District Redesign Network

From Inquiry to Action to Transform Student Experience

Fall 2026 to Spring 2028

DRN Participants Say

“It can be rare to find protected time and space in our schedules to work across our district on issues of parent/student/staff communication and setting up systems of listening. It's been valuable to not only independently brainstorm and organize, but also to learn from each other's best or emerging practices.” - Principal

“I'm more comfortable listening to dissenting views. This has uncovered hidden spots in my leadership and made me stronger, so my work can have a bigger impact.” - Superintendent

“DRN gave our work direction and a platform for systems-level change. It pushed our district past boundaries of comfort and gave me a place to grow. I learned what true systems impact and teamwork look like.” - Equity Officer

Join Us

If your school district is interested in joining the next cohort of the District Redesign Network launching in Fall 2026, please complete this inquiry form and we will follow up with you.
We are seeking philanthropic partners to continue to expand this program. If you are able to support this important work, please contact us or donate today.

District Redesign Network Interest Form

Program Overview

Sustainable change in student experience starts with leadership teams who have the capacity, support, and strategic frameworks to move from insight to action. The National Equity Project's District Redesign Network (DRN) builds the collective leadership to transform how students experience school.

DRN is a two-year leadership development experience (Fall 2026 to Spring 2028) for U.S. school districts committed to transforming student experience through liberatory design cycles of inquiry and action.

DRN focuses on leadership development aligned to three essential actions from the research-backed Building Equitable Learning Environments (BELE) Framework: Measure What Matters, Transform Teaching & Learning, and Empower Youth. Through iterative cycles of inquiry grounded in student experience data, cross-functional teams develop the leadership capacity and organizational conditions necessary to sustain transformation over time.

Program Outcomes

Participating districts can expect to see and experience:

Growth in leadership capacity and competency as measured by research-backed assessments.
Stronger organizational conditions as teams use data to uncover patterns and make adaptive shifts.
A clear, sustainable path forward, including a comprehensive plan to sustain system-level change.

Program Details

Customized coaching and leadership support: Up to 100 hours of team and 1:1 coaching
In-person and virtual collaborative learning opportunities: 3-day in-person retreat, one-day regional learning lab; two 3-hour virtual convenings
Access to professional learning tools focused on leadership, student learning and organizational conditions

Participation Requirements

The District Redesign Network requires school district partners to commit to:

Partner with students to ensure experience drives design
Build a Cross-Functional Design Team that includes Superintendent/Cabinet, Academic Officers, Principals, Teachers, and Coaches
Commit to fully engaging in NEP Coaching and collaborative learning opportunities.

Focus on Student Experience

Educators have enormous power to shape learning contexts and influence students’ experiences of school. Research shows that the experiences and social interactions students have every day in their classrooms and school community impact their academic learning, as well their overall development and wellbeing.

The Science of Learning and Development confirms that a student’s ability to learn is strongly intertwined with their social, emotional, cognitive, and physical needs and sense of belonging. Unfortunately, the quality of relationships, opportunities, and resources, afforded to young people in our schools continues to be patterned by race, class, gender, and other social categories. Transforming these patterns requires leadership with the capacity to redesign the organizational conditions that shape students' daily experiences of school.

Why a Network?

Our network approach addresses a persistent reality in education leadership; leading change efforts can be isolating work, and despite deep commitment and best efforts, inequitable outcomes persist. The District Redesign Network counters that isolation by building collective capacity among cross-functional district leadership teams who are ready to develop the leadership practices needed to create the conditions for meaningful, lasting change.