Leadership not only matters: it is second only to teaching among
school-related factors in its impact on student learning [1]
Through an established and active partnership with The Wallace Foundation, the Council of Chief State School Officers is working with national organizations and state education policymakers to implement sound policy and practice in the area of education leadership.
Through Wallace Foundation funding, the Council, along with its national partners, has been able to focus on a critical mass of states where there is political leverage and legal responsibility for improving public education policy and an interest in developing sound leadership policy and practice. Currently 24 states are active in this network: Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
These states receive targeted technical assistance from a National Consortium comprised of the Council, the National Association of State Boards of Education, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the National Governors Association. Since the NC member organizations are individually and collectively linked to a diverse set of state policymakers, decision-makers, and educational researchers across America, they are able to help states mobilize key stakeholders to implement effective strategies and conditions for leadership excellence in their communities and states.
The Council is honored to lead this National Consortium of national organizations and is committed to raise the awareness of the importance of education leadership and its tie to student achievement. We also plan to document and disseminate information, to our constituents, on the transformations in leadership we are seeing in states and districts to spark further action as the knowledge base grows in this field.
While we, as a group of national, state, and local partners, are still studying the specific characteristics and qualities of leaders that yield specific results, we know the key changes in policy and practice must be developed to transform leadership today. The leverage points are clear, and states and districts are beginning to examine the changes required at the state, district, school, and, classroom levels. They are implementing policies and practices that will make dramatic changes in leadership for the benefit of our nation’s students.
Project Staff
Lois Adams-Rodgers, Director, 202-312-6435, loisar@ccsso.org
[1] From How Leadership Influences Student Learning, a comprehensive review of the available evidence on school leadership, by researchers from the Universities of Minnesota and Toronto.
