The Wisdom of District Improvement Teams

At California Education Partners,  we’ve found that lasting improvement happens when solutions are designed collaboratively—bringing together the perspectives and experiences of educators, administrators, and district leaders. That’s why we structure our collaborations around cross-organizational district teams. By bringing together teachers, coaches, school site leaders, and district leaders, we ensure that multiple levels of the system are represented—and that decisions are grounded in both strategy and day-to-day realities. These teams aren’t just inclusive—they’re intentionally aligned, working together to co-create systems that are responsive, coherent, and sustainable.

One of the things I’ve appreciated in my six years at Ed Partners is watching people who don’t usually have a chance to work together sit down at the same table, build real collaboration, and create something meaningful for their students. Cross-organizational improvement teams create a culture of understanding and honor people’s experiences while building shared responsibility. For many of us in education, opportunities like this are rare: decisions usually get made at certain levels or on tight timelines, while teachers are stretched by their day-to-day demands. District systems are seldom set up to create the conditions for multiple perspectives—yet that’s where some of the most powerful breakthroughs come.

When I first began working with district teams, I remember a third-grade teacher who paused in the middle of a meeting and said, “This is a lot harder than I thought it was.” When I asked what she meant, she explained, “I always get emails from the district saying ‘we’re doing this, or we’re adopting this,’ and now I know there’s actually thought behind it. This makes me feel so much better about the intentionality behind the work.” Her comment has stuck with me—it was a reminder that the meaning-making matters.

Another teacher from a different district improvement team was skeptical because he felt the district never stuck with anything for more than a couple of years. He was hesitant to put his energy into learning something new that might disappear. But by year two of our PreK through 3 Coherence Collaborative work, he said, “Hey, we’re still talking about math.”  Over time, he not only became deeply invested but also his school’s biggest megaphone for the work. People even asked if he would consider administration. While he prefers to stay in the classroom, colleagues now look to him as a leader—not just in math, but in practices that transcend subject areas.

By leaning into the collective wisdom of teams comprised of people with different perspectives and responsibilities, districts design solutions that are more thoughtful, more practical, and more likely to take root and sustain.