This report, “The Role of Partnerships in Supporting Equity-Centered School Leadership,” draws on qualitative and quantitative data collected from 2021 to 2025. The qualitative evidence includes:

• Notes from monthly ECPI-focused meetings in each of the eight districts, biannual initiative convenings, and annual reporting events facilitated by Wallace;
• Two rounds of semi-structured interviews with state, community, and university partners, and one round of interviews with district leaders;
• Documents written by the districts and submitted to Wallace (such as progress reports, work plans, and logic models); and
• Syllabi and program materials shared with the researchers by university partners. 

The data sources were used to trace how districts leveraged partnerships in the design and implementation of leadership pathways.

The quantitative component of the study consists of four annual waves of a social network analysis (SNA) survey. (Social Network Analysis is research methodology used to map and measure relationships, interactions, and flows between people, groups, or organizations.) The survey sought to capture patterns of collaboration, advice seeking, and influence among individuals involved in leadership pathway design and implementation.