Bryan A VanGronigen
Biographic Data
| ID | 5740215 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Bryan A VanGronigen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Bryan A |
| FAMILY NAME | VanGronigen |
| SIGNATURE | VANGRONIGEN B A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Delaware |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8352-8473 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 13 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
A Systematic Literature Review on the Development and Implementation of School Improvement Plans (SIPs) Around the World
Many countries around the world require some or all schools to develop and implement a school improvement plan (SIP), which is a tool intended to guide the identification of school-specific needs for improvement along with a series of priorities, goals, and actions to help address those needs. Yet, the literature on this topic remains rather sparse. In this article, we conducted a systematic review of the international literature on SIPs publishe…
Principals’ perspectives on the shift to short-cycle school improvement planning
Principals are responsible for planning school improvement efforts at the school level to leverage increases in student achievement. Recent research underscores how principals engage in satisficing behaviors that result in low-quality school improvement plans (SIPs). To disrupt compliance-based planning practices and produce high-quality SIPs, some districts have shifted from yearlong planning to short-cycle planning. Districts need to establish …
We’ve Been Forgotten”
The use of teacher leadership in PK-12 education has experienced a resurgence since the late 1990s as school leadership models have evolved to include the engagement of diverse stakeholders in school and district leadership processes aimed at improvement efforts. Despite this resurgence, there remain several barriers to understanding the nature of the work in which teacher leaders engage and the contributions that they make. This grounded theory …
Promises and pitfalls
Purpose School improvement planning has been a central part of school improvement initiatives for decades. Evidence suggests, however, that traditional planning processes are regularly superficial. In the USA, some principals have begun developing short-cycle planning designed to encourage school leadership teams and staff to develop, monitor and adjust plans throughout the academic year. Design/methodology/approach In this study of eight schools…
State Essa Plans and Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) Status
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) offers states increased flexibility in how they identify, rank, label, and support underperforming schools. Initial reviews of state ESSA plans, however, suggest that identification and labeling policies have remained relatively unchanged. In this study, we analyze all state ESSA plans to systematically determine how states’ identified Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) schools and the criteria they …
Designing teacher leadership for school improvement
While the demands of teaching continue to escalate, teacher development has changed relatively little over time, leaving many of today’s teachers feeling underprepared, overwhelmed, or demoralized with few opportunities to make real change. Teacher leadership holds promise for both addressing challenges within schools and empowering teachers. Wesley L.C. Henry, Bryan A. VanGronigen, Meredith L. Wronowski, and James L. Olive highlight how a large …
Who governs? Blank spots and blind spots in state boards of education in the United States
State boards of education (SBOEs) are one of many governmental entities that reside within the larger educational policymaking sphere. With recent U.S. federal legislation devolving more authority over education to states, state-level governmental entities like SBOEs are in the spotlight perhaps now more than ever. Yet not much has been published about SBOE structures and functions, much less about their members and how they might influence educa…
Helping Every Student Succeed? State Education Agency Roles and Responsibilities for Improving Underperforming Schools and Districts
Purpose: This study investigated how state education agencies (SEAs) articulated their roles and responsibilities with respect to improving underperforming schools and districts after the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015. Research Approach: Using a conceptual framework rooted in incrementalism—a theory suggesting that policy makers often make decisions reflecting the status quo—we conducted a rigorous conventional content …
Do State Boards of Education Offer an Avenue for Public Voice
Digital technologies provide new opportunities for increased participation by the general public in state and federal governance. In this article, we examine opportunities for public engagement in one type of state-level governmental body: the State Board of Education (SBOE). Limited research has focused on SBOEs, particularly the extent to which these powerful policy actors are accessible to the public. Drawing on the Open Government Maturity Mo…
Small City School Districts’ Capacity for Improvement and the Struggle for Educational Equity
The problems faced by many small city school districts are often overshadowed by concerns for big city and rural school districts. We focus on some of the challenges faced by three small city school districts in Massachusetts with high percentages of students from low-income homes. Comparisons are made between these districts and three relatively affluent, high-achieving districts along with three big city districts, also in Massachusetts. We fou…
Short-Cycle School Improvement Planning as a Lever to Launch School Turnaround
Background School improvement planning is a common school leadership practice built on assumptions that schools increase organizational performance if rational yearly plans are developed and then enacted with fidelity. A quality school improvement plan (SIP) should position subsequent critical leadership and instructional moves in a more holistic change initiative. Although multiple studies suggest that positive relationships exist between SIP qu…
Buyer beware
Governments have injected billions of dollars into the massive school improvement industry, but little is known about the providers that offer services and whether their services actually improve schools. Bryan VanGronigen and Coby Meyers highlight their research the topic, which has found that few states monitor and evaluate provider performance and many state-approved or recommended providers offer services not based in or informed by research.…
So Many Educational Service Providers, So Little Evidence
More than 15 years after the passage of No Child Left Behind, billions of dollars have been spent on school-turnaround policies and initiatives. Yet, this growing “school improvement industry” has received surprisingly little consideration. This study is an initial effort to begin to better understand this industry’s supply side. We use qualitative research techniques to analyze the websites of 151 school-turnaround providers that have been endor…
Small City School Districts’ Capacity for Improvement and the Struggle for Educational Equity
The problems faced by many small city school districts are often overshadowed by concerns for big city and rural school districts. We focus on some of the challenges faced by three small city school districts in Massachusetts with high percentages of students from low-income homes. Comparisons are made between these districts and three relatively affluent, high-achieving districts along with three big city districts, also in Massachusetts. We fou…
Do State Boards of Education Offer an Avenue for Public Voice
Digital technologies provide new opportunities for increased participation by the general public in state and federal governance. In this article, we examine opportunities for public engagement in one type of state-level governmental body: the State Board of Education (SBOE). Limited research has focused on SBOEs, particularly the extent to which these powerful policy actors are accessible to the public. Drawing on the Open Government Maturity Mo…
So Many Educational Service Providers, So Little Evidence
More than 15 years after the passage of No Child Left Behind, billions of dollars have been spent on school-turnaround policies and initiatives. Yet, this growing “school improvement industry” has received surprisingly little consideration. This study is an initial effort to begin to better understand this industry’s supply side. We use qualitative research techniques to analyze the websites of 151 school-turnaround providers that have been endor…
Helping Every Student Succeed? State Education Agency Roles and Responsibilities for Improving Underperforming Schools and Districts
Purpose: This study investigated how state education agencies (SEAs) articulated their roles and responsibilities with respect to improving underperforming schools and districts after the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015. Research Approach: Using a conceptual framework rooted in incrementalism—a theory suggesting that policy makers often make decisions reflecting the status quo—we conducted a rigorous conventional content …
So Many Educational Service Providers, So Little Evidence
More than 15 years after the passage of No Child Left Behind, billions of dollars have been spent on school-turnaround policies and initiatives. Yet, this growing “school improvement industry” has received surprisingly little consideration. This study is an initial effort to begin to better understand this industry’s supply side. We use qualitative research techniques to analyze the websites of 151 school-turnaround providers that have been endor…
Short-Cycle School Improvement Planning as a Lever to Launch School Turnaround
Background School improvement planning is a common school leadership practice built on assumptions that schools increase organizational performance if rational yearly plans are developed and then enacted with fidelity. A quality school improvement plan (SIP) should position subsequent critical leadership and instructional moves in a more holistic change initiative. Although multiple studies suggest that positive relationships exist between SIP qu…
Buyer beware
Governments have injected billions of dollars into the massive school improvement industry, but little is known about the providers that offer services and whether their services actually improve schools. Bryan VanGronigen and Coby Meyers highlight their research the topic, which has found that few states monitor and evaluate provider performance and many state-approved or recommended providers offer services not based in or informed by research.…
Do State Boards of Education Offer an Avenue for Public Voice
Digital technologies provide new opportunities for increased participation by the general public in state and federal governance. In this article, we examine opportunities for public engagement in one type of state-level governmental body: the State Board of Education (SBOE). Limited research has focused on SBOEs, particularly the extent to which these powerful policy actors are accessible to the public. Drawing on the Open Government Maturity Mo…
Small City School Districts’ Capacity for Improvement and the Struggle for Educational Equity
The problems faced by many small city school districts are often overshadowed by concerns for big city and rural school districts. We focus on some of the challenges faced by three small city school districts in Massachusetts with high percentages of students from low-income homes. Comparisons are made between these districts and three relatively affluent, high-achieving districts along with three big city districts, also in Massachusetts. We fou…
Who governs? Blank spots and blind spots in state boards of education in the United States
State boards of education (SBOEs) are one of many governmental entities that reside within the larger educational policymaking sphere. With recent U.S. federal legislation devolving more authority over education to states, state-level governmental entities like SBOEs are in the spotlight perhaps now more than ever. Yet not much has been published about SBOE structures and functions, much less about their members and how they might influence educa…
Helping Every Student Succeed? State Education Agency Roles and Responsibilities for Improving Underperforming Schools and Districts
Purpose: This study investigated how state education agencies (SEAs) articulated their roles and responsibilities with respect to improving underperforming schools and districts after the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015. Research Approach: Using a conceptual framework rooted in incrementalism—a theory suggesting that policy makers often make decisions reflecting the status quo—we conducted a rigorous conventional content …
Promises and pitfalls
Purpose School improvement planning has been a central part of school improvement initiatives for decades. Evidence suggests, however, that traditional planning processes are regularly superficial. In the USA, some principals have begun developing short-cycle planning designed to encourage school leadership teams and staff to develop, monitor and adjust plans throughout the academic year. Design/methodology/approach In this study of eight schools…
State Essa Plans and Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) Status
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) offers states increased flexibility in how they identify, rank, label, and support underperforming schools. Initial reviews of state ESSA plans, however, suggest that identification and labeling policies have remained relatively unchanged. In this study, we analyze all state ESSA plans to systematically determine how states’ identified Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) schools and the criteria they …
Designing teacher leadership for school improvement
While the demands of teaching continue to escalate, teacher development has changed relatively little over time, leaving many of today’s teachers feeling underprepared, overwhelmed, or demoralized with few opportunities to make real change. Teacher leadership holds promise for both addressing challenges within schools and empowering teachers. Wesley L.C. Henry, Bryan A. VanGronigen, Meredith L. Wronowski, and James L. Olive highlight how a large …
Principals’ perspectives on the shift to short-cycle school improvement planning
Principals are responsible for planning school improvement efforts at the school level to leverage increases in student achievement. Recent research underscores how principals engage in satisficing behaviors that result in low-quality school improvement plans (SIPs). To disrupt compliance-based planning practices and produce high-quality SIPs, some districts have shifted from yearlong planning to short-cycle planning. Districts need to establish …
We’ve Been Forgotten”
The use of teacher leadership in PK-12 education has experienced a resurgence since the late 1990s as school leadership models have evolved to include the engagement of diverse stakeholders in school and district leadership processes aimed at improvement efforts. Despite this resurgence, there remain several barriers to understanding the nature of the work in which teacher leaders engage and the contributions that they make. This grounded theory …
A Systematic Literature Review on the Development and Implementation of School Improvement Plans (SIPs) Around the World
Many countries around the world require some or all schools to develop and implement a school improvement plan (SIP), which is a tool intended to guide the identification of school-specific needs for improvement along with a series of priorities, goals, and actions to help address those needs. Yet, the literature on this topic remains rather sparse. In this article, we conducted a systematic review of the international literature on SIPs publishe…
Political science (11 works) · Educational Assessment and Improvement (10 works) · Public relations (8 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies (6 works) · Business (5 works) · Evaluation and Performance Assessment (5 works) · Psychology (5 works) · School Choice and Performance (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works)