The School Administrator

December 2007 Number 11, Vol. 64Life Beyond the SuperintendencyWhy legacy planning begins well before you retire

Features

Legacy Planning: How Will You Be Remembered?
by Robert M. Galford
Whether you’ve been a superintendent for decades or are just stepping into the role, it’s the right time to ask whether you know what you want your legacy to be — and whether you’re on your way to achieving it, says the head of the Center for Executive Development.
Similar Reading: Six Categories of Leadership Roles and Sidestepping Six Pockets of Peril in Retirement
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Reaching Out in Retirement
by Patti Ghezzi
Retired superintendents find fulfillment as mentors, sometimes paid but mostly as volunteers. Some focus on leadership development, and others draw on experience to iron out a personnel problem or a fractured relationship with the board.
Similar Reading: Counsel for Collegial Mentoring
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The Gift Package of Retirement
by Donald R. Draayer
Almost always, retiring superintendents express surprise by the host of issues related to this transition because retirement is not a singular decision. It reshapes the whole landscape.
Similar Reading: The Best of My Life May Be the Rest of My Life and My 2½ Hour Retirement Story
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Board Duty in Retirement
by Richard H. Goodman
At 76, the author already had a full and accomplished career as a superintendent and executive director of two statewide professional groups. So why did this retiree consider running for a seat on an elected local school board in New Hampshire? And why does he think other retired superintendents ought to follow suit?
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Why I Left... and Came Back
by Patricia Nugent
A career educator took an unpaid leave for a year from her central-office administrative role in an upstate New York school district. Two defining moments helped her find her way back to public education. Through the time away, she’s discovered renewed meaning in her leadership work.
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Profile

Profile by Vail's Magician Pulls Off Stunt After Stunt

Now in his 20th year in the same leadership post, Cal Baker has often come off looking like a ready-for-prime-time magician as he deftly manages the burgeoning growth of a suburban district outside Tucson, Ariz.

Departments

Punchback: Answering Critics

Demanding More of Presidential Candidates by Kevin G. Welner

Can meaningful reform of public schooling come about only if problems with the status quo are exaggerated by loud-mouth critics?

Guest Columns

Recess and the Accountability Movement by John A. Sutterby

Are we now at the point of legislating mandatory recess to strike a balance between two careening movements — heightened accountability in schools and childhood obesity? The clash is playing out in Texas.read more

Leadership in the Age of Instant Communication by Blane K. McCann

The rapid-fire pace of communication can lead to more mistakes and unintended outcomes, says a Wisconsin-based superintendent. E-mail now is less about relationships and more about moving to the next decision as instantaneously as possible.read more

People

People

The latest compilation of comings and goings in the ranks of the superintendency across the nation.read more

Tech Leadership

Personal Computing ≠ Laptops for Everyone by Jim Hirsch

One-to-one laptop initiatives aren’t everything proponents tout, often relying on teachers devising unrelated activities rather than using a uniformly designed curriculum to tap the power of personal computing in teaching. This begs an obvious question.

President's Corner

Guns and Butter: Stepping Up to the Plate by Sarah D. Jerome

Who could imagine the classic economic tradeoff would become synonymous with the deadliest threat to the well-being of American children?read more

Executive Perspective

Finding the Right Words by Paul D. Houston

At season’s end, AASA’s director takes time to reflect on possible lessons of the season. He draws this year’s holiday sermon from an episode of “60 Minutes.”read more

Federal Dateline

Weighing In on Candidates’ Ideas by Nick Penning

In just a few weeks (or even days), some of the key states will hold their political primaries and caucuses, officially launching the earliest effort to determine who may become the next president.read more

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