Sobrato Early Academic Language (SEAL) Model: Final Report of Findings from a Four-Year Study

The Sobrato Early Academic Language (SEAL) Model Research and Evaluation Final Report is comprised of three sets of studies that took place between 2015 and 2019 to examine the effectiveness of the SEAL Model in 67 schools within 12 districts across the state of California. Over a decade ago, the Sobrato Family Foundation responded to the enduring opportunity gaps and low academic outcomes for the state’s 1.2 million English Learners by investing in the design of the SEAL Model. The SEAL PreK–Grade 3 Model was created as a whole-school initiative to develop students’ language, literacy, and academic skills. The pilot study revealed promising findings, and the large-scale implementation of SEAL was launched in 2013. This report addresses a set of research questions and corresponding studies focused on: 1) the perceptions of school and district-level leaders regarding district and school site implementation of the SEAL Model, 2) teachers’ development and practices, and 3) student outcomes. The report is organized in five sections, within which are twelve research briefs that address the three areas of study. Technical appendices are included in each major section. A developmental evaluation process with mixed methods research design was used to answer the research questions. Key findings indicate that the implementation of the SEAL Model has taken root in many schools and districts where there is evidence of systemic efforts or instructional improvement for the English Learners they serve. In regards to teachers’ development and practices, there were statistically significant increases in the use of research-based practices for English Learners. Teachers indicated a greater sense of efficacy in addressing the needs of this population and believe the model has had a positive impact on their knowledge and skills to support the language and literacy development of PreK- Grade 3 English Learners. Student outcome data reveal that despite SEAL schools averaging higher rates of poverty compared to the statewide rate, SEAL English Learners in grades 2–4 performed comparably or better than California English Learners in developing their English proficiency; additional findings show that an overwhelming majority of SEAL students are rapidly progressing towards proficiency thus preventing them from becoming long-term English Learners. English Learners in bilingual programs advanced in their development of Spanish, while other English Learners suffered from language loss in Spanish. The final section of the report provides considerations and implications for further SEAL replication, sustainability, additional research and policy.

Leading from all levels: building supply chain leadership capacity in Equateur Province, Democratic Republic of Congo

A well-functioning supply chain is a critical component of the health system to ensure high-quality medicines and health products are available when and where they are needed. However, because supply chains are complex systems, strong, competent leaders are needed to drive continuous improvement efforts. This paper documents the learnings from a supply chain leadership intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which aimed to build leadership capacity in a cross-tier group of central/provincial/district-level leaders. The intervention, called the Leadership in Supply Chain Initiative, used an experiential learning curriculum to train 19 ‘champions’ in Equateur Province, DRC. Based on self-assessments and key informant interviews, participants reported that the intervention increased their ability to lead change in the supply chain. In particular, participants and stakeholders noted that empowering district managers as leaders in the supply chain was important to improve supply chain performance, since they oversee service delivery points and are responsible for operationalising changes in the supply chain. Moreover, this intervention adds to evidence that leadership capacity is most effectively gained through experiential learning coupled with mentorship and coaching. Additional research is needed to determine the optimal duration of leadership building interventions and to better understand how supply chain leaders can be supported and mentored within the public health system.

Unconditional Education

After decades of reform, America's public schools continue to fail particular groups of students; the greatest opportunity gaps are faced by those whose achievement is hindered by complex stressors, including disability, trauma, poverty, and institutionalized racism. When students' needs overwhelm the neighborhood schools assigned to serve them, they are relegated to increasingly isolated educational environments. Unconditional Education (UE) offers an alternate approach that transforms schools into communities where all students can thrive. It reduces the need for more intensive and costly future remediation by pairing a holistic, multi-tiered system of supports with an intentional focus on overall culture and climate, and promotes systematic coordination and integration of funding and services by identifying gaps and eliminating redundancies to increase the efficient allocation of available resources. This book is an essential resource for mental health and educational stakeholders (i.e., school social workers, therapists, teachers, school administrators, and district-level leaders) who are interested in adopting an unconditional approach to supporting the students within their schools.

Planning for the Future: Leadership Development and Succession Planning in Education

Superintendents leading school districts, particularly in hard-to-staff areas, face immense challenges in recruiting and retaining high-quality, well-trained teachers, principals, and district leaders. Many large urban areas as well as their rural counterparts have high concentrations of intergenerational poverty and unemployment. Rural areas are further disadvantaged by the lack of social and cultural attractions as well as fewer health care resources. In North Carolina, many of the lowest performing schools in the state are disproportionately clustered in rural areas. Superintendents leading districts in such areas face serious problems of high teacher and school leader turnover. As a result, superintendents are constantly engaged in an ongoing cycle of hiring new teachers, assistant principals, and district-level leaders. The graying of the school leadership profession further compounds the problem. For example, over the next 4 years in rural, high-poverty schools in North Carolina, an estimated 50% of principals will be eligible for retirement—making succession planning for quality school leadership a critical issue. In this article, we review the research and best practices on succession planning in education as well as in other sectors. Utilizing the theoretical framework of human capital theory, we illustrate how forward-thinking superintendents can partner with universities and other organizations to address the leadership challenges they face by creating strategic, long-term, leadership growth plans that build leadership capacity and potentially yield significant returns in improved student outcomes.

District Technology Leadership Then and Now: A Comparative Study of District Technology Leadership From 2001 to 2014

Purpose: This article focuses on district superintendents who were recognized as eSchoolNews Tech-Savvy Superintendents. Research Methods: Using interviews, this study compares data from superintendents who won this award between 2001 and 2010 in contrast to those who won the award between 2011 and 2014. The focus of the study is on understanding how discussions of challenges and successes within this population have shifted over nearly 15 years. Findings: A key finding is that these district-level leaders have shifted away from first-order changes of implementing technology initiatives and toward second-order changes of supporting teaching and learning that is supported with modern digital technologies. Implications: Recommendations are made for leadership preparation as well as lines of inquiry.

Putting the Public Back in Public Education: Community Advocacy and Education Leadership under the Every Student Succeeds Act

In this article, we argue that ESSA provides a unique policy window for district-level leaders to advance an equity agenda by working closely with local community advocates. Drawing from a larger qualitative, multiple case study on the role of school boards in three U.S. Mountain West school districts, we focus on community advocacy committed to expanding educational equity and opportunity for underserved Black, Latinx, and English learner students Guided by community equity literacy as an organizing framework grounded in the literature on school–community relations, partnerships, and collaboration, we find that community advocates, who in some cases became school board members, identified educational inequities through various forms of knowledge, and then took deliberate actions to dismantle inequities in their respective school districts. We conclude with recommendations for how district-level leaders might leverage community advocacy and education leadership at the local level under ESSA.

Culturally Responsive Leadership

Culturally responsive leadership, derived from the concept of culturally responsive pedagogy, involves those leadership philosophies, practices, and policies that create inclusive schooling environments for students and families from ethnically and culturally diverse backgrounds. Common practices include emphasizing high expectations for student achievement; incorporating the history, values, and cultural knowledge of students’ home communities in the school curriculum; working to develop a critical consciousness among both students and faculty to challenge inequities in the larger society; and creating organizational structures at the school and district level that empower students and parents from diverse racial and ethnic communities. Similar terms used to describe this approach to leadership include culturally proficient leadership, culturally relevant leadership, culture-based leadership, cultural competency, multicultural leadership, and leadership for diversity. Although there are subtle differences in how authors and researchers employ these different terms, in general these approaches encourage teacher leaders, school principals, and district-level leaders to “lead for diversity” and work with teachers, parents, and the larger community to develop curriculum frameworks, pedagogical practices, and organizational structures and routines that are consistent with the cultural orientations of ethnically diverse students and their families. While much of the investigation of culturally responsive practices has focused on classroom teaching, recent efforts have applied a culturally responsive framework to school leadership. In general, these studies characterize culturally responsive school leaders as those who emphasize high expectations for student academic achievement, exhibit an ethic of care, promote inclusive instructional practices, and develop organizational structures that empower parents and the larger community in the life of the school. Culturally responsive leadership often overlaps with “leadership for social justice” approaches, a term that has been prevalent in the US educational literature and focuses on improving the educational experiences and outcomes for all students, particularly those who have been traditionally marginalized in schools. While this bibliography incorporates some sources that focus on socially just leadership, it emphasizes those school leadership theories and practices that respond to issues of ethnicity, culture, language, and race.