Peter Negroni, former superintendent in Springfield, Massachusetts, believes Ron Heifetz's insights about the importance of taking the long view helped save his career in school administration. Negroni was on a quick fix, my-way-or-the-highway approach to school reform in 1994 but sensed he was in trouble. Brutal and ongoing contretemps around his…

Starting the day early with a nutritious breakfast has long been a goal for time- and health-conscious school administrators. When Michael Jinks arrived in Warrensburg, Missouri, some 35 miles east of Kansas City, as the new superintendent 18 years ago, he discovered he was soon to be part of a great local tradition that made breakfast more than…

With all the social, financial and academic challenges facing schools today, the potential for strain between the board of education and the superintendent is heightened, meaning a good board president/superintendent partnership can do more to determine the effective governance of schools than perhaps any other single factor. Trust is the…

Lane Mills, assistant superintendent for accountability and technology for Wilson County Schools, in North Carolina, describes the process of reviewing and updating technology policies in her home school district. While technology policies and procedures should be tailored to each district's needs and level of technology use, some basic policies…

In this article, the author compares leadership and resiliency with rock climbing. It describes the author's personal experience on a rock climbing adventure with his family and how it required application of similar elements as that of leadership and resiliency. The article contains the following sections: (1) Being Resilient; (2) Points of…

Some think a good superintendent these days shares a lot in common with a superhero. Larry Hill is one superintendent who really does don a cape. It is a flowing black one, complemented by a sparkly white bow tie and red top hat. And better yet, he wears it on his job as the top administrator of the North Iowa Community Schools in Buffalo Center,…

Should a superintendent become involved in the recruitment of new school board members? Because of the importance of who serves on the school board and their individual and collective motives, does the superintendent leave the recruitment and selection of new board members to chance or does he or she become involved in recruiting? This is a…

Board meetings are the time and place where school boards act. In fact, only when coming together as a body in a legal meeting do school board members become a board. Effective board meetings are the first prerequisite for an effective board. Furthermore, what parents and voters see at board meetings determines largely what they think about their…

In this article, the author poses the question "Are weapons searches in the job descriptions of instructional leaders?" which brings to attention changing duties of school principals that were not faced by previous generations. The article reports observations made during time spent with a current high school principal.

The closely watched search for a new superintendent in Boston has taken such a rocky turn that the search committee's revised timeline now envisions January as the starting time for the new schools chief. The district's search committee had planned to select a group of finalists who would then go through public interviews before the school…

This article discusses Arkansas' new compensation package for its new education chief. One recent candidate for the state education director's job is said to have had discussions that included a salary of about $240,000, a substantial bonus for staying a certain number of years, and possibly even a professor's chair at a state university upon…

A suburban Detroit consortium of superintendents created a leadership academy for teachers to learn the value of their own knowledge and improve their skills. The Galileo Leadership project challenges established beliefs and helps teachers engage collaboratively in the work of active leadership. From mini-retreats to active research, teachers…

Often superintendents and boards of education employ an expert-based, school-centered, "decide and defend" decision making approach when dealing with critical school district issues. In the case presented here, involving what to do with an historic school building, it is an approach that did not yield the result the superintendent or board of…

Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) Fixing D.C.'s Schools: How a 38-Year-Old Rookie…

This fourth volume of "The Soul of Educational Leadership" series offers key strategies for identifying the moral and ethical dimensions of school leadership practice. With thought-provoking contributions from top leadership figures like Terrence E. Deal, Dawna Markova, and Scott Thompson, this enlightening resource combines research with…