The Distributed Leadership Studies: A Case Study of Research in and for School Practice

This book chapter, written by Jim Spillane, is featured in the recently published book, Disrupting Tradition: Research and Practice Pathways in Mathematics Education (William Tate, Karen King, and Celia Rousseau Anderson, Eds., 2011).

Traditionally, researchers and mathematics education practitioners have been engaged in parallel play, yet they have been segregated by the norms and cultural practices of their distinct institutions and professional reward systems. Rarely do mutually dependent and informing intellectual pathways emerge. This book explores what happens when tradition is disrupted by one purposefully designed research and practice pathway.

This book offers insights into, and examples of, developing mutually interdependent research and practice processes as part of efforts to improve teacher and leadership capacity, as well as positively influence student learning and related outcomes. This book raises valuable questions for the mathematics education community.

What forms have research and practice pathways taken?
What lessons have been learned from collaborations?

These questions are examined to illustrate where strategic partnerships have linked research to both the design and implementation of practice and programmatic endeavors and to generate evidence to guide both educational decision making and routine modifications related to school mathematics.

Click here to order a copy of Disrupting Tradition: Research and Practice Pathways in Mathematics Education