The Role of Curriculum Directors in Wisconsin Public Schools: Factors that Advance Teaching and Learning

This descriptive multiple case study examines the role of Curriculum Directors in Wisconsin public school districts to advance teaching and learning. The perspectives of four Curriculum Directors with a reputation for playing a key role in school improvement are included in the study. The Public Education Leadership Project (PELP) Coherence Framework elements are used to provide a lens through which to analyze the work of the Curriculum Directors (Childress, Elmore, Grossman & Johnson, 2007). These framework elements include culture, structures, systems, resources, and stakeholder relationships.;The purpose of this study is to contribute to a limited body of research on the role of Directors of Instruction in district improvement. The focus of the research is to determine the ways in which Curriculum Directors in high performing Wisconsin public school districts use the elements identified in the PELP Coherence Framework (Childress, et al., 2007) to advance teaching and learning in their schools.;From the research emerged several key findings about the school improvement actions of Directors of Instruction. First, all four Curriculum Directors utilized the elements of culture, structures, systems, resources, and stakeholder relationships from the PELP Coherence Framework in their work to advance teaching and learning (Childress, et al., 2007). Second, the actions of the Curriculum Directors varied, as did the contexts within their respective school districts. Third, the complexities of the Curriculum Directors' roles in each district were exposed through the themes that emerged in the cross-case analysis.;This is one of the first research studies done on the role of Curriculum Directors. Examining the Directors' practices provides practical insight for school district leaders on the central problem of increasing the achievement levels of all students. The PELP Coherence Framework utilized in this study expands the reader's understanding of its usefulness in the work of successful organizations. Collectively, these insights provide a foundation for future research and inquiry.