The Wallace Foundation
Among the suite of reports produced for the evaluation of The Wallace Foundation’s Principal Pipeline Initiative (PPI), PSA looked at the ways the six PPI districts developed and used data systems—a Leader Tracking System (LTS)—to inform their decisions regarding principal placement and succession planning. The report describes the lessons learned and the opportunities revealed in the process of building and using a LTS. Common applications—or planned applications—of the LTS include selecting principals to fill school vacancies; improving on-the-job support; and building a better bench of educators based on forecasted needs and available talent. The report draws on interviews with system developers, directors of talent development, and other district leaders, and includes hard-won insights about how to build and roll out LTS tools and dashboards.
Leader Tracking Systems: Turning Data Into Information for School Leadership (wallacefoundation.org)
Council of Chief State School Officers
PSA worked with CCSSO to develop a reading resource intended to help improve national student reading performance. The resource builds on a discussion with state chiefs, reading experts, policy experts, and other stakeholder groups at the CCSSO’s 2020 Literacy Summit (CCSSO Hosts Literacy Summit | CCSSO). Specifically, the resource describes four actions state leaders can take to set the conditions for key stakeholders—including educator preparation programs, regional educational services agencies, school districts, and schools—to align curricula and instruction to evidence-based reading practices.
Report: A Nation of Readers: How State Chiefs Can Help Every Child Learn to Read
The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) convenes state education agency staff in topical workgroups to promote cross-state information sharing, learning, and collaboration. PSA advises CCSSO on the design of these cross-state work groups and develops reports and resources to promote cross-state learning. For CCSSO’s school leadership work group, PSA provided state education agencies with trend analysis and examples of state progress, priorities, and challenges, helping states to stay abreast of strategies to address shared problems of practice. For CCSSO convenings, PSA has developed briefing materials and led states in discussing research and practice. As a thought partner to the CCSSO, PSA provides ongoing consultation regarding states’ emerging needs and feedback that can be addressed through CCSSO activities. PSA also supports CCSSO’s work with states on school and district improvement. A PSA report, State Responsibilities and Opportunities for School Improvement Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, informed CCSSO’s planning of a major convening of states and experts. The report provided the CCSSO and states with survey data collected from leaders from state education agencies, examples of state progress, and useful resources from research and service providers. PSA continues to develop and present on support materials for the CCSSO’s member states, as well as provide formative advice for the planning of future CCSSO work group activities.
Public reports related to PSA’s technical assistance can be found here and here.