System Wise: Continuous Instructional Improvement at Scale

Actionable and adaptable guidance for extending the proven Data Wise process from the classroom to entire school systems.

In System Wise, Adam Parrott-Sheffer, Carmen Williams, David Rease, Jr., and Kathryn Parker Boudett provide a blueprint to scale up the Data Wise process for continuous improvement, extending it from classrooms and schools to broader educational contexts. The System Wise approach highlights the adaptability of the Data Wise protocols, which promote agency among students and teachers, data literacy among educators, and capacity building within organizations to achieve better learning outcomes system wide. 

Using real-world stories, the authors demonstrate how their data-driven model for system-level continuous improvement can respond to the specific needs and challenges of different learning communities and types of schools. They encourage team leaders, principals, and district administrators to root their leadership within the ACE habits of mind (which focus on action, collaboration, and evidence) and to work in partnership with teachers to bring coherence and symmetry to instruction throughout an educational system. The book includes detailed descriptions of strategic tasks, accompanied by examples, planning checklists, and implementation templates, to help educational teams manage continuous organization-wide improvement. 

This highly useful work empowers educators to align values, strategy, and resources to create the conditions in which equitable schools can be built and sustained. The practices and approaches of System Wise will be immediately applicable to any large-scale challenges educational leaders seek to solve.

About the Author :
Adam Parrott-Sheffer is the strategy advisor for the Data Wise Project and cochair of the Data Wise in Action Program. He is the coauthor of Entry Planning for Equity-Focused Leaders: Empowering Schools and Communities.

Carmen Williams is the assistant superintendent of Instruction and Innovation in a Massachusetts public school district and cochair of the Data Wise in Action Program.

David Rease, Jr. is the director of Equity, Diversity, and Belonging in the Prince George’s County Public Schools.

Kathryn Parker Boudett is a senior lecturer on education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the director of the Data Wise Project. She is a coeditor of Data Wise and Data Wise in Action and coauthor of Meeting Wise.

Review :
“This thought-provoking book shows how district leaders can and should ensure cohesion within the broad framework of a school district ecosystem to benefit all students. Anchored in case studies, the authors provide a clear and practical strategy that can be employed in any school district.” - Patrick Tutwiler, secretary of education, Massachusetts

“School systems do not improve because of their inability to ‘focus on focus.’ Coherence and commitment are essential to school improvement. The examples and descriptions in System Wise help district leaders concretely see the vision of what is possible when passionate educators collaborate and focus on collectively improving student achievement.” - Shawn Joseph, assistant professor and co-director/director, Superintendent Academies, Howard University

“The case studies presented in System Wise specifically address the considerations and questions that leaders must grapple with when undertaking the task of scaling up the Data Wise process system-wide. These case studies offer lessons learned, providing system leaders with a chance to reflect on their own leadership journey in implementing this process.” - Almi G. Abeyta, superintendent, Chelsea Public Schools