Many a young boy wishes to grow up to be like his father someday. The author's father, Brian L. Talbott, was named superintendent of Educational Service District 105 in Yakima, Washington, the same year he entered 1st grade. He continued in this position through his elementary years. His stomping grounds changed during the summer between 6th and…

This article presents a conversation with Charlotte Danielson. Danielson is an expert on good teaching, having analyzed the performance of what distinguished, proficient and underperforming teachers do (or don't do). Her detailed rubrics on teaching reveal the benefits to teachers, students and administrators when a common standard of practice is…

Debates over school funding sources are not typical high school lunchroom conversations, but they can be when your dad is the business manager and then superintendent in the community where you attend school. Growing up between the two worlds of school district management and adolescent survival, the author had a unique insight into what his…

Superintendents whose young children attend public schools in their school district face a special challenge. How do you go about ensuring your children are treated like other students, neither advantaged nor disadvantaged by their unique connection to the chief executive of the school system? This article shares the experience of a superintendent…

Superintendents whose young children attend public schools in their school district face a special challenge. This article shares the author's experience as the son of a superintendent. Throughout his years in primary and secondary school, his mother, Jean Chrostoski, served as the superintendent of the schools he attended in the small Illinois…

When Karen Rue was on the verge of accepting her first superintendent appointment 11 years ago, her husband Gary anticipated he might be asked to play the role of "first spouse," serving as informal ambassador for the school district. He was correct. Gary Rue, a retired physical education teacher, has willingly served as his wife's…

Having his mother serve as superintendent of the junior and senior high schools the author attended in Illinois affected how people treated him. He realizes today that people, at times, like to put blame on others when something else is really what's at fault. That makes the children of the school district's top decision maker an easy target. He…

Leaders complain that people agree with them too much and do not assert their true opinions and ideas. But then when they do so, leaders get upset and view their subordinates' assertive behavior as disrespectful. Many leaders, unfortunately, desire courage but reinforce subservience. A superintendent's most important job is to inspire courageous…

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…

Superintendents whose young children attend public schools in their school district face a special challenge. How do you go about ensuring your children are treated like other students, neither advantaged nor disadvantaged by their unique connection to the chief executive of the school system? This article shares the experience of the author who…

People live in two worlds. The first is the external world of competition, ego, ambition and power. Here they chase the brass ring of success through control and standardized procedures designed to stave off failure. In this context, leaders face politics, conflicting expectations and bottom-line metrics. But in quiet moments of solitude, these…

Considering the vital role the superintendent plays in the overall functioning and well-being of any school district, the filling of the top leadership post with a permanent appointment never should be done in haste. The process of advertising, reviewing applications, conducting background checks, interviewing candidates, negotiating contracts,…

It was in March 2010, just months after the author's retirement as a superintendent, when she received a phone call from state Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock asking if she would be interested in working for him as an education policy staffer in the upcoming 82nd Texas legislative session. Aycock was set to serve a second term on the House's education…

Sadly, the fiscal condition of school systems now not only is troublesome, but in some cases has surpassed all expectations for the worst-case scenario. Among the states, one common response is to drop funding for public education to inadequate levels, leading to permanent program cuts, school closures, staff layoffs, district dissolutions and…

The typical superintendent these days is male (though the percentage of female superintendents is steadily rising, now accounting for one in four, according to AASA's 2010 decennial study of the superintendency), in his 40s and almost always married with children. When educators become superintendents, the issues of family dynamics and related…