and Central Office
Personnel
A Next Edge of Growth
Developing Capacity as a District Partner: the UIC Ed.D. Program
Elaborations and Qualifications on the IHE Narrative
Vision, Systems, and Above All, People
Our First Targeted Program Hire
Building the Team
Leadership Coaches as Boundary Spanners
Creating Boundary Objects
Next Edges of Growth
Need for New Resources
How Did the District Sustain its Share of the Partnership for 20 Years across
9 CEOs?
Conclusions and Lessons Learned
1.Equity
2.Partnership
3.Leadership Development: Vision, Systems, and People
4.Continuous Improvement
Questions for Discussion
References
Conclusion: How Continuous Improvement Partnerships Can Transform Education
Louis Gomez and Manuelito Biag
Tightly Tethered Mutuality
Attending to the How of Partnerships
The Role of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Building a Strong Field: Infrastructure that Recasts Partnerships
Creating Social Infrastructure for Collective Action
Looking Forward: The Sustainability of Mutually Beneficial Partnerships for
Leadership and Continuous Improvement
References
References
Index
About the Contributors
Contributors
Erin Anderson, Douglas W. Anthony, Cynthia K. Barron, Carole Basile, Michelle M. Beavers, Barnett Berry, Manuelito Biag, Regina Biggs, Anthony S. Bryk, Susan Carlile, Charoscar Coleman, Diana Cornejo-Sanchez, Shelby Cosner, Kathleen M.W. Cunningham, Kris DeFilippis, Mark E. Deschaine, Felice Desouza, David Eddy-Spicer, Segun Eubanks, Christina Flesher, Louis Gomez, Betsy Hargrove, Marni Herrington, Brian Harvey, Zipporah Hightower, Randy Hitz, David Imig, Janice Jackson, Julia Jacobsen, Kara Libby, Sandra Lochhead, Peter Martinez, David Mayrowetz, Tania McKey, Peter Moyi, Christine M. Neumerski, Margaret Terry Orr, Deborah S. Peterson, Meisha Porter, Bradley Roberson, David Rock, Natasha Saunders, Farnoosh Shahrokhi, Claire Silva, Denise A. Soares, Jean Snell, Elizabeth Leisy Stosich, Steve Tozer, Samantha Viano, Sam Whalen, Tinkhani Ushe White, Paige Whitlock, Paul Zavitkovsky
About the Editors
Louis Gomez is professor of education (and of information studies) at the University of California, Los Angeles. Gomez has served since 2008 as a senior fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, where he leads the Network Development work. Beginning in 2009, he held the Helen S. Faison Chair in Urban Education at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was also director of the Center for Urban Education and a senior scientist at the Learning Research and Development Center. From 2001 to 2008, he held several faculty appointments at Northwestern University, including the Aon Chair in the Learning Sciences at the School of Education and Social Policy. Prior to joining academia, he spent fourteen years working in cognitive science and personcomputer systems and interactions at Bell Laboratories, Bell Communications Research Inc., and Bellcore. His research interests have encompassed the application of computing and networking technology to teaching and learning, applied cognitive science, humancomputer interactions, and other areas.
Manuelito Biag currently serves as the managing director of the Carnegie Foundations Center for Postsecondary Innovation. His interests include design thinking, researchpractice partnerships, educational leadership, and networked improvement science. Manuelito comes to Carnegie from Stanford University, where he served as senior researcher at the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and their Communities at the Graduate School of Education. His work, which has been presented in community forums, professional conferences, and published in academic journals, policy briefs, and edited volumes, examines the organizational structures, policies, and programs that influence students learning and overall developmentparticularly those from vulnerable and historically-marginalized backgrounds.
David Imig holds emeritus status from the Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership program at the University of Maryland, College Park. He studies and writes in the area of school leader preparation and teacher education policy and practice. He served as president and chief executive officer of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) from 1980-2005. He is past chair of the National Policy Board for Educational Administration, the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Educations Executive Committee and the National Society for the Study of Education. He was a senior associate for the National Network for Educational Renewal and helped to establish the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED), serving as chair of the Board of Directors from 2010-2020. He has taught and directed dissertations in the cohort EdD program at Maryland for aspiring school leaders. He serves as a senior fellow for the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and is co-leader of the Improvement Leadership Education for the Advancement of Teaching (iLEAD). He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers in the UK.
Dr. Randy Hitz is Dean Emeritus of the Graduate School of Education at Portland State University. His higher education administrative experience spans three decades and includes positions at Portland State, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Montana State University. He also served in the Oregon Department of Education as the Early Childhood Education Specialist where he led the effort to create Oregons State Prekindergarten Program. His teaching experience ranges from preschool to graduate school. Dr. Hitz publications focus primarily on educational policy and curriculum and he has addressed policy matters directly through serving on and leading a variety of state and national boards and committees, including the teacher licensing boards of Montana and Hawaii, the Board of Directors of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and the Board of the American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education where he served a term as Chair. He was chair of the Unit Accreditation Board for NCATE and he chaired the Council for Accreditation of Education Professionals (CAEP) Commission as well as participating on CAEPs Board of Directors. After retiring from full-time work at Portland State University he was appointed to a Senior Fellow position with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. In that role he has worked primarily with the iLEAD project dedicating his time to working with school/university partnerships to create and support educational leaders who can lead continuous improvement efforts to improve education for all students and redress longstanding educational inequities.
Steve Tozer is professor emeritus and past university scholar in educational policy studies at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), where he was founding director of the UIC Center for Urban Education Leadership. Steve previously chaired the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; the Department of Educational Policy Studies at UIC; the Governors Council on Educator Quality in Illinois; and a State Legislative Task Force that resulted in a new state school leader certificate. His collaborations with colleagues from UIC and Chicago Public Schools were continuously funded for eighteen years by the U.S. Department of Education and numerous foundations. He is lead author of a textbook, School and Society: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, 8th Edition (McGraw-Hill, 2020), and lead editor of The Handbook of Research in Social Foundations of Education (Routledge, 2011). Steve is a fellow of the George W. Bush Institute and currently works with Chicago Public Schools and other districts on research-practice partnerships for continuous improvement of school leadership.
