The School Administrator

September 2011 Number 8, Vol. 68CourageSelf-reflections by 10 superintendents on what motivated them to act so boldly

Features

Courageous Acts: Personal Tales
Ten superintendents reflect on what moved them in a brave moment of leadership.
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Building Cultures of Integrity
by PAULA MIRK
Education leaders make small but meaningful decisions that can have powerful and positive bearing on the ethics of a school system. The author runs education programs for the Institute for Global Ethics.
Similar Reading: Additional resources and A column on ethical dilemmas
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Leadership’s First Virtue: Be Courageous
by BILL TREASURER
The author of Courage Goes to Work believes the entire organization wins when everyone shows up to the office each day with more courage, enabling them to take on harder tasks, deal better with change and speak up more willingly about important issues.
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Leadership in Two Worlds
by GEORGE A. GOENS
Superintendents operate in a pair of disparate realms — one that promotes competition and pushes ego and ambition, while the other prizes relationships, personal values and principled acts.
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Profile: Timothy Jenney

A Bagful of Tricks in Fort Bend by Marian Kisch

Poking fun at himself is just one of Tim Jenney’s indispensable tools of organizational leadership.

Departments

Board-Savvy Superintendent

Removing Negativity From Budget Cutting by DONALD R. McADAMS

No one likes cutting budgets, but if there must be cuts, they should be democratic cuts. Help your board members take responsibility for the spending cutbacks and their consequences.

Tech Leadership

The Most Important Tool You Probably Don’t Know by SCOTT McLEOD

If you’re looking for help culling the most pertinent information from trusted voices on the web, the screening tool you’ll want is an RSS reader, which stands for real simple syndication. It’s also free.

Focus

Texting’s Effects on School Crisis Announcements by CHARLES M. JAKSEC

The instantaneous communication that accompanies texting has complicated decisions about when and how much information to share about an unfolding situation involving students or staff members.

People

People

A ledger of recent promotions, retirements and deaths in the ranks of the superintendency.

AASA School Solutions

Ready to Manage Data on Teacher Performance? by JOHN RAYMOND

A timely new web-based tool to skirt the bottleneck involved in managing teacher evaluation in a school district.

Guest Columns

A Last Call for Quality-Blind Layoffs by PHILIP S. CICERO

After 11 years as a superintendent, when he often had the unenviable task of telling up-and-coming teachers their positions were being excised, the author says it’s time to get rid of archaic layoff rules.

School Activities Lost and Found by JOHN E. ROBERTS

A recent series of troubling developments are threatening student-centered, school-sponsored competitive athletics.

Attending to the Gifted in Rural Schools by DONALD L. KORDOSKY

Limited funding and distance from supplemental learning opportunities need not preclude gifted youngsters from being served in remote locales, according to a superintendent in Oregon who has published a book on the subject.

President's Corner

The Mouse and the Camel: A Leadership Tale by PATRICIA E. NEUDECKER

Examples of courage have at least two things in common: leadership and conviction. And fables can be an excellent source of learning about courage.

Executive Perspective

No Hiding From Confrontation by DANIEL A. DOMENECH

School system leadership is a risky business, and physical confrontations have become more prevalent. Yet no superintendent expects to face the barrel of a gun as Bill Husfelt courageously did last December.

The School Administrator

Features

Profile: Timothy Jenney

Departments

Book Reviews