February 2018: School Administrator

California’s Lindsay Unified Schools have spent a decade developing a performance-based system

In the most encouraging sign in educational policy since the turn of the 21st century, a bipartisan majority in Congress has repudiated micromanagement of educational accountability by the federal government.

Findings about personal characteristics from Gallup’s 2017 census of superintendents nationwide.

A district employee learns about parents’ plans to use faked doctors’ forms for their children’s required vaccinations for school admission. Does the employee have a duty to report what he has heard?

Playing even-handedly with all candidates is the only way to keep your relationships collegial.

LAST FALL, AT a high school football game in Grand Rapids, Mich., I found myself focused on the visiting team’s sideline much of the night and its interaction with the game officials. In the fourth quarter, I finally had seen enough.

I TRY TO practice mindful listening. I am genuinely curious about what people are thinking — which is probably a good quality for a superintendent because in our business there is no shortage of people eager to tell us what they think.

WHAT IF YOU walked into a physician’s office on a Monday feeling ill and were told that the doctor would do an examination that day, but only schedules medical tests on Fridays?

Learning time and degree of mastery should be considered along with purpose.

JAMES MINICHELLO IS AASA’s guru when it comes to communications — whether asked to discuss the role of a superintendent, explain the policy implications of federal laws, promote public education on social media or showcase the work of AASA leaders in a short video.

When an onslaught of angry tweets became expletives, the superintendent had an opening for a teachable moment with students.