The central offices of large urban school districts are, in many ways, quite similar to the corporate centers of large corporations or other organizations. When designed effectively, these centers ensure that their key operating units – whether a handful of related businesses or a diverse set of units in thousands of locations – can achieve their shared performance goals. While nearly all large urban school districts regularly articulate ambitious goals and produce strategic plans to achieve them, few have rigorously evaluated the role their central offices should play to ensure the success of those strategies. The corporate sector can offer lessons in how district central offices might be redesigned to serve schools more effectively.

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