Adaptive State and District Leadership to Address Curricular Problems of Practice

• In Event: Implementation and Effects of Standards-Based Reform: A Five-Year, Five-State Study of the Multiple Levels and Dimensions of Ambitious Instructional Reforms

Abstract

As the designers of large-scale systems, state and district leaders must demonstrate adaptive leadership, which is needed in situations with unknown solutions to complex challenges (Heifetz et al., 2009). One such challenge is determining how to leverage instructional resources in order to meet the elusive demands of SBR for all students in a time where popular curricular texts still lack complete alignment to the standards (Polikoff, 2015). In this study, we examine the different layers of adaptive curricular challenges that leaders face and how they address these challenges.

Adaptive leadership is well-suited for complex problems of practice that highlight a gap between espoused values and actual behaviors, that demonstrate conflicting values, that are embedded in a culture of avoiding the unspeakable, and that oversimplify or circumvent issues (Heifetz et al., 2009). These problems frequently manifest for leaders seeking to develop a curricular infrastructure to support teachers’ implementation of the standards. To address the complexity of these curricular problems of practice, adaptive leaders lead learning initiatives to better understand the issue, refrain from determining immediate solutions, and encourage the departure from entrenched norms (Heifetz et al., 2009).

We analyzed 55 interviews with state leaders and 37 district leaders in Ohio and Massachusetts through the lens of adaptive leadership concerning complex curricular problems of practice.

Interview data reveal state- and district-led learning initiatives related to three out of the four types of adaptive problems of practice (see Heifetz et al., 2009). State leaders, who initially avoided involvement in curriculum implementation for fear of infringing on districts’ local control (i.e., avoiding the unspeakable), are now working more collaboratively with districts to support teachers’ curricular decision-making. District leaders are also viewing their roles as supporting teachers’ gaps in standards-based instruction (i.e., espoused values versus actual behaviors) by initiating learning processes around their curricula. Both state and district leaders are also adaptively targeting the challenge of including special learners in the same curricular experiences as their general education peers, given some exclusionary mindsets around exceptional students (i.e., conflicting values). Despite these promising trends, state and district leaders’ have acknowledged that an adaptive problem of practice that has received little attention is standards-aligned curriculum implementation at the high school level (i.e., circumventing the issue).

A large number of educational leaders, foundations, and researchers have recently turned to curriculum as a major lever of standards implementation (Polikoff, 2018). By examining these approaches through the lens of adaptive leadership, we can see where state and district leaders are growing in addressing complex curricular problems of practice, and where there may be gaps.

Heifetz, R. A., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. (2009). The practice of adaptive leadership: Tools and tactics for changing your organization and the world. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Press.

Polikoff, M. S. (2015). How well aligned are textbooks to the Common Core Standards in mathematics? American Educational Research Journal, 52(6), 1185-1211.

Polikoff, M. (2018). The challenges of curriculum materials as a reform lever. Evidence Speaks Reports, 2(58). Washington, D.C: Center on Children and Families at Brookings.

Authors

• Katie Pak, The School District of Philadelphia

• Laura M. Desimone, University of Delaware