Boosting Leadership: The North Carolina Department of Instruction and Relay

In 2022, The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) confronted a significant challenge faced by state education agencies across the nation: how to effectively leverage policy and practice to drive tangible improvements in the state’s schools, especially those with the highest needs. The task was daunting: 488 public schools across the state had been assessed with a rating of D or F on the comprehensive school performance dashboard.

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To address this challenge, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) decided to invest in the development of their school and district leaders by creating the North Carolina Instructional Leadership Academy (NC ILA). To lead the work of this new initiative, NCDPI chose to partner with Relay Graduate School of Education (Relay GSE) to support 60 districts and 13 charter schools across the state. Through coaching and professional development sessions, these North Carolina leaders are leaning in to data-informed instruction, observation and feedback and equity-centered practices - and seeing student growth in their schools.