Change management is fundamentally about people. Whether implementing Learning Management Systems (LMS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), or other technologies, it is essential to consider how these tools benefit school communities, the role communities play in selecting them, and whether their implementation is necessary. These factors are critical to successful change management.
District leaders hold formal authority, but teachers, students, staff, and families interact with new technologies daily and experience their benefits and challenges. Their perspectives are essential. Empowerment means allowing school communities to identify needs, evaluate options, raise concerns, and define success. While previous posts have discussed stakeholder engagement, it is important to explore what this looks like in practice.
Diane Doersch, former Senior Director of Information Technology at Digital Promise, demonstrated empowerment during her tenure at Green Bay Public School District. As Chief Technology & Information Officer, she led the transition from desktop computers to laptops by first asking teachers what features they needed. The district held roadshows for teachers to examine different laptop models and collected feedback through written comments and a Google Form. Throughout the year, teachers could also submit questions via shared documents. By enabling ongoing input and choice, the district made its decision-making and implementation process more inclusive and representative of the community.
Doersch explained that stakeholder participation gives community members “skin in the game,” providing them with ownership and turning them into advocates. Change then becomes something they are invested in, rather than something that simply happens to them.
Sarah Radcliffe, Director of Future Ready Learning for the School District of Altoona, Wisconsin, described a similar approach to selecting instructional software. Rather than choosing a platform and persuading users afterward, Radcliffe involves educators from the start. Educators help identify instructional needs, attend vendor presentations, ask questions, and evaluate available options.
Like Doersch, Radcliffe linked early teacher involvement to stronger adoption outcomes. Teachers are more likely to support changes when they help determine what is needed, how it supports instruction, and how it will be used in the classroom. Teacher participation also helps avoid what Radcliffe called “chasing shiny objects,” or adopting technology simply because it is new and popular rather than because it meets a demonstrated educational need.
Empowering a school community gives people most affected by a change meaningful opportunities to influence its selection and implementation. While they might not have ultimate decision-making authority, the experiences of teachers, staff, students, and families can help introduce a first-hand perspective that makes decisions more representative of the views of the district, rather than the views of a select few higher-ups. Ultimately, change is most successful when it is not merely introduced to a school community, but shaped by the people who experience it every day.
AUTHOR: Jesse Davis, MPP
Blaschke Fellow (PT) (VA)
Jesse Davis is the 2026 CoSN Blaschke Fellow. His work focuses on how school districts can successfully implement emerging technologies through effective change management, governance, and stakeholder engagement. Jesse is also a graduate of Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, where he earned a Master of Public Policy (MPP), and holds a BA in Political Science from Berea College.
Published on July 28, 2026
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