Systems Support

Discover What’s Working in Literacy Education

To support stronger literacy outcomes for all students, leaders from six school districts and two state education agencies came together to share what’s working in their systems. Through this collaboration, they identified key strategies, commitments, and action steps that can drive meaningful change in literacy education.

Download the full report to explore these real-world recommendations and system-level approaches.

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Learn how to start your own teacher apprenticeship program

Federally recognized apprenticeship programs provide structured on-the-job training and relevant coursework to fill high-need teacher vacancies. This guide shares best practices on how to create partnerships with academic institutions, determine pay for apprentices and mentors, identify funding, evaluate effectiveness, and communicate the program with the public.

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Retain more teachers in your district

Supporting and recognizing teachers currently in classrooms is just as important as attracting new talent to the profession. This guide provides actionable system-wide ideas to incentivize teachers to stay in the classroom longer and reduce turnover.

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Quickly catch up on recent teacher licensure reform nationwide

Some states and districts are changing the criteria for licensure, others are expanding the qualifying score on state licensing tests, and some are dropping licensure tests altogether. Successful initiatives often involve collaboration among educators, administrators, universities, and community stakeholders to create a comprehensive approach to teacher licensure.

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How to build effective partnerships for workforce training after high school

Want to expand your career and technical education offerings that lead students to jobs? Learn how your state can effectively partner with an intermediary organization, such as a chambers of commerce or postsecondary institutions, to provide necessary training and a pipeline to jobs that benefit students.  

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A national look at teacher shortage — and innovations that help

Gain a deeper understanding of the causes and impacts of educator shortages, and the research around emerging innovative models, such as licensure flexibility, alternative paths to recruitment, and scheduling flexibility.

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Advice to navigate K-12 leadership in an era of politicization

Chiefs for Change spoke with six superintendents who recently resigned to share insight for current and aspiring education leaders. We also spoke with A.J. Crabill, an expert on school board governance on how to foster productive relationships between superintendents and school boards and create highly effective school systems.

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A case for continued federal support to help schools recover from the pandemic

Chiefs for Change member superintendents and state education leaders share from their experiences why more federal funding for pandemic recovery is needed. Though recovery is underway, it is a process. If effective programs are cut when federal recovery funding ends, some of the nation’s most vulnerable students may never catch up, at great cost to those children, their communities, and our nation as a whole.

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Roadmap to strengthening teacher pipeline through apprenticeship

Learn from the nation’s first federally-approved teacher apprenticeship program. In Tennessee, participants earn a free bachelor’s degree in three years, become certified to teach in grades K-5, and participate in a multi-year residency while being a full-time, paid paraprofessional, with benefits until they are ready for a job in their district.

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Show your work: Communicating successes of pandemic recovery programs

It’s not enough to do the work; superintendents today need to communicate their wins in the classroom to reinforce trust and accountability in the community. Learn what your peers are doing in other districts to show what’s working with pandemic recovery funding and programs that accelerate student growth.

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Toolkit for reopening schools amid COVID pandemic 

When system leaders needed us most, we compiled resources for state and district leaders preparing for the 2021-2022 school year. This report includes guidelines on implementing public health protocols, ensuring sufficient COVID-19 testing, tracking, and reporting, promoting vaccinations for eligible staff and students, and assessing campus ventilation and air filtration systems.

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Track federal COVID relief spending

Strategically allocate and monitor your district’s funding from the CARES Act, CRRSA Act, and American Rescue Plan by using this workbook. You’ll find planning framework questions and graphs populated by your district’s inputs to help you communicate initiatives to stakeholders.

Download a copy of this Google Sheets workbook to prepare, prioritize, organize and monitor initiatives that receive Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) federal funding. 

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#SendTheSignal: A Call for Federal Action to End the Digital Divide

The COVID pandemic provided an opportunity to expand internet access for students nationwide — from the urban core to remote rural areas. This report outlines innovative practices from across the Chiefs for Change membership and calls on the federal government and industry to end the digital divide.

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Improve student career readiness through boosting CTE 

This report looks at innovative practices to improve career and technical education across the Chiefs for Change membership and what research says contributes to student success. We then share 11 key recommendations for district and state leaders to implement.

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Students grow faster when their school system is supported by Chiefs for Change

An analysis shows students in school systems led by Chiefs for Change leaders — state and district chiefs committed to student-focused change — are achieving far better results than students nationally. Students in states and districts where Chiefs for Change has had sustained support across leadership changes fared the best.

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