POLICY PAPERS

The Chiefs for Change report, "Choosing Wisely: How States Can Help Districts Adopt High-Quality Instructional Materials," describes reasons why states with curriculum oversight often fail to prevent the use of poor materials. The report also outlines recommendations that states can follow to promote the use of excellent curriculum and related professional learning.

While Chiefs for Change believes that embracing all dimensions of diversity is vital, this brief focuses on the inequity among women in education leadership roles in districts and states. Join Chiefs for Change in this work by sharing the report, and by taking action to address this inequity. Together, we can ensure that the next generation’s great women leaders end up where they should be: at the top.

The call to action is straightforward: At every level, policy makers, stakeholders, and current education leaders can serve students better by investing in and drawing from new and stronger career pathways, superintendent-development programs, and coaching trees within districts and state education agencies. America’s public education system needs a stronger bench of courageous and effective systems leaders. But that won’t happen until we prioritize diverse education system leadership and develop it.

Despite our nation’s great diversity, the vast majority of system-level leaders in our school districts and state agencies remain white. This is especially troubling as research consistently illustrates the significant benefits of having a diverse teacher and leader workforce, and in particular individuals who share a similar race or ethnicity with the students and communities they serve. For example, increasing the diversity of the educator workforce at every level can build citizenship, provide role models and welcoming environments for students of color, encourage individuals to challenge the status quo, increase academic achievement, and shift teacher mindset and expectations.