Clarity and Coherence Amid Complexity and Consistent Change: Reconsidering the Role of Central Office Academic Support at the Los Angeles Unified School District

Abstract

The Los Angeles Unified School District is the second-largest school district in the country, serving over 574,000 students. As with all school districts, L.A. Unified has experienced significant disruptions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, working to center students’ well-being and academic success while responding to urgent operational challenges. Two key developments at L.A. Unified deepened the complexities of systems change. First, an organizational restructuring in 2020 created 44 “Communities of Schools” throughout the District, shifting more decision-making authority and resources to local principal supervisors. Additionally, L.A. Unified spent most of the 2021-2022 school year undergoing a superintendent transition. Within this context, as a resident, I explored the core question of determining the most effective roles and functions of L.A. Unified’s central office and its Division of Instruction in light of the recent shift to the Communities of Schools model. To do so, I spearheaded efforts designed to bring strategic clarity to the work of the Division of Instruction and central office at large. First, I led a process to draft a provisional Learning Acceleration Strategic Plan to articulate key priorities. Then, I collaborated to align resources, structures, processes to the stated priorities by coordinating the allocation of over $1 billion in federal funding and initiating new ways of working for central office to interact with Local Districts and Communities of Schools. Finally, I provided district-wide recommendations to promote coherence, including shifting the role of central office to one less focused on on-the-ground implementation and towards a more expansive model of partnership, differentiated support, and expertise. This capstone offers a description and critical analysis of these efforts and includes implications for L.A. Unified and other school districts, particularly large urban districts, across the country. At a time in which the education field is in significant turmoil and experiencing widespread leadership turnover, the insights and implications drawn from this capstone may be especially helpful in informing how central office teams can identify opportunities, create impact, and ultimately achieve strong positive outcomes for students, schools, and communities amid such persistent and pervasive change.