District Leadership That Works


Book Description

Bridge the great divide between distanced administrative duties and daily classroom impact. This book introduces a top-down power mechanism called defined autonomy, a concept that focuses on district-defined, nonnegotiable, common goals and a system of accountability supported by assessment tools. Defined autonomy creates an effective balance of centralized direction and individualized empowerment that allows building-level staff the stylistic freedom to respond quickly and effectively to student failure.




Roles and Relationships


Book Description

This position statement, coauthored by a joint committee composed of members of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) and the National School Boards Association (ASBA), outlines a new cooperative relationship for superintendents and school boards. In light of the challenges that today's superintendents and school boards face, it is necessary that both parties examine their roles and responsibilities. This document describes the work of the joint committee, professional standards for the superintendency, and the governance role of school boards. It also highlights some societal changes that have affected public school governance and administration. Three major factors of the board-superintendent relationship include the nature of policy development and administration; the increasing influence of external factors on local district governance; and the discretionary authority granted to boards by their chief administrators. The specific responsibilities for boards and superintendents are outlined. Effective communication is identified as a key to a successful board-administrator relationship. (LMI)




Effective Superintendent-School Board Practices


Book Description

"The authors fill a gap in the literature by providing a practical, experience-based look at how superintendents should approach the most important relationship in their professional lives. Working effectively with school boards is what it is all about, and this book shows you how." -Paul D. Houston, Executive Director, American Association of School Administrators "This book provides practical insights and useful ideas to help district leaders who are serious about keeping the educational interest of children first among their priorities." -Pedro A. Noguera, Professor, New York University "Clearly lays out the important role the superintendent has in leading the district in partnership with the board of education. This book is well worth the time of every current and aspiring superintendent and school board member!" -Anne Bryant, Executive Director, National School Boards Association "This book is a useful tool in building district governance teams. The authors′ collective wisdom provides valuable insight for superintendents and school board members." -Luan B. Rivera, President, California State Boards Association "A wonderful, clear, and jargon-free primer on how to be a successful superintendent. This book is must reading for superintendents and a real plus for school boards." -Dede Alpert, Former California State Senator, Former Member, California State Assembly "An outstanding fieldbook for those interested in down-to-earth strategies for navigating the complexities of providing leadership in school districts." -General Davie, Jr., Retired Superintendent of Schools Foster a strong superintendent-school board relationship centered on quality teaching and learning! Effective Superintendent-School Board Practices helps current and future superintendents and school board members develop an effective governance team that prioritizes quality teaching and learning. Designed for practicing and aspiring superintendents and school board members, this exceptional book relates the everyday experiences and challenges faced by this important district team. Combining 84 years of service as superintendents in urban, rural, and suburban school districts, the authors offer: Real-life vignettes that highlight problems, successes, key points, and useful practices Indispensable information on building relationships, creating a team, managing conflict, and staying focused on the mission and priorities of the district Reflective practice questions and self-assessments throughout This rich resource offers knowledge, skills, and strategies to teach and inspire current and future leaders, based on the experiences of practitioners who have learned what works and what doesn′t, leaving valuable time to focus on student achievement.




Nordic Superintendents: Agents in a Broken Chain


Book Description

This book analyses the superintendent position and relations and shows how the well-known policy umbrella, the New Public Management (NPM), is being adapted to national contexts. School superintendents are civil servants at the heart of the governance of municipal education. Educational governance in the Nordic countries - Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden - is currently undergoing comprehensive restructuring and reconceptualisation at the hands of national governments influenced by transnational agencies. Our analyses of the superintendent position and relations show that the well-known policy umbrella, the New Public Management (NPM), is moving towards focusing on soft governance and social technologies as the preferred means of influences. Thus we rename it New Public Governance (NPG).




The Superintendent and the CFO


Book Description

Building a strong relationship with the CFO is essential for superintendents seeking to build sustainable educational programs for all students. Benzel and Hoover use their CFO and superintendent experience to identify what current and future leaders in both roles need to know and be able to do with respect to fiscal leadership and improved student learning. This book emphasizes that a focus on student achievement must be central to fiscal planning. The authors discuss the role values play in forming the leadership team, how to create a climate for success through collaborative strategies and ways to build systems strength to cope with uncertainty in fiscal planning. Using this leadership base, they outline the key management elements that must be in place to assure sound fiscal practices that monitor fiscal status and manage cash flow to mitigate uncertainty. Benchmarks for organizational success enhance communication with governing boards, internal audiences and taxpayers. This second edition adds perspective about detecting and address fraud or embezzlement and shares leadership perspective on capital facility planning and management. This book provides leaders with an outline of what do during every quarter of the fiscal year to exercise effective fiscal and educational leadership.




The Contemporary Superintendent


Book Description

What is (R)Evolutionary Leadership? Why Does it Matter? How can contemporary school district administrators, specifically superintendents, contend with so many difficult, and almost impossible competing commitments? Building on the definitions of revolution, revolutionary, evolution, and evolutionary, the notion of (R)Evolutionary Leadership emerged while discussing the need for school district leaders to push back against the status quo while improving teacher and leadership practices, improving student learning outcomes, engaging with the community, and ensuring decision making processes that include check and balance systems that are just, fair, and equitable for all. The chapters in this book introduce superintendents or research on superintendents in which these tenants were practiced; both in their ability to enact radical change by “overthrowing” the status quo – as well as evolutionary in their deliberate approach to viewing change as a process they can control over time. These leaders were willing to confront and defy practices and policies that were counter to student well-being and achievement while concurrently knowing how to reach their desired results. The chapters chosen for inclusion in this volume are those that offered a glimpse of these revolutionary tenants in practice. We ask that you consider this emerging concept as you explore the chapters of our book. You will find the (R)evolutionary Leaders you meet in the chapters know how to evolve, not just to stay alive, but to ensure the organization (school) remains relevant and vital to society. These leaders use their positional power, social capital, and expertise to advocate for policies and practices that are in the best interest of the school community and they innovate in ways that challenge the status quo. You will also find practices that are (R)Evolutionary and provide ways for leaders to innovate, collaborate, and simply take care of themselves and those around them. Our description does not seek to support or define or delineate the characteristics of a (R)Evolutionary Leader or how one might enact (R)Evolutionary Leadership–but serves as a way to (re)think the way we view the vastly complex work of school district administrators, specifically the superintendent. (R)Evolutionary leadership may change our ways of thinking about the significant advocacy role a superintendent can play in influencing both practice and policy to enact the change necessary to move forward issues of justice, equity, and quality in PK-12 schools and further to improve educational and social outcomes for those served.




Governing at the Top


Book Description

Doug Eadie’s Governing at the Top: Building a Board-Superintendent Strategic Governing Team is both a powerful addition to the K-12 governance literature and a practical guidebook for school board members, superintendents, and senior administrators. Opening with a crystal-clear, eminently practical definition of the work of governing that goes well-beyond the outdated notion of “policy making,” this exciting new book then takes a close look at the key elements involved in building the kind of rock-solid board-superintendent governing partnership that these changing, challenging times demand. After describing the critical role of a “board-savvy” superintendent in the governing partnership, Doug examines in detail how board-superintendent teams can go about developing the board’s governing “architecture” (the board’s governing role, its members, and its committee structure), mapping out processes for active board member engagement in governing work, and keeping the board-superintendent working relationship healthy.




School Leadership that Works


Book Description

Describes a variety of leaders hip responsibilities that have an effect on student achievement.




The Emerging Work of Today's Superintendent


Book Description

This book focuses on the changing role of the superintendent who now must lead with new skills in a time when the landscape of communities is shifting necessitating the mobilization of people through advocacy and activism alongside new partnerships with businesses, local governmental agencies, and community organizations. To lead districts, superintendents must ask new questions about current school structures while navigating changes in local, state, and federal education policies to ensure practices are aligned to meet the needs of all children. Key questions throughout the book help leaders create coherence in a system of change while leading the learning for members in the district and developing effective governance structures to empower leaders in making strategic decisions. Superintendents must focus efforts on leading systems to think through the world of information and digital access, so students can learn for tomorrow and to leverage social media to brand and support system-wide transformations. The frenetic work, role, and responsibilities of the superintendent requires personal and professional balance to be effective in leading districts and communities.




School District Leadership Matters


Book Description

School District Leadership Matters challenges policy makers, administrators, and academics in the field of educational leadership to reassess their traditional approaches to learning, working, and planning. The authors believe that government restructuring, standards-based reforms, and centrally imposed strategic planning have been painfully ineffective. As a consequence, student learning has become increasingly superficial and inauthentic. This book bridges the traditional divide between the generalizations of social science theory on the one hand and the world of educational practice on the other. It argues that a more promising approach to education reform is through effective school district leadership. Sheppard, Brown and Dibbon draw on their collective experience both as educational leaders and researchers of leadership, having spent five years researching and working in one school district. Here, they show how a district superintendent can successfully navigate the paradoxes and challenges of facilitating collaborative leadership in a school district with a traditionally hierarchical organizational structure. As a conclusion to their work, the authors highlight what they call five ‘recognitions’ that deepen readers’ understanding of school district leadership. They illuminate, too, ways that senior level practitioners can apply theory to practice in order to break down the traditional hierarchical bureaucracies that inhibit learning, and create professional learning communities. School District Leadership Matters urges researchers, graduate students, practitioners, and policymakers to focus on improving authentic learning for all students and argues that the best hope rests with effective school district leadership. This empirically-based yet practical book provides new insights and questions for academic researchers and will inspire policy makers and practitioners to imagine what could be and to work towards it.