The Learning Hive

This resource will help leaders transform organizations and systems into thriving ecosystems of learning and growth where every student can succeed.

Why do some school systems and organizations outperform their peers despite using similar strategies and materials? Look to leadership, system design, and implementation, not policies and rules, and the answer begins to take shape.

This book offers a new vision of leadership and education system design organized around dynamic “learning hives,” collections of people working together to treat daily operations as ongoing opportunities for collaborative learning and improvement. Grounded in the Center for Public Research and Leadership’s Leading Through Learning framework, the book helps cultivate education systems where dynamic governance and democratic participation enable the creation and ongoing improvement of educational strategies tailored to the unique needs of every student and community.

The Learning Hive is a must-read for leaders in education dedicated to creating adaptive, equitable, and high-performing systems. It is filled with helpful case studies, practical tools, and real-life examples.

Book Features:

• Supports leaders in applying leadership- and system-design–oriented approaches to continuous learning that go beyond the often siloed, problem-oriented applications of improvement science. 
• Provides case studies showing systems and leaders enacting the book’s principles. 
• Offers assessments to evaluate measurement systems, culture and shared vision, governance structure, and knowledge management, as well as numerous mapping exercises to visualize and revise key improvement factors.  
• Includes access to a companion online playbook for the Leading Through Learning framework that includes video explainers, interviews, and additional tools (leadingthroughlearning.org).

Elizabeth Chu is the executive director of the Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL) at Columbia University. Andrea Clay is a director of legal strategy and policy at CPRL. Ayeola Kinlaw is CPRL’s cofounder and an independent consultant. Meghan Snyder is a director of research strategy and policy at CPRL.

“There’s long been a cottage industry that thrives by taking anecdotes about education success to sell shallow and one-dimensional imitations. In contrast, The Learning Hive digs deep into the real story behind the so-called ‘Mississippi Miracle,’ demonstrating the long, hard work required to turn the germ of a policy idea into a rooted and durable approach.”
—Jeffrey R. Henig, emeritus professor, political science and education, Teachers College, Columbia University

“This thoroughly educative and clearly written book is both provocative and firmly consistent with concurrent trends in leadership and improvement. The authors provoke us to see change and governance in schools through a learning lens rather than what has traditionally been a managerial or bureaucratic perspective. The volume firmly fits with recent trends in educational practice and research that see improvement as accomplished through local practical experimentation and deep appreciation of the systems that govern organizational action. The authors do a terrific job of weaving excellent examples throughout that allow readers to see how the book’s big ideas unfold in contexts.”
—Louis Gomez, distinguished professor of education, UCLA School of Education and Information Studies

“The Learning Hive offers the missing piece for those committed to improving public education. If you’ve ever felt stuck in structures that seem out of sync with the spirit of continuous improvement, this book is both a mirror and a guide—showing how rethinking governance can unlock the innovation, learning, and responsiveness needed to meet the evolving demands of our schools and communities.”
—Alicia Grunow, improvement advisor and cofounder, Improvement Collective