James Spillane

James Spillane's work explores the policy implementation process at the state, school district, school and classroom levels. He has worked to develop a cognitive perspective on the implementation process, exploring how local policymakers and practitioners come to understand state and national reforms. Spillane is also interested in organizational leadership and change. His work conceptualizes organizational leadership as a distributed practice involving formal and informal leaders, followers, and a variety of organizational tools and artifacts. His most recent projects include a social network analysis of instructional advice structures in elementary schools, a study of how organizational routines enable and constrain practice in schools, and an examination of the selection and socialization of school principals.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS 

Meaningful & Sustainable School Improvement with Distributed Leadership
Supovitz, Jonathan A.; D'Auria, John; and Spillane, James P.. (2019). Meaningful & Sustainable School Improvement with Distributed Leadership. CPRE Research Reports.