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Evaluation of Networks for School Improvement: Impacts, Implementation, and Lessons for Network-Based Continuous Improvement. Research Brief. RB-A4409-1

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Title: Evaluation of Networks for School Improvement: Impacts, Implementation, and Lessons for Network-Based Continuous Improvement. Research Brief. RB-A4409-1
Language: English
Authors: Rebecca Herman, Michael S. Garet, Jeffrey Max, Susan Bush-Mecenas, Laura B. Stein, Matthew Johnson, Naihobe Gonzalez, RAND Education, Employment, and Infrastructure, Gates Foundation, American Institutes for Research (AIR), Mathematica
Source: RAND Corporation. 2026.
Availability: RAND Corporation. P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138. Tel: 877-584-8642; Tel: 310-451-7002; Fax: 412-802-4981; e-mail: order@rand.org; Web site: http://www.rand.org
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 4
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Secondary Education
Descriptors: Educational Improvement, Networks, African American Students, Latin Americans, Poverty, Minority Group Students, Program Evaluation, Secondary Schools, Coaching (Performance)
DOI: 10.7249/RBA4409-1
Abstract: Educators are leaning into network-based continuous improvement (CI) to tackle long-standing problems. Network-based CI involves a group of schools iteratively testing and refining strategies that address a common challenge while learning from each other. The Gates Foundation (the foundation) invested in network-based CI from 2018 to 2025 through its Networks for School Improvement (NSI) initiative, awarding more than $300 million in five-year grants to intermediary organizations that formed 34 networks. The foundation designed the initiative to increase the proportion of Black and Latino students and students experiencing poverty who are on track for high school graduation and college enrollment. Intermediary organizations formed each network with about 20 secondary schools and established a team of educators and administrators in each school focused on using CI to improve student outcomes. Intermediaries had the flexibility to design their approach, but they all provided school teams with coaching and opportunities for cross-team collaboration. The foundation expected school teams to engage in structured CI processes, centered in equity, to improve educator practices and student supports. The processes reflected six features that the foundation identified as core to the CI approach: (1) understanding the problem; (2) identifying an aim; (3) defining a theory of practice improvement; (4) selecting a change idea; (5) conducting a disciplined inquiry cycle; and (6) using data throughout the process. Intermediaries used different approaches to inquiry cycles, with the most common involving four stages: (1) plan; (2) do; (3) study; and (4) act (PDSA). The rapid scaling of networked-based CI through the NSI initiative across a large and diverse group of networks provides a unique opportunity to understand CI implementation and its impact. The foundation funded three organizations to evaluate different aspects of the NSI initiative, providing the education field with information that can strengthen similar efforts. RAND examined how intermediaries designed and implemented each NSI, using interviews, surveys, and case studies. The American Institutes for Research (AIR) evaluated how participating schools implemented CI based on documents that CI teams generated in the course of their work. RAND and AIR also examined correlations across these aspects of implementation. Finally, Mathematica evaluated the impact of each NSI on student outcomes using quasi-experimental and experimental methods and examined which aspects of intermediary supports, school networks, and CI were related to NSI impacts on students. This brief synthesizes findings across four NSI evaluation reports. The reports provide detailed findings on intermediaries' approaches to developing and supporting school networks, schools' use of CI, the relationship between intermediary support and school CI implementation, and the impacts of NSI on student outcomes and the relationships between those impacts and NSI implementation.
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: ED680503
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  Data: Educators are leaning into network-based continuous improvement (CI) to tackle long-standing problems. Network-based CI involves a group of schools iteratively testing and refining strategies that address a common challenge while learning from each other. The Gates Foundation (the foundation) invested in network-based CI from 2018 to 2025 through its Networks for School Improvement (NSI) initiative, awarding more than $300 million in five-year grants to intermediary organizations that formed 34 networks. The foundation designed the initiative to increase the proportion of Black and Latino students and students experiencing poverty who are on track for high school graduation and college enrollment. Intermediary organizations formed each network with about 20 secondary schools and established a team of educators and administrators in each school focused on using CI to improve student outcomes. Intermediaries had the flexibility to design their approach, but they all provided school teams with coaching and opportunities for cross-team collaboration. The foundation expected school teams to engage in structured CI processes, centered in equity, to improve educator practices and student supports. The processes reflected six features that the foundation identified as core to the CI approach: (1) understanding the problem; (2) identifying an aim; (3) defining a theory of practice improvement; (4) selecting a change idea; (5) conducting a disciplined inquiry cycle; and (6) using data throughout the process. Intermediaries used different approaches to inquiry cycles, with the most common involving four stages: (1) plan; (2) do; (3) study; and (4) act (PDSA). The rapid scaling of networked-based CI through the NSI initiative across a large and diverse group of networks provides a unique opportunity to understand CI implementation and its impact. The foundation funded three organizations to evaluate different aspects of the NSI initiative, providing the education field with information that can strengthen similar efforts. RAND examined how intermediaries designed and implemented each NSI, using interviews, surveys, and case studies. The American Institutes for Research (AIR) evaluated how participating schools implemented CI based on documents that CI teams generated in the course of their work. RAND and AIR also examined correlations across these aspects of implementation. Finally, Mathematica evaluated the impact of each NSI on student outcomes using quasi-experimental and experimental methods and examined which aspects of intermediary supports, school networks, and CI were related to NSI impacts on students. This brief synthesizes findings across four NSI evaluation reports. The reports provide detailed findings on intermediaries' approaches to developing and supporting school networks, schools' use of CI, the relationship between intermediary support and school CI implementation, and the impacts of NSI on student outcomes and the relationships between those impacts and NSI implementation.
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