Leadership That Supports Continuous Improvement: The Case of Ayer Elementary

Abstract

The "CORE Districts" ("CORE") is a nonprofit organization created in 2010, which works to foster collaboration between eight of California's largest districts. In 2018-19, "CORE" provided a range of supports to participating districts including programs to develop continuous improvement capability for district and school leaders tailored to their various roles (e.g., senior district leaders, improvement team facilitators) and coaching for school-based improvement facilitators and Local Improvement Teams (LIT). This case examines continuous improvement work within one of the CORE districts, Fresno Unified School District (FUSD), from the perspective of Ayer Elementary School, starting with the range of external supports it received and drilling down from school leaders to teachers to examine the nature of the improvement work.