Harvard GSE Proposal for DCSD School Turnaround Leaders

                          Proposal to DeKalb County School District:
               Custom Executive Education Program for School Turnaround Leaders
                                         May 13, 2025


Introduction

Located just outside Atlanta, DeKalb County School District (DCSD) is the third largest school district in
Georgia, serving more than 92,000 students across 138 schools and centers. A diverse community and
school district, DCSD is committed to providing high-quality professional learning opportunities to support
the development of its principals so they can provide outstanding leadership in their schools to ensure
students thrive and graduate prepared to enter college and the work force. To accomplish this, DCSD
proposes to engage the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) to leverage its research and
practical expertise in effective school leadership for the benefit of their school leaders.

Through Professional Education (PPE), HGSE offers professional learning institutes for more than 19,000
educators annually. These institutes are led by faculty, developed based on education research, and designed
to transform both educational practice and leadership. Following discussions between key DCSD and PPE
members, PPE proposes the School Turnaround Leaders in DeKalb County program, a custom institute
for DCSD school leaders. The institute, which has three options for delivery, will be held in DeKalb County
on mutually agreed upon dates in 2025/2026.

Proposed Program

The goal of the School Turnaround Leaders in DeKalb County program will be to build leader capacity
to successfully lead high quality schools and teacher teams. Together with Harvard faculty and expert
practitioners, participants will analyze elements critical to their leadership and design implementation plans
based on their role and school context. Specific topics may include personal leadership, building school
culture, understanding the importance of high instructional quality and expectations, adaptive leadership,
and leadership strategy. Katherine Merseth, Senior Lecturer at HGSE and Educational Chair of the School
Turnaround Leaders and The Principals’ Centre in Australia programs, will chair this custom institute.
Additional faculty will be selected from HGSE and the public sector. Activities may include lectures based
on current research and practice, case studies, and focused small group breakout activities during which
faculty will facilitate action-planning and other means of practical application. In addition, a custom pre-
program survey will be designed and sent to participants so faculty can learn more about the needs of the
school and design content well suited to the context. A post-program evaluation around the content and
application will also be distributed, analyzed, and shared to provide a deeper understanding of what material
was most relevant, topics that may need further clarification, and areas where implementation may be more
difficult.

PPE proposed two delivery options for this custom institute:
   • Option 1: a team of HGSE faculty and staff will travel to DCSD to deliver a three-day institute. The
      institute will include four 90-minute faculty sessions per day, for a total of 18-hours of direct
      instruction. This institute will be scheduled on mutually agreed upon dates in 2025/2026.
   • Option 2: a team of HGSE faculty and staff will travel to DCSD to deliver a three-day institute, as
      outlined in Option 1. Following the three days, HGSE faculty will travel to DCSD on three separate

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        occasions to deliver half-day follow-up learning sessions. Each of these sessions will include 3 hours
        of total content that extends the learning from the original three days. The follow-up sessions will be
        scheduled on mutually agreed upon dates in 2025/2026.
    •   Option 3: a team of HGSE faculty and staff will travel to DCSD to deliver a three-day institute,
        followed by three half-day learning sessions, as outlined in Option 2. In addition, we will provide
        five virtual coaching sessions, each 90 minutes in length, with a small team of DCSD principals to
        deepen their learning and support their development as senior leaders. These sessions will provide
        targeted support to the leaders in implementing the learning from the full-group sessions and
        building their overall leadership capacity.

Cost

Assuming a cohort of 150 participants, the program and registration fees for Option 1 will be $565,000. The
price encompasses curriculum and instructional materials, as well as HGSE faculty and staff travel. The cost
for the venue, A/V, food, and beverages during the institute for participants is not included.

The program and registration fees for Option 2 will be $665,000 for 150 participants. The price
encompasses curriculum and instructional materials, as well as HGSE faculty and staff travel. The cost for
the venue, A/V, food, and beverages during the institute for participants is not included.

The program and registration fees for Option 3 will be $715,000 for a cohort of 150 participants. The price
encompasses curriculum and instructional materials, as well as HGSE faculty and staff travel. The cost for
the venue, A/V, food, and beverages during the institute for participants is not included.


Additional Considerations

In addition to the custom program, DCSD might consider sponsoring members to participate in established
executive education programs at HGSE that address issues of concern in K-12 schools as well as leadership
development more broadly. For PPE’s full range of professional education programs, please visit our
website at http://www.gse.harvard.edu/ppe.

We offer this proposal for your consideration and look forward to further discussion about ways in which
we can serve DCSD.


Sincerely,



Catherine Gardner
Director, The Principals’ Center




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