Conditions for Change: The School Leadership Initiative

Educators, policymakers, philanthropists, and others have worked for decades to improve education by implementing new policies and practices to better serve students. But the desired improvement has been elusive -- more sporadic (and anecdotal) than systemic. Success can be difficult to sustain, and what works in one school may not work on the campus down the street. Research-based initiatives should drive what happens in classrooms and schools. However, too often we see that new education initiatives fade away or have mixed results over time. The author's recent research with four district partners revealed certain conditions that need to be in place for practice and policy change to occur. These conditions are: (1) Leadership Conditions; (2) Capacity Conditions; (3) Cultural Conditions; and (4) Performance Conditions. While the research is specific to Principal Talent Management (PTM), what the authors describe as the practices and policies for recruiting, supporting, and retaining effective principals, they believe these conditions may also apply to other efforts to improve schools for students and families. [Additional funding was provided by the BNSF Railway Foundation, Carstens Family Funds, and Sammons Enterprises, Inc.]