From Tinkering to Transformation: How School District Central Offices Drive Equitable Teaching and Learning

Winner of the 2024 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Division A's Excellence in Research Award

A model guide for reconceiving the central office to help educational leaders build equity-aligned, research-based approaches to district reform.

In From Tinkering to Transformation, Meredith Honig and Lydia Rainey call on superintendents and other district leaders to rethink the very premises that underlie the long-standing ways of working in their central offices. Based on the results of nearly two decades of research from districts of 2,000 to 200,000 students, Honig and Rainey pinpoint how central offices support equitable teaching and learning in schools through specific changes in key central office functions: teaching and learning, human resources, principal supervision, operations, and the superintendent's cabinet.

Using lively case studies, detailed examples, and performance data from ten US school districts, Honig and Rainey deftly highlight how central offices must transform in order to support equitable teaching and learning in schools. They identify typical pitfalls district leaders may encounter, illustrate a guiding set of design principles that can be used to inform transformation efforts, and offer practical advice on how to realize the ambitious goals of fundamental systemic change for equity.

This inspiring work shows how district leaders can move forward with revolutionary central office reforms that support equitable teaching and learning for every student.