State-Level Support for Comprehensive School Reform: Implications for Policy and Practice

Improving School Leadership: The Promise of Cohesive Leadership Systems

“…State organizations are in the best position to build statewide cohesion around education policies. State agencies can foster cohesion, for example, by sending clear, consistent, and coherent messages to all districts (Lane and Gracia, 2004). In recent years, most of these messages have focused on uniform standards and performance targets.…”

“…In recent years, most of these messages have focused on uniform standards and performance targets. State policymakers have access and reach that many local districts cannot ever hope to achieve, and states can therefore play a special role in facilitating networks and engaging external partners (Lane and Gracia, 2004;Unger et al, 2008). For small to midsize districts, states play a critical role in pooling resources to achieve economies of scale (Unger et al, 2008).…”

“…The state role started to increase after the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case (1954), when states were required to assume the responsibility of ensuring equity for students. The federal government's role in education also grew, and state education agencies had to keep up to manage federal programs and ensure that districts and schools were complying with the rules and regulations that accom-panied federal aid (Lane and Gracia, 2004;Fuhrman, Goertz, and Weinbaum, 2007). The state role increased even further after the publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983 and the subsequent reform movements of the 1980s and 1990s.…”