The School Administrator

Feb 07 Cover

Februrary 2007 Number 2, Vol. 64Gifted Education Left BehindDiscrete classes or integrated learning for high-ability students?

Features

Profile

    A Persona of Perpetual Motion by Jay P. Goldman


    Fourteen years after his official retirement from the superintendency, Californian Peter Corona still finds reasons to make the AASA national conference an annual commitment.

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    Departments

    Punchback: Answering Critics

    The Public Seems To Get It by William J. Bushaw


    Phi Delta Kappa’s latest study of attitudes toward public education demonstrates the public’s uncanny ability to separate myth from reality and to arrive at accurate assessments of the schools. Yet the claim that “schools don’t work” continues to be bandied about by political leaders.read more
    Focus

    A Focus Group Model for Community Input by Brent Winand


    Involving rural communities in school district planning can be especially difficult. Even the geography works against collecting data from the citizenry. A district in north-central Ohio figured out how to overcome that problem.read more
    Guest Columns

    The Pushme-Pullyu Is Alive and Well, But Dr. Doolittle Is in Trouble by Lewis A. Rhodes


    Like superintendents, the good doctor was responsible for the health and growth of a total, connected, natural system over which he had no control. What did Dr. Doolittle know and do in order to serve the needs of an organized whole?read more

    When a Performance Review Is Seen as Criticism by Stan Bippus


    Ideally, superintendents should be able to express opinions about a subordinate’s job standing without that employee becoming defensive or threatened. A disinterested third party may be a way to keep relationships positive.read more
    People

    People


    A rundown of the latest promotions and retirements in the ranks of AASA members around the country as well as markers of several recent deaths.read more
    Tech Leadership

    Providing the Basics: A Computer That Works by Robert J. Gravina


    Without the proper equipment and infrastructure, students and teachers are unable to use technology to enhance learning, leading to frustration and disillusionment. The author directs technology use in Poway, Calif.read more
    President's Corner

    Are We Leaving Behind Students With Gifts? by Eugene G. White


    AASA’s president on how the student selection process compromises what passes as gifted programming.read more
    Executive Perspective

    A Pint of Good Sense by Paul D. Houston


    First consider the notion of “quality assurance.” Then compare it to an accountability system where some people are held accountable by other people and blame and punishment are meted out. AASA’s executive found evidence of the former during a trip with educators to Ireland.read more
    Systems Thinking

    System Problem or People Problem? by Lee Jenkins


    Some school leaders misunderstand W. Edwards Deming by assuming that the problems they see are due to failures in either the legislative or the societal systems. The author insists education has its own set of problems that cannot be solved by either legislation or society. Only leaders can fix the problems that education owns.read more

    Book Reviews

    The Power to Transform by Stephanie Pace Marshall