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Partnership for Leaders in Education

News

Each year, the progress and successes of schools, school districts and state-wide school systems that partner with the University of Virginia Partnership for Leaders in Education are chronicled in the media. We invite you to read their stories through the years and consider how partnering with the UVA-PLE could deliver outcomes in your schools.

News

2025 News

As most Wisconsin schools struggle to recover from pandemic, Fond du Lac School District is driving ahead

April 16, 2025

Spectrum News

Fond du Lac School District now leads Wisconsin in reading growth, showing the highest gains among all 421 districts since the pandemic. A renewed focus on belief, consistency, and high expectations is fueling a powerful academic and cultural shift. Their progress reflects what’s possible when students, educators, and families rise together.

University of Virginia Leadership Program Helps Transform Struggling Schools

March 27, 2025

The 74 Million

Recently featured in The 74, our work with districts across the country is helping education leaders build the skills and systems needed for deep, lasting change. We don’t offer quick fixes — we partner to develop the collective capacity of adults to lead transformation that sticks.

The City of Decatur Schools received a $200k gift from Chick-Filet to fund our partnership.

January 8, 2025

Decaturish

City Schools of Decatur has been awarded a $200,000 grant from the Chick-fil-A Foundation to enhance leadership development through the University of Virginia Partnership for Leaders in Education (PLE). This initiative will support leaders at four schools in advancing equity and excellence, ensuring sustainable improvements in student outcomes. Superintendent Dr. Gyimah Whitaker highlighted the partnership’s focus on equitable opportunities and transformative change for all students.

2024 News

Scott Guggenheimer Featured in Education Week for Leadership Expertise
September 10, 2024
Ed Week
Scott Guggenheimer of UVA-PLE was featured in Education Week for his work in helping school leaders navigate polarization through structured, tough conversations. His leadership programs empower educators to address conflicts with confidence and build more resilient school environments.

UVA-Based National Education Leadership Program Launches Cohort 21
August 21, 2024
Darden News
UVA’s Partnership for Leaders in Education (PLE) celebrates the launch of Cohort 21, continuing its mission to support district and school leaders nationwide in transforming education systems. The program provides cutting-edge leadership development to drive sustainable improvements in student outcomes.

As Federal Pandemic Funds End, K-12 Systems Must Embrace Bold Changes
August 19, 2024
Hechinger Report
In this Hechinger Report article, William Robinson of UVA-PLE calls for bold, innovative changes in K-12 education as federal pandemic funding phases out. He emphasizes the need for dynamic leadership and systemic transformation to ensure long-term student success and equity.

2023 News

Training Superintendents Like CEOs Can Help Save Schools
October 17, 2023
Darden News
"The PLE demonstrates remarkable resiliency through its continued growth and learning in response to educational leaders’ needs, transitioning from a narrow focus on improving school principal practices to a broader collective systems leadership emphasis to change school districts as organizations." - Coby Meyers, Associate Professor at UVA School of Education and Human Development

Meet The Team: William Robinson Partners With K-12 Leaders To Elevate Education For All
July 20, 2023
Darden Blogs
Executive Director of the Partnership for Leaders in Education, advocates for a transformative education system that ensures all students, especially those from historically underserved populations, have access to a quality education that prepares them for a successful future.

Alicia Sanchez Elementary granted highest state ranking, earns Governor’s Bright Spot Award
February 24, 2023
Boulder Valley School District
Discover how Alicia Sanchez Elementary defied odds, leveraging strategic partnerships and community support, to secure the state's highest ranking and the coveted Governor's Bright Spot Award.

4 areas prime for education disruption
February 16, 2023
K-12 Dive
A University of Virginia report explores how districts and their leaders are challenging the status quo in order to advance student achievement.

Be courageous’: Education is ripe for change, and it starts with innovation
February 16, 2023
District Administration
The pandemic has given us a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" to drive organizational reform. District leaders must lean in and learn from those who are changing the culture of K12.

Districts Should Rethink Instruction and Teacher Recruitment After Shutdowns, Report Says
February 16, 2023
Education Week
A recent report prompts a paradigm shift in education, encouraging districts to reinvent their strategies for student support and teacher recruitment for more sustainable and impactful outcomes.

New Partnership for Leaders in Education Report Sees Opportunity for Innovation Following COVID-19 Disruption
January 20, 2023
The Darden Report
The Partnership for Leaders in Education report calls for a complete overhaul of K-12 education in the wake of COVID-19 disruptions, championing transformative strategies to tackle learning gaps and shape a promising future

2018 News

Goshen School District Earns Passing Grade on State Report Card
November 14, 2018
The Goshen News
Goshen Community Schools see an increase in student achievement following partnership with UVA's Partnership for Leaders in Education.

Achievement Zone Transformation
October 2018
National School Boards Association

When Georgia’s Fulton County Schools formed its achievement zone, the district hoped to improve a cluster of 10 struggling schools characterized by poverty and low achievement.

Aurora's principal training could send 11 more schools through University of Virginia Program
June 4, 2018
Chalkbeat
School district leaders in Aurora are proposing training more principals in leadership skills that have helped some of the district’s low-performing schools improve.

2016 News

2015 News

2014 News

University of Virginia School Turnaround Program Revolutionizes School Performance in Oklahoma and Louisiana
October 23, 2014
Darden School of Business
The Darden/Curry Partnership for Leaders in Education's partnership with Oklahoma public schools recently spurred new academic gains in an underperforming district. The UVA-PLE has driven similar turnarounds in 16 states during the last 10 years and recently entered a new partnership with a Louisiana school district.

UVA School Turnaround Program Schools See Improvement
September 22, 2014
KFOR
Three Oklahoma school districts have seen huge improvements in their school report cards after implementing changes through the University of Virginia School Turnaround Program.

New Mexico Governor Announces Expansion of Participation in the UVA School Turnaround Program
August 28, 2014
Office of the Governor of New Mexico
New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez announces increased participation in the The University of Virginia School Turnaround Program. Other schools in New Mexico that have gone through the program have shown significant growth and improvement in student proficiency.

First Rural Consortium to Participate in the UVA School Turnaround Program
April 14, 2014
Headlight Deming News
The Southwest Regional Educational Cooperative has formed the very first rural consortium to participate in the University of Virginia School Turnaround Project in partnership with the New Mexico Public Education Department.

2013 News

William Robinson Takes The Helm of the U.Va. Darden/Curry Partnership for Leaders in Education
December 5, 2013
The University of Virginia Darden School of Business and Curry School of Education announce the appointment of William Robinson to the role of executive director for the Darden/Curry Partnership for Leaders in Education.

UVA School Turnaround Specialist Program Helps Salt Lake City Schools Make the Grade
September 30, 2013
UVA Today
Children in Utah's low-performing schools are raising their scores with continued support from the Darden/Curry Partnership for Leaders in Education.

Missouri and Ohio Schools Make Significant Improvement Through UVA Turnaround Program
June 20, 2013
Curry School of Education
This study follows 34 elementary and middle schools in Missouri and Ohio throughout the course of their participation in the University of Virginia School Turnaround Specialist Program.