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1. Leading Systemwide Improvement in Elementary Science Education: Managing Dilemmas of Education System Building

   https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312241269165  

   Seeber, Emily_Rose; Spillane, James_P; Yin, Xiaoyu; Haverly, Christa; Quan, Weiyu (August 2024, American Educational Research Journal)

   Reforming instruction is challenging. In this comparative case study of 12 school districts, we investigated the dilemmas that emerged for system leaders as they engaged in system building for elementary science and the approaches leaders took in managing them. We found that system leaders’ efforts to manage their environments contributed to the preferential treatment of literacy and mathematics relative to science. Leaders managed this dilemma using three strategies: (a) integration of science with other subjects, (b) specialization of teachers, and (c) adopting curriculum materials. This study contributes to literature on dilemma management by showing that dilemmas in education system building are school-subject sensitive, emerge in relation to system building for other subjects, and are embedded in school and education systems’ structural/organizational arrangements. 

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2. Preparing School Leaders to Advance Equity in Computer Science Education

   https://doi.org/10.26716/jcsi.2021.10.8.33  

   Flapan, Julie; Ryoo, Jean J.; Hadad, Roxana; Knudson, Joel (January 2021, Journal of Computer Science Integration)

   Background and Context: Most large-scale statewide initiatives of the Computer Science for All (CS for All) movement have focused on the classroom level. Critical questions remain about building school and district leadership capacity to support teachers while implementing equitable computer science education that is scalable and sustainable. Objective: This statewide research-practice partnership, involving university researchers and school leaders from 14 local education agencies (LEA) from district and county offices, addresses the following research question: What do administrators identify as most helpful for understanding issues related to equitable computer science implementation when engaging with a guide and workshop we collaboratively developed to help leadership in such efforts? Method: Participant surveys, interviews, and workshop observations were analyzed to understand best practices for professional development supporting educational leaders. Findings: Administrators value computer science professional development resources that: (a) have a clear focus on “equity;” (b) engage with data and examples that deepen understandings of equity; (c) provide networking opportunities; (d) have explicit workshop purpose and activities; and (e) support deeper discussions of computer science implementation challenges through pairing a workshop and a guide. Implications: Utilizing Ishimaru and Galloway’s (2014) framework for equitable leadership practices, this study offers an actionable construct for equitable implementation of computer science including (a) how to build equity leadership and vision; (b) how to enact that vision; and (c) how to scale and sustain that vision. While this construct applies to equitable leadership practices more broadly across all disciplines, we found its application particularly useful when explicitly focused on equity leadership practices in computer science. 

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3. Continuous Improvement to Operationalize Equity in a Research-Practice- Partnership with Computer Science Education Leaders

   Hadad, R.; Ryoo, J.J.; Flapan, J.; Knudson, J.; Nazario, P. (January 2023, AERA)

   This study explores how a research-practice partnership’s (RPP) continuous improvement methods influenced equity leadership practices in computer science education for school administrators. District leaders and researchers analyzed and documented their continuous improvement process to define “equity and the iterative process of developing this shared definition. Findings reveal this process operationalized equity on two levels: 1) An external examination of equity in education and how racism and biases exacerbate access to computer science education, and 2) An internal gaze on the lack of diversity among our RPP. Key to each of these findings is the collective focus on an ever-changing definition of equity that encouraged our RPP to see our agency as school leaders in disrupting inequality and enacting change. 

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4. For States, by States: State Policymakers' Efforts to Reform Elementary Science Education

   Lyle, Angela M.; Spillane, James P.; Haverly, Christa (January 2022, Annual meeting program American Educational Research Association)

   Developing as a national policy movement, the “for states, by states” approach to the development and implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) intends to give states formidable discretion in whether and how to pursue science education reform. This article explores how state education agencies (SEAs) engaged with these national efforts and worked to incentivize and support school districts in building educational infrastructures to promote the instructional vision advanced by the NGSS. Based on our analysis of interview data and documents from 18 SEAs, we document the critical challenges SEAs face in reforming elementary science education and detail how SEAs sought to school districts in bridging from standards, assessments, and accountability to the teaching, learning, and organization of instruction inside classrooms. Given our analysis, we argue that the school subject is a critical explanatory variable in understanding SEA efforts to support the implementation of ambitious learning standards and advance a reframing of the relationship between state/federal government policy and local school districts as educational system-building. This study contributes to the growing research base on the role of state policy in supporting the implementation of ambitious learning standards. 

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5. For States, by States: State Policymakers' Efforts to Reform Elementary Science Education

   Lyle, Angela M.; Spillane, James P.; Haverly, Christa (January 2022, Annual meeting program American Educational Research Association)

   Developing as a national policy movement, the “for states, by states” approach to the development and implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) intends to give states formidable discretion in whether and how to pursue science education reform. This article explores how state education agencies (SEAs) engaged with these national efforts and worked to incentivize and support school districts in building educational infrastructures to promote the instructional vision advanced by the NGSS. Based on our analysis of interview data and documents from 18 SEAs, we document the critical challenges SEAs face in reforming elementary science education and detail how SEAs sought to school districts in bridging from standards, assessments, and accountability to the teaching, learning, and organization of instruction inside classrooms. Given our analysis, we argue that the school subject is a critical explanatory variable in understanding SEA efforts to support the implementation of ambitious learning standards and advance a reframing of the relationship between state/federal government policy and local school districts as educational system-building. This study contributes to the growing research base on the role of state policy in supporting the implementation of ambitious learning standards. 

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