Publications

Maxlow, K., & Sanzo, K. (2024): Exploring superintendents' understandings on Virtual Learning Responses. Journal of Organizational and Educational Leadership, 9(2), Article 1.

In this study, the authors sought to explore superintendents’ understandings of the various influences on how their districts implemented a 100% virtual learning experience for students for the 2020-2021 academic year. Understanding these influences allowed the authors to develop a framework for leading redesigns of learning systems in long-term crisis situations. In this qualitative study we conducted semi-structured interviews with fifteen superintendents in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Findings showed that districts sought to plan equitable virtual learning experiences for all students based on unintentional influences and the district’s intentional responses. We found that during an educational crisis, learning plans emerged as a result of the feedback between unintentional influences (politics, availability of resources, and needs of stakeholders) and district leaders’ intentional responses (leveraging relationships, communicating purposefully, and reinforcing the educational mission).

Sanzo, K., Scribner, J., Wheeler, J., & Maxlow, K. (2022). Design thinking: Research, innovation, and implementation. Information Age Publishing.

Design thinking is a human-centered problem-solving process that organizations can use to address wicked and complex problems of practice. Within the PK-12 space, design thinking has been employed to engage educators in an innovative approach to address challenges like curriculum redesign, instructional engagement, and designing physical spaces. The use of design thinking in the PK-12 space is a result of the evolution of an organizational improvement process that puts people at the center of problem-solving initiatives. Design thinking is seen as both a process and a mindset that enables people to look at problems in new ways and address these problems through creative approaches. In this book we share case studies of PK-12 schools and other educational organizations that have used design thinking, as well as research studies that have studied aspects of design thinking in the PK-12 space. We have brought together a variety of research-based and illustrative case studies around design thinking in PK-12 education that explore the development and implementation of design thinking in practice.

Maxlow, K.W., Sanzo, K. L., Maxlow, J. R. (2021). Creating, grading, and using virtual assessments: Strategies for success in the K-12 classroom. Routledge.

This book provides a variety of strategies for creating, grading, and using assessments in the virtual setting. With more teaching and learning taking place online, teachers are adjusting their strategies for creating, grading, and using virtual assessments. This strategies-based book helps you understand the key challenges and solutions to delivering virtual assessments, including use of quizzes, digital worksheets, grading, preventing cheating, and considerations of equity, quality, choice, and efficiency. Designed so that you can pick it up and start reading from any chapter, this book covers topics such as: (1) how to create, grade, and use traditional forms of assessment in the virtual space; (2) how to leverage discussion for meaningful learning in the virtual classroom; (3) how to create, grade, and use virtual performances and projects; (4) digital tools that may be helpful in engaging with and assessing students in the virtual environment. Based on research and full of practical examples, this book guides educators, professional learning teams, and whole schools in implementing a successful virtual assessment plan for all types of intended learning objectives.

Maxlow, K. (2021). The pursuit of equitable virtual learning: District leaders’ understanding of the influences on designing 100% virtual learning experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic. Dissertation.

This qualitative, grounded theory study sought to determine how superintendents understood the influences on the design of their district’s 100% virtual learning plans. Fifteen superintendents were interviewed using semi-structured interviews that each lasted 30-60 minutes. Data was iteratively collected, analyzed, and coded to reveal major categories regarding superintendents’ understanding of influences. Findings showed that districts sought to plan equitable virtual learning experiences for all students based on unintentional influences and the district’s intentional responses. The Influence and Response Complex Emergence (IRCE) Theory explains that, during an educational crisis, learning plans emerge as a result of the feedback between unintentional influences (politics, availability of resources, and needs of stakeholders) and district leaders’ intentional responses (leveraging relationships, communicating purposefully, and reinforcing the educational mission).

Smith, J., Maxlow, K. W., Caggiano, J., Sanzo, K. (2020). Look, listen, learn, lead: A District-Wide Systems Approach to Teaching and Learning in PreK-12. Information Age Publishing.

Look, Listen, Learn, LEAD: A District-Wide Systems Approach to Teaching and Learning in PreK-12 lays out the transformational journey of Hampton City Schools (HCS), an urban school division of 30 schools in southeastern Virginia. Our school district faces numerous challenges, such as 62% of students receiving free and reduced-price lunch and 14% of students holding an IEP, and in 2015-2016, Hampton City Schools’ state accreditation rate was approximately half the statewide rate and on a downward trend. In only three years, that was turned around and HCS exceeded the statewide accreditation rate, a more than 100% improvement with 100% of our schools accredited without conditions. We attribute this in large part to our dedicated educators and their implementation of district-wide systems for curriculum, instruction, checking for student understanding, climate, and culture. The goal of this book is to break down the process of what it takes to bring about large-scale educational change that is sustainable. Complete with example templates, action plans, and lessons learned, this book is a true example of theory-into-practice to bring about sustained improvement for all learners.

Maxlow, K.W., and Sanzo, K.L. (2017). 20 Formative assessment strategies that work: A guide across content and grade levels. Taylor and Francis/Routledge.

This book provides teachers and school leaders with practical, effective, and proven assessment strategies that are immediately implementable in classrooms. You’ll learn about 20 high-impact formative assessment strategies, with details on how they can be applied to a variety of content areas and grade levels, including mathematics, science, language arts, social studies, and various electives. In this accessible book, these experienced authors demonstrate the how and why, along with a framework for folding these new ideas into job-embedded professional development. 20 Formative Assessment Strategies that Work provides the full toolkit for implementing, managing, and modifying these assessment strategies in your school and classrooms today.