The Wallace Foundation is a national foundation dedicated to supporting and sharing best practices to expand learning and enrichment opportunities for children. As further evidence of their continued commitment, they are doubling down with an estimated $102 million investment in a new initiative to develop principal pipelines for equity-centered leaders that supports eight large, high-needs districts. See ECPI launch announcement at: Equity Centered Principal Pipeline – Wallace Foundation.
Each district’s partnership team will receive grants totaling $8.24 million over a five-year period, (assuming they are successfully renewed each year) to advance its own vision of equity. The driving aim of the grant awards is to further the districts efforts to develop and support highly effective school leaders while addressing equity-centered practices that directly impacts student achievement. Through a series of independent research studies, the work of the eight districts is expected to generate useful insights for benefit to the field.
The eight district grantees were selected through a rigorous and competitive process and demonstrated evidence of strong support for the initiative from local stakeholders, university partners, and the relevant state education agency. The participating District Partnership Teams include:
- Baltimore City Public Schools, Maryland
- With local partners, Morgan State University, Towson University, and the Maryland State Department of Education
- Columbus City, Ohio
- With local partners, Ashland University, Ohio State University, and the Ohio Department of Education
- District of Columbia Public Schools, District of Columbia
- With local partners, Howard University, George Washington University
- Fresno Unified School District, California
- With local partners, San Diego State University, National University, and the California Department of Education
- Jefferson County School District, Kentucky
- With local partners, Spalding University, University of Louisville, and the Kentucky Department of Education
- Portland Public Schools, Oregon
- With local partners, Portland State University, Lewis and Clark College, and the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission
- San Antonio Independent School District, Texas
- With local partners, University of Texas, Austin, University of Texas, San Antonio, and the Texas Education Agency
- Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, North Carolina
- With local partners, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Appalachian State University, and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
As part of my independent consulting work over the past six years I’ve had the privilege to support the Wallace principal pipeline initiative working with various districts, state education agencies, and other partners to grow school leaders as agents of change in their respective communities. In this next phase of the Wallace work, I’m excited to be working with Columbus City Schools (the largest and most diverse district in Ohio) as we begin this exciting ECPI work.