Oklahoma is strengthening district-led school improvement by engaging district superintendents and providing actionable attendance strategies.
The Opportunity
Sustained improvement in Oklahoma’s lowest performing schools depends on strong district-level leadership capacity, particularly among superintendents, who set priorities, align resources, and create the conditions for school-level change. Although the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) has invested in school-based supports, an opportunity exists to robustly engage all superintendents in exploring, adopting, and implementing durable local school improvement strategies.
At the same time, even though chronic absenteeism is no longer part of the state accountability system, districts continue to need clear, practical guidance on how to use attendance data, diagnose root causes, and implement targeted supports. Focused leadership engagement and usable attendance guidance will ensure that districts can use these critical improvement strategies to their full potential.
The Support
The Southwest Comprehensive Center is partnering with OSDE to strengthen its school improvement strategy by building superintendent capacity and providing actionable attendance guidance. This work centers on understanding district leaders’ needs, designing coherent support structures, and translating evidence into practical tools.
The Southwest Comprehensive Center will engage superintendents to inform the design of aligned supports, for example, through a Networked Improvement Community model. We are also developing research-informed attendance guidance that emphasizes diagnosis, data routines, and tiered interventions. All supports are designed to be usable, time efficient, and aligned with existing district systems.
Desired Outcomes
As a result of this work, OSDE will be better positioned to engage superintendents as active leaders of school improvement and will provide districts with clear, practical attendance strategies. In the near term, superintendents will have targeted, role-aligned supports, and districts will have clear routines for addressing attendance challenges. Over time, OSDE will see stronger district coherence, more consistent implementation of improvement strategies, and greater alignment between leadership actions and school-level outcomes—supporting more sustainable improvement across Oklahoma’s lowest performing schools.