This report includes a set of recommendations intended to be helpful for central office leaders who want to engage in central office transformation.

1. Engage in central office transformation as a focal point of a districtwide reform effort and as a necessary complement to other improvement initiatives. District leaders should first understand that central office transformation is promising in its own right as an approach for improving teaching and learning districtwide and embrace it not as a replacement for other reforms, but alongside other efforts that may already be in place in their districts.
2. Start the work of transformation by developing a theory of action for how central office practice in the particular local context contributes to improving teaching and learning, and plan to revise this theory as the work unfolds. However central office leaders choose to begin and develop such a reform approach in their own setting, they should start with a theory of action that ties their first and ongoing steps clearly and directly to teaching and learning improvement.
3. Invest substantially in people to lead the work throughout the central office, and especially at the interface between the central office and schools. District leaders should not simply assume that their central offices are staffed with the right people for this work, nor that those staff who are already there are fully prepared to engage in new practices. Moving ahead with transformation efforts will likely require strategic hiring as well as sustained investment in supporting ongoing learning among those who work in all parts of the central office.
4. Start now engaging key stakeholders, political supporters, and potential funders in understanding that central office transformation is important and requires sustained commitment. District leaders should consider what steps they will take to keep key stakeholders informed and supportive of these transformation efforts, and not just assume that people will understand why the focus on central office practice matters so much. Accordingly, leaders will need to articulate their theory of action and reform plans in terms that are compelling and understandable to the full range of stakeholders and others.