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There is limited time for elementary teacher professional learning in science in order to meet the aspirational goals of current reform efforts. In this study, we investigated what and how teachers learn on-the-job to gain insight into modes of support less often included in teacher education design. Specifically, we studied elementary teachers’ participation in a system-level organizational routine: curriculum materials adoption processes(CMAPs).Using a communities of practice framework, we explored teacher learning in a comparative case study of three U.S.school districts’ CMAP routines, observingCMAP committee meetings and interviewing participants about their expeirences. We found that what teachers learned varied across each district’s CMAP. We argue this variation can be traced to two CMAP features:(1) teachers’ use of boundary objects and (2) their boundary spanning roles and structures. Results have implications for the design of educational systems’ organizational routines to more intentionally serve a dual role as a professional learning opportunity. 

Purpose: Most empirical work using a distributed perspective to frame research on leadership practice uses the school as the unit of analysis, focusing on how leadership is stretched over people and aspects of the situation within schools. This study investigates leadership practice for elementary science, using a multilevel distributed framework, to understand the interrelationships among educational leaders operating at various levels—from classrooms, to schools, to educational systems, and, beyond, to the educational sector. Research Methods/Approach: Using an embedded, comparative case study design, we analyzed leadership practice for elementary science reform in 13 school districts in the U.S. as leaders worked to bridge from the Next Generation Science Standards learning ideals to classroom instruction. Data collection included interviews, observations, and documents. Findings: Leading elementary science reform involved three core components of leadership practice: (1) garnering attention for science in a situation that prioritized the instruction of English Language Arts and mathematics; (2) cultivating and channeling essential relationships not only within the system but also in the broader education sector to access the resources needed to (re)build an educational infrastructure for elementary science instruction; and (3) supporting the use of educational infrastructure in everyday practice in schools. Implications: This study makes the case for using a multilevel distributed leadership perspective to frame studies of leadership practice to understand how efforts at different levels interact in shaping the practice of leadership. 

This comparative case study explores how 18 state education agencies (SEAs) support school districts in advancing standards-based elementary science reform. We identify how SEAs understand their work in advancing elementary science reform and describe how SEAs sought to engage districts in bridging from standards to classroom practice. Based on our analysis, we argue that the school subject is a critical explanatory variable in understanding SEA efforts to support standards implementation and SEAs lean on a resource-based approach for instructional policy implementation. This study contributes to the growing research base on the role of state policy in supporting standards implementation. 

Historically, teachers had been delegated the primary responsibility for the organization and management of classroom instruction in US public schools. While this delegation afforded teachers professional autonomy in their work, it has also resulted in disparities in students’ educational experiences and outcomes within and between classrooms, schools, and systems. In the effort to improve instruction and reduce disparities for students on a large scale, one reform effort in the US has focused on building instructionally focused education systems (IFESs) where central office and school leaders collaborate with teachers to organize and manage instruction. These efforts are playing out in a variety of contexts in the US, including in public school districts, non-profits, and other educational networks, and it is shifting how teachers carry out the day-to-day work of instruction. In this comparative case study, we investigate two IFESs in which efforts to improve instruction pushed against historic norms of teacher autonomy. We found that these new systems are not at odds with teacher autonomy, but rather these systems reflect a transition to more interdependent notions of teacher autonomy. 

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. 

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.