This is a PELP case study. The case services as a follow-up to Meeting New Challenges at the Aldine Independent School District (A) case. Superintendent Nadine Kujawa retired in May 2007 and Wanda Bamberg, the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, was chosen by the school board to succeed Kujawa. In the midst of the economic crisis, Bamberg retained Aldine's vision and basic strategy. The system remained organized in five vertical feeder systems and continued to promote district veterans principal and area superintendent positions. Students performed well on the state assessment, but new challenges emerged. A more rigorous state test, the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR), was about to be implemented and the district grappled with flat-lining college readiness scores. Bamberg had a decision to make; she could keep the district doing what had worked so well in the past or strike out in an entirely new direction.

In 2004, Miami-Dade County Public Schools began the planning process for creating the Parent Academy, a new district-wide initiative to increase family engagement in schools. This case discusses the planning and implementation for this major initiative, and describes how the initiative changed when a new superintendent entered the system in 2008. It delves into the theory behind the initiative, the challenges and benefits of this approach to addressing family engagement, and presents the dilemma of whether and how to sustain the program into the future.

As a key means for improving student performance, over the past three years, the central office of Baltimore City Public Schools has steadily shifted responsibility for resource management to schools. Since 2007, when Andres Alonso became CEO, principals have gone from controlling 3% of their budgets to controlling roughly 80%. This case discusses how pushing resource management to the schools fits into a broader strategy that links a principal's autonomy to improved academic results. It delves into the rationale for the change, challenges and benefits of this strategy, and the system of supports and structures that have been developed in response to the implementation challenges.