Leadership Investments

Transformed learning movements and environments are led by leaders who are unapologetic about walking away from a broken education system and walking toward creating limitless learning opportunities for all. Some of our greatest successes were contingent upon strong leaders who knew how to focus their resources and talent while pushing past the status-quo and uniting disparate groups to rally around a common cause.

We believe great leaders perform these key functions:

• Shape the vision and set a high standard of academic success for all students.
• Create a climate and culture hospitable to learning.
• Cultivate leadership in others.
• Relentlessly improve instruction and hold people accountable.
• Actively coach people and manage resources and processes.
• Use data to improve and make decisions.

A particularly noteworthy finding reinforced in a major study by researchers at the University of Minnesota and University of Toronto, is the empirical link between school leadership and improved student achievement.  The School Principal as Leader: Guiding Schools to Better Teaching and Learning, Wallace Foundation. January 2012

Data

We believe relevant data and reliable information in the hands of citizens and policymakers is a key to leadership in learning in Idaho. Data and research should inform decisions so we have a seamless, responsive and flexible education system—this is the outcome for the Foundation’s continuous improvement initiative.

Focus of Continuous Improvement Initiative 

• A standardized set of student achievement benchmarks is available to inform policy and financial decisions.
• Informed and engaged policymakers and stakeholder groups.
• Infrastructure to deliver content and information digitally is built out, statewide.
• School districts have access to postsecondary data to help them make improvements in the way they prepare students to go on.
• State student longitudinal data systems are aligned.
• School districts have access to postsecondary data to help them make improvements in the way they prepare students to go on.

Resources

• Foundation’s frequently cited data packet
• Idaho Education Network IEN
• Idaho report on the Data Quality Campaign 10 Elements
• National, state, federal, independent, research centers data – click here.

Project Pages

• ID21 Project
• ED SESSIONS Forums
• Idaho Education Resource Guide
• Data Packet for Idaho Legislators
• The Idaho Education Network
• SchoolNet Project