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Insights and News

September 2025

How Can Principal Supervisors Best Support School Leaders?

Principal supervisors can play a powerful role in helping school leaders strengthen teaching and learning. See how six districts redefined the position to better support principals and what lessons emerged along the way.

The Scoop on Audience-Building

If arts organizations want to change how audiences engage with them, they must first be open to changing themselves. That's one of the biggest takeaways from a multiyear study of 25 performing arts organizations trying to build audiences. Spoiler: there's no magic bullet. But there are strategies that could help. This article sums up four of them.

Back to School Listening

As summer winds down and routines pick back up, we've got the perfect playlist for your daily commute. A Hot Time for Summer Learning brings together national, state, and local leaders to explore what makes high-quality summer programs engaging and effective for young people. And in The Principal Pipeline Podcast, school, district, state, and university leaders share candid conversations about what it takes to develop and sustain strong principals.

We're excited to officially welcome Jean S. Desravines as The Wallace Foundation's new president! Jean is a seasoned education and nonprofit leader (and a lifelong basketball fan!) bringing both expertise and heart to this new chapter at Wallace. Get to know him more.

Schools, Districts, States

A new RAND Corporation report, drawing on a 2025 survey of 207 districts, highlights how districts of different sizes develop and support principals and offers recommendations for strengthening leadership pipelines.

EdTrust's newest storytelling series, The Black Principals Project, uplifts the voices of Black principals across the country, honoring their leadership, history, impact, and dedication to education.

In this article, Virginia Beach City Public Schools' director of elementary schools shares a framework for school leaders that recognizes the most stressful and busy times of year and helps distribute school tasks accordingly.

What can we do about chronic absenteeism? Ask Detroit.

Summer, Afterschool, Social and Emotional Learning

FHI 360 and The School Superintendents Association are launching the next phase of the District Summer Learning Network to provide professional learning and networking for states and districts designing evidence-based summer programs.

The National Afterschool Association explains why afterschool matters and the key elements that make afterschool systems successful.

The National League of Cities spotlights how the city of Madison, WI, and its school district are expanding access to high-quality summer learning by recognizing community center programs as official summer school sites.

The Arts

A recent episode of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals' ARTS. WORK. LIFE. podcast explores stories about the healing power of the arts, not just for the creator, but for entire communities. And the season four finale explores how mentoring can be just as transformative as creating our own work.

Wallace arts grantee, Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project (QWOCMAP), is accepting applications for its free in-person filmmaking workshop offered for LBTQIA and BIPOC youth from now until September 28th.

Youth music groups, including Youth Orchestras of San Antonio and the Classical Music Institute, are expanding efforts to diversify classical music and creating opportunities for young musicians.