School districts occupy a special place in the American educational system. They are the locus of accountability to both local and state government. In recent decades, this has meant that they have a responsibility to mobilize evidence to demonstrate that students are being educated (often in a cost-effective manner). As districts grow beyond a certain size, they take on certain staff functions related to curriculum and the support of teaching, so they house experts who use evidence about student achievement to make decisions. Finally, their staff roles often extend to collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and distributing data, especially student assessment or testing data.

Our research examines variation in teacher learning in a school–university partnership. We explore the personal characteristics of social trust and teaching efficacy beliefs in relation to teachers’ levels of learning.

This paper reports on a study of test preparation activity among fourth grade math and science teachers in New Jersey using a survey of almost 300 teachers and observations of and interviews with almost 60. Results show that while New Jersey teachers are teaching the newly assessed content and adopting, at least on a cosmetic level, specific techniques associated with more inquiry-oriented instruction, there is more direct instruction in the lower SES districts. Finally, principal support has more influence on the test preparation strategies teachers use than does pressure to comply.

This chapter seeks to map the contextual terrain facing contemporary educational leaders, noting six key interrelated features of the ever-shifting landscape: the political, the economic, the financial, the accountability, the demographic, and the staffing terrain.

In this chapter, we report on one study that examined the district’s role in mediating the effects of state standards and assessments on teaching practice.

Based on interviews and observations, the authors suggest that some of the complaints about high stakes testing are overstated. Yet, they doubt that such stakes will influence pedagogical practice without more learning opportunities for teachers.

An examination of teacher reform networks in California and Vermont.