As the superintendent of a school district, how do you establish yourself as a leader of learning? This question was paramount to the author as he began his first year as superintendent in Kelso, a 5,000-student district in southwestern Washington. He wanted his staff and all stakeholders to know he was serious about instructional improvement and…

Amid the focus on improved standardized test scores, differentiated instruction, value-added initiatives and improved teacher evaluation, one must not ignore an education leader's need to inspire and be inspired. But how do education leaders inspire their students and teachers during some of the most difficult economic times the nation has ever…

Ash Solar had just wrapped up his first two years of classroom teaching when he found himself standing on the campus of Stanford University one fall day six years ago. By then, he knew he wanted to carve out a career in school leadership and was contemplating graduate school. The next day, Solar jumped on the Internet and came across a joint…

With the growing availability of online courses and degree programs in educational leadership, "The School Administrator" sought out superintendents to share their firsthand experiences pursuing a doctoral degree in educational leadership in fully online or hybrid programs. In the accounts that follow, three superintendents discuss what…

For central offices to become full partners with schools in improving teaching and learning, simply defining new roles or creating new reporting structures is not enough. Through the authors' recent central-office research, they have confirmed that creating the conditions for improved teaching and learning districtwide demands new practices within…

Ron Dickson knew he needed a terminal degree. In the early 2000s, he was toiling away as an assistant superintendent in a suburban Phoenix school district, but he had higher aspirations--a superintendency. Yet with a family and a demanding job, he wasn't sure how he could swing a doctoral degree. He diligently checked out the traditional Ed.D. and…

The continuum of learning walks can be viewed in stages with various dimensions including frequency, participants, purpose and the presence of an instructional framework within which the instructional practice is viewed. Steps in the continuum progress as the learning walks are conducted more frequently. One way to ensure this is accomplished is…

Student and parent use of cell phones, text messaging and social networking through Facebook and Twitter can quickly become the enemies of a superintendent and principal. Rumors and misinformation about threats and other student safety issues that used to take hours and days to spread now goes viral in seconds. This rapid dissemination of…

This article presents 10 related questions on which Heartland Area Education Agency in Iowa base their approach for developing a response to intervention (RTI) framework. These questions are drawn from the National Association of State Directors of Special Education's publication "Response to Intervention Blueprint for Implementation."…

A conversation has emerged in education circles over how much latitude or autonomy principals should have. So how much autonomy should superintendents give principals, and how much is too much? The authors report on some relevant findings in research by McREL, a federal research lab, that may answer this question. McREL's meta-analysis of research…

It would be difficult to imagine any first-year teacher had aspirations of becoming a weak teacher. Most individuals hired as teachers have the ability to do a good job and want to do a good job. So how is it that some become ineffective? The authors contend that school leaders make them that way. Consider this preposterous notion: School leaders…

The current rhetoric about accountability, making adequate yearly progress, and focusing on quality classroom instruction obfuscates the core challenge in becoming a superintendent: How does one use the entry and transition process to learn what the real challenges and issues are in a school district? Can entry be used as a time for personal and…

In his book "The Speed of Trust," Stephen Covey identifies trust as the one thing that, if missing, will "destroy the most powerful government, the most successful business, the most thriving economy, the most influential leadership, the greatest friendship, the strongest character, the deepest love." When the Creative-Moniker…

Once changes or innovations reach the tipping point, they spread throughout an organization and become entrenched as part of the culture, becoming "just the way we do things around here." These authors see the tipping point at play with systemic improvement in two urban school districts with which they have worked. Here, they describe…

As a first-year superintendent, Nick Polyak has yet to conduct a search for a principal to lead one of his four schools in the Illinois Valley Central School District in Chillicothe, Ill. When that opportunity does come, Polyak is quite sure he'll be skeptical of any candidate whose curriculum vitae lists courses or entire degrees completed in…