Leveraging District Leadership to Improve Science Education Outcomes

March 4, 2025

By Jill A. Wertheim

In a crowded conference room, a panel of district administrators face a daunting question: How can we ensure that students in grades K–12 receive a science education that prepares them for the complex challenges of today and the future? 

This question is exactly why new science standards such as the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were developed—to ensure that all students have access to rich and rigorous science learning. These standards encourage a shift away from memorization and toward deeper investigation into real-world questions and problems. To realize this goal, educators must focus on activating students’ sense-making abilities. Such changes begin with leadership.

As their discussion unfolds, the administrators are introduced to classroom scenarios where teachers were already implementing these NGSS-related transformative practices. The teachers were guiding students through challenging science lessons that required them to wrestle with complex problems. However, as their conversation continues, some administrators express hesitation. Brows start to furrow, and the leaders begin to voice concerns: “My students can’t do this.” “My teachers aren’t ready to use these materials.” These objections are not due to a lack of teacher commitment or student ability but perhaps stem from leaders’ unfamiliarity with such an innovative approach, as they may not have previously witnessed such student successes themselves.

Cultivating Science Leadership

Our research shows that when education leaders provide teachers and students with the necessary supports and encouragement, they can—and do—rise to the challenge. Recognizing the crucial role of leadership, we focus on empowering leaders through the Building Science Leaders (BSL) framework. This framework is strategically designed to support and sustain leaders as they drive change in science education zeroing in on how school and district leaders propel large-scale instructional improvement. 

However, when presented with this framework, administrators became preoccupied with questions. “With such limited funds for science, why focus on people who don’t work directly with students?” and “Isn’t it the teachers who need to learn how to implement the new standards?” These questions highlight a common apprehension and misunderstanding of the pivotal role leaders play in educational innovation.

Debunking Myths About Science Leaders

There is a common assumption that education leaders are experts in all of the disciplines they oversee. Although they must make decisions about how to support and monitor what happens in science classrooms, in reality, leaders in charge of science teachers often lack experience with science education themselves. Consequently, these leaders may not have developed the disciplinary-specific leadership practices necessary to foster effective improvements to science instruction.

For instance, in a statewide implementation of the BSL program in New Mexico, 74 percent of leaders reported having little to moderate knowledge of the science standards when they entered the program. In addition, 63 percent viewed themselves only occasionally as science leaders. Moreover, few administrators are aware that district leaders often require dedicated training in instructional leadership, which is essential for preparing them to foster effective classroom improvements.

Nurturing Leadership for Science Education Success

BSL leaders join the program in school or district teams—including teacher leaders, science specialists, department chairs, and school and district administrators. Together, these teams hone their skills via a practice-based cycle:

1. Learn. The first step is to get the teams of leaders up to speed in acquiring foundational, discipline-specific knowledge, such as the standards and their influence on curriculum, instructional approaches, and assessment. In addition, leaders develop expertise in the design and implementation of effective and ongoing science professional learning (PL), using local data to design and monitor the progress of a PL plan.
2. Do. Building on this foundation, leaders customize PL modules to suit their specific local context, with the aim of transforming science teaching and learning. They collect data on the of the PL on the intended groups—teachers, leaders, and/or student—and report back to the BSL group for reflection and adjustment.
3. Repeat. Starting with the data from the PL implementation, the BSL community reflects on their PL plans, goals, and steps for improvement.

One team discovered that developing a clearer picture of effective implementation of the science standards profoundly influenced their ideas about how new approaches to teacher observation and feedback could help them transform science teaching in their district. They realized that if teachers were to engage their students in solving real, complex questions and problems, school leaders needed to look for a different set of instructional practices during their observations. These leaders adapted rubrics that aligned with the new standards and began conducting observations and postobservation feedback sessions with their teachers to work on the new instructional practices.

Transformative Professional Development: Empowering Educators Through Practice

The BSL program cultivates a community of practice, modeled on what we know works for teachers. Systemic improvements arise from collaborative analysis, reflection, and planning that involve using various artifacts, such as student work, surveys, and teacher feedback. Being a part of this community of practice encourages leaders to push their own boundaries while sharing the responsibility for planning and enacting changes. By repeating the cycle, the community of practice can deepen its expertise, particularly by focusing the “learn” phase on issues that emerge from the “do” phase, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. BSL Chart

BSL-trained science leaders are well-positioned in their schools and districts to introduce new ideas and provide immediate support. One team described their “do” phase as consisting of one districtwide training paired with “countless” coaching sessions with individual teachers.

The BSL training also improves overall leadership skills. In New Mexico, 96 percent of participants reported that the program influenced their daily activities. This included how they planned PL, specifically regarding how they used school and district data to develop long-term improvement plans. Participants also reported that their new ideas about science instruction, such as how to center student discourse, are broadening their collaboration with social studies, English, and math teachers.

Cultivating Collaborative Leadership: A Practice-Based Approach

The new science standards require instructional shifts that move teachers beyond simply delivering knowledge. They direct teachers to assist students in doing more of the intellectual work necessary for sense-making. We know that coherently designed, active, and sustained PL that focuses on content is a key lever for helping teachers. It enables them to focus on improving their instructional practices while introducing new materials.

Effective and sustainable PL can look very different from traditional resource-intensive pullout days. Instead, short-cycle reflective activities held during department meetings or coaching sessions help teachers in breaking down changes into small, manageable steps. By incorporating this practice-based approach into existing structures, teachers can continuously experiment with new practices and test them in their classrooms. They can conduct feedback cycles, consult with colleagues about how it affected teaching and learning, and then adjust and try it again. This leads to more widespread and sustained improvements. 

However, building a system of ongoing teacher-centered PL is challenging when so many schools and districts are facing difficult choices, such as slashing budgets. Convincing schools and districts to embrace this type of practice-based approach requires sharing practical illustrations of its success and guidance on how to begin.

Back in the conference room, as BSL-trained leaders describe specific ways the program influenced their day-to-day practice, the administrators begin to notice and take a visibly keen interest.

Sustaining Impact: The Road Ahead for Science Education

Capacity building for leaders shows real promise for deep, systemic improvements in teaching. Support for implementing science standards ensures that all teachers have access to the ongoing, practice-based PL they need for rigorous science education. One BSL-trained leader put it this way: “If we want to help our kids with building their critical thinking skills, then this is the approach to take. If we want to ensure that ALL students have access to a high-quality, then this is the approach to take!”

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Jill Wertheim is the director of SCALE Science at WestEd. She helps build school, district, and statewide capacity to advance all students’ science learning through student-centered, asset-based assessment practices