The School Administrator

May 2006 Cover

May 2006 Number 5, Vol. 63Leadership OnlineMaximizing impact through blogs and websites

Features

  • Blogging to My Advantage

    by Mark Stock

    The superintendent in Wawasee, Ind., discovers a new online tool that bears unlimited possibilities for two-way connections between his community and him. Also: Recommended blogging tips; and vocabulary of blogging.

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  • Blogging With the Doors Open

    by Clayton Wilcox

    Even though he may receive 1,000 postings on a controversial matter facing the school system, this county superintendent wants to keep a finger on the public pulse.

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  • Twelve Essentials of a School District Website

    by Jennifer L. Wohlleb

    If your website serves as your school district’s calling card, what first impressions are you giving parents and community members?

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  • Got Web? Investing in a District Website

    by Patricia A. Swann

    The author’s formal study of school district websites as communication vehicles identifies how an effective site can help reach organizational goals.

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  • Abuse in Cyberspace

    by Robert W. Ashmore and Brian M. Herman

    School lawyers offer counsel on dealing with questionable actions by school staff and students in the electronic communications sphere.

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Profile

    A Personal Mission Applied by Jay P. Goldman


    Growing up with a sister with Down Syndrome profoundly affects the way Edward Lee Vargas approaches his work raising student learning to higher levels. He’s the superintendent in the Hacienda La Puente district in City of Industry, Calif.

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    Departments

    Board-Savvy Superintendent

    Making a Good Board Better by Doug Eadie


    Every superintendent faces a clear choice: Inherit the school board of the past with its existing governing design, role, structure and processes or devise better ways of collaborating to achieve the primary ends.read more
    Guest Columns

    Thoughts on Leading … From My Fishing Hole by Ted Blaesing


    By linking leadership to his favorite pastime, a Minnesota superintendent offers a glimpse of simplicity in an otherwise complex tangle of elusive goals.read more

    Delaying Teacher Tenure for Education's Good by Marc F. Bernstein


    A longtime superintendent would like more time to evaluate the effectiveness of new teachers and principals before granting lifetime tenure. Doing so after just two or three years is an anachronism.read more
    People

    People


    Accounts of the latest promotions, retirements and deaths in the membership ranks. The Sidelight identifies a Southern superintendent with a fascination for gardening with his 1,700-pound mule, Samson.read more
    Tech Leadership

    Is Student Blogging the New Social Disease? by Jim Hirsch


    What do you consider a blog to be — an electronic preying ground for pedophiles and an isolating factor or a collaborative learning and writing tool? It may be all things, including a subject of heightened current debate.read more
    President's Corner

    Pro Coaches and Unpopular Decisions by David E. Gee


    Superintendents find themselves in similar predicaments to football coaches. A track record of success becomes blurred by a few losses. The owner and the players remain, but the coach is sent packing.read more
    Executive Perspective

    A Critical Position in Critical Condition by Paul D. Houston


    The history of the school superintendency has been a fitful journey from manager to leader.read more
    Systems Thinking

    A Daily Dose of Continuous Improvement by Carl D. Roberts


    Systems thinking is making a difference for the students and the staff in the Cecil County, Md., Public Schools, according to the superintendent.read more

    Book Reviews

    How to be Involved in Program Evaluation by Keith McNeil