Current Program Development

Throughout 2008, we are engaged in intensive research and design to translate our aspirations into a tangible cohort of district partnerships. This work addresses the first of the three strands of our strategy.

To do this, we are asking ourselves three questions:

What? First, we want to understand clearly the core challenges that district leaders face in accelerating student achievement. We know that even highly-challenged systems can deliver effective education for all children. We want to document how success is achieved and how those lessons can be translated to other district contexts. To do this, we need not only a list of problems, but also a system for organizing these challenges in ways that help us build a practical knowledge base around them.

How? Second, we are developing a process through which superintendents and other district leaders can engage in creative problem-solving and tool-building around issues they identify as the most critical impediments to more widespread and rapid student achievement. We are looking at practices in other sectors that we would like to emulate in our own research, design and development. Such practices combine expertise from multiple disciplines and are highly collaborative and creative. In addition, they are capable of rapid trial and correction, leading to refined approaches in quick succession. We will provide opportunities for district leaders to work with experts in education as well as in complementary fields. These include technology, neuroscience, public policy, adult learning, systems design and knowledge management. Our process aims to facilitate the development of real-world solutions to urgent problems, while generating a transformative culture of learning, problem-solving, transparency and collaboration in the district.

Who? Third, we are identifying the districts that would most benefit from the kind of questions and processes we will explore. We will deploy our efforts in places where the dynamics of migration, economic development and social mobility provide both deep challenges and rich opportunities to learn, test and develop promising approaches to accelerated teaching and learning for students who live in low-income communities.