From Tinkering to Transformation: How School District Central Offices Drive Equitable Teaching and Learning

A model guide for reconceiving the central office to help educational leaders build equity-aligned, research-based approaches to district reform. In From Tinkering to Transformation, Meredith Honig and Lydia Rainey call on superintendents and other district leaders to rethink the very premises that underlie the long-standing ways of working in their central offices. Based on the results of nearly two decades of research from districts of 200 to 200,000 students, Honig and Rainey pinpoint how central offices support equitable teaching and learning in schools through specific changes in key central office functions: teaching and learning, human resources, principal supervision, operations, and the superintendent's cabinet. Using lively case studies, detailed examples, and performance data from ten US school districts, Honig and Rainey deftly highlight how central offices must transform in order to support equitable teaching and learning in schools. They identify typical pitfalls district leaders may encounter, illustrate a guiding set of design principles that can be used to inform transformation efforts, and offer practical advice on how to realize the ambitious goals of fundamental systemic change for equity. This inspiring work shows how district leaders can move forward with revolutionary central office reforms that support equitable teaching and learning for every student.

About the Author :
Meredith I. Honig is professor of Education Policy, Organizations, and Leadership at the University of Washington, where she also founded and directs the District Leadership Design Lab. Lydia R. Rainey is a principal at the Center for Reinventing Public Education.

Review :
“From Tinkering to Transformation is a beautifully written book that is crystal clear about a new role for school districts that has so far escaped the attention of the most ardent reformers. The solution is nuanced and requires flipping the problem to determine what really drives transformation in learning. Honig and Rainey literarily and specifically help districts turn themselves inside-out, thereby providing a clear roadway and map to system change. Interesting to read, compelling to contemplate, and irresistible to the action oriented. Use this book now!” —Michael Fullan, professor emeritus, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto “It is one thing to talk about transformation. It is another to do it. This book is for every educator who wants to be part of making systems that disrupt current inequities rather than reinforce them. Honig and Rainey offer research-based, practical ideas for how to do the right and necessary work of making school systems places for all children to thrive.” —Elizabeth City, senior lecturer on education, Harvard Graduate School of Education “In From Tinkering to Transformation, Honig and Rainey address many classic district missteps, such as the way time is often spent on nonstrategic initiatives and the lack of staff connection to a unifying vision. But they don’t leave us hanging. They share critical shifts needed to tackle years of deeply entrenched historical inequities. Honig and Rainey offer relevant, timely, and meaningful provocation and practicality asking us, ‘What would it mean to start from a blank page?’”—Nancy Gutierrez, president and CEO, The Leadership Academy