Equity-Centered Pipeline Initiative

Eight large school districts are exploring how to build principal pipelines that produce school leaders who can advance educational equity and lift student learning.

A young girl at her desk writing in a book, in a classroom at Russel Elementary School with other students

What we're doing

Principal pipelines with features like rigorous job standards and high-quality pre-service training can produce school leaders who boost student learning. That's what major research has found. But can these pipelines produce principals who foster educational equity as well?

Eight large school districts around the country are trying to find out. Each has developed a vision of what equity means to its schools. Each is also working to embed equity into the key components of what's known as a "comprehensive, aligned" principal pipeline. These pipelines are "comprehensive" because their parts cover the major actions districts can take to develop and support effective principals. They are "aligned" because the parts reinforce one another.

What we're learning

Several studies are in the works to examine the initiative. They include:

A four-year exploration of the districts’ central offices. Led by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin in collaboration with researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Houston, and California State Polytechnic University-Pomona.
A six-year examination of the initiative's implementation, including a tool to measure equity-centered leadership. Led by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers working with researchers from UCLA; Teachers College, Columbia University; Brown University; the American Institutes for Research; and WestEd.
A six-year research use and coordination study to design and build infrastructure to support research for equity-centered systems work. Led by researchers at the University of Colorado-Boulder, along with collaborators at Rice University.