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Drawing on research from Harvard University, Springboard Schools, Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning, Marzano and Waters, and The Wallace Foundation, it synthesizes shared best practices. Key themes include leadership, coherence and alignment, focus, people resources, teaching and learning, and balanced autonomy, with implications for training educational leaders.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/district-office-leadership-hero-or-villain/603428/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/district-office-leadership-hero-or-villain/603428.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"moss~","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-16","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":8},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What problem does the article address regarding district office leadership?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It addresses how district offices and leaders are often portrayed as obstacles to school reform and student achievement, and contrasts that view with research showing potential for positive impact.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Which studies does the article use to describe best practices?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It summarizes findings from studies by Harvard University (2007), Springboard Schools (2006), Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning (2006), Marzano and Waters (2006), and The Wallace Foundation (2005).",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What leadership themes are common across the studies?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The article highlights six similarities: leadership, coherence and alignment, focus, people resources, teaching and learning, and balanced autonomy.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},603428,1792111039,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":8,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},962090895452,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","District Office Leadership:  \nHero or Villain?  \nRonald Leon  \nCalifornia State Polytechnic University, Pomona  \nFor decades, school district offices, superintendents and school boards have been cast as “villains” in the drama of school reform and raising student achievement. This article presents research encompassing a different view of district leadership asthe possible “hero” in these efforts. Recent studies by Harvard University (2007), Springboard Schools (2006), Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning (2006), Marzano and Waters (2006), and The Wallace Foundation (2005), provide an insightful view of those best practices that support school and district wide improvement efforts. This article summarizes the key findings of each study and their similarities that include: (1) leadership,(2) coherence and alignment,(3) focus,(4) people resources,(5) teaching and learning and (6) balanced autonomy. The studies provide clear implications for programs that prepare future leaders in educational administration.  \nIntroduction  \nIn the context of raising student achievement, closing the achievement gap and effecting overall reform in our nation’s schools, there is a growing body of research that demonstrates that district office leadership has a significant impact on the performance of public schools. This impact has the possibility of either enabling or hindering school reform efforts. For the purposes of this article, the term “district(s)” is defined as central office, board of education and the superintendent.  \nEducating and preparing school and district leaders with the knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary to implement reform in our schools and districts, to raise achievement and close the achievement gap are surely essential and worthy functions of educational leadership programs across the country. The intent of this article is to illuminate research that identifies those leadership behaviors and district actions that provide strong support to schools in achieving these essential goals. These leadership behaviorsand district actions have clear implications for coursework and programs in educational leadership provided our current and future school and leaders.  \nVillain?  \nOver the past two decades, district leadership has often been painted as the villain in efforts to improve our schools. School district offices have been cast as villains in the drama of school reform—intractable bureaucracies that either got in the way or, at best, were irrelevant to the task of improving  \nCAPEA Education Leadership and Administration, Vol. 20—2008  \n46 ©2010 DEStech Publications, Inc.  \nDistrict Office Leadership: Hero or Villain? 47  \nschools (Springboard Schools, 2006) . In the late 1980s, former Secretary of Education, William Bennett characterized superintendents, district office staff and schools board members as part of the education “blob” soaking up resources and resisting reform without contributing to student achievement (Education Week, March 2, 1987) . Supporting this claim, Bennett, Finn and Cribb (1999), reported that  \nthe public school establishment is one of the most stubbornly intransigent forces on the planet. It is full of people and organizations dedicated to protecting established programs and keeping things just the way they are. Administrators talk of reform even as they are circling the wagons to fend off change, or preparing to outflank your innovation. (p. 628)  \nProtheroe noted in 1998:  \nthe cost of school administration and its effect on the resources available for instruction has been the subject of countless speeches and op-ed articles and talk radio since then Secretary of Education William Bennett first applied the “blob” description to administration more than 10 years ago. Today, even staunch supporters of public education sometimes rely on the same misconceptions. (p. 26)  \nHero?  \nRegrettably, the concept of “villain” or ’blob” has been sustained overtime. In sharp contrast to th","cbCaiuf7DZwDogQr","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiuf7DZwDogQr","pdf",63284,11,"English","# Introduction\n# Villain?\n# Hero?","[{\"question\":\"What problem does the article address regarding district office leadership?\",\"answer\":\"It addresses how district offices and leaders are often portrayed as obstacles to school reform and student achievement, and contrasts that view with research showing potential for positive impact.\"},{\"question\":\"Which studies does the article use to describe best practices?\",\"answer\":\"It summarizes findings from studies by Harvard University (2007), Springboard Schools (2006), Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning (2006), Marzano and Waters (2006), and The Wallace Foundation (2005).\"},{\"question\":\"What leadership themes are common across the studies?\",\"answer\":\"The article highlights six similarities: leadership, coherence and alignment, focus, people resources, teaching and learning, and balanced autonomy.\"}]","District Office Leadership - Hero or Villain? | PDF",1792096220,28]