December 2008 Number 11 Vol. 65 The School Administrator home page Joys of the Superintendency Finding gratification and buoyancy despite travails

Joy When the Job’s a Perfect Fit
By Patti Ghezzi
It’s a 24-hour job with expectations that often seem unreasonable; yet for all the stress, the bad headlines and the aggravation, superintendents on the whole are upbeat about what they do for a living. We share the stories of a representative sample. Also: Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana: Combining job with passion and Mark Edwards: Missing the ‘joy and fun’.

Rearview Memories
By Gwen E. Gross
In her 17th year in the superintendency, the author finds the joys of her work all around her, grateful to be bestowed with the gift of leadership. She shares with colleagues a few especially meaningful moments from her professional life.

Rookies No More
By Donna Harrington-Lueker
Our magazine revisits the lives of six educators whose first-year adventures as superintendents we chronicled after their 2001-02 rookie campaigns. Also: Six former rookies offer six rules.

Joy & Resilience: Strange Bedfellows
By Jerry L. Patterson, George A. Goens and Diane E. Reed
In their own experiences supporting superintendents, the authors have learned that joy in the face of adversity accrues primarily to those who possess the elements of resilience. Resilient superintendents possess the ability to recover, learn and grow stronger when confronted by chronic or crisis adversity. Also: Measuring your resilience and Strategies to strengthen superintendent resilience.

Countering Three Misconceptions About Administrators
By Kathleen McLane
The chief knowledge officer at the Educational Research Service has solid answers for the falsehoods and exaggerations perpetuated about public school administrators.

Peppering Staff Out of Turn
By Nicholas D. Caruso Jr.
To make effective decisions, school board members need to understand what’s happening; but there’s a world of difference between a casual conversation with a staff member and an inquisition. How do you establish proper lines of communication?

Legalities of Conducting Internal Investigative Interviews
By Michael L. Buckner
Whether conducting your own internal investigation or cooperating with a law enforcement agency, education leaders need to be mindful of four legal considerations relating to interviews.

Giving Students a Voice
By Mary B. Herrmann
Finding herself removed as superintendent from the daily activities of students, the author sought opportunities to obtain fresh and honest insights of students and get a glimpse of schooling through their eyes.

Leaders and Apologies
By Pete Reilly
Being a leader of an organization does not preclude us from being human or from making mistakes. It’s good to remember that the mistake itself is one thing. How we handle it afterward is another.

The Root Criticism of Urban Schools
By Colin K. Armstrong
A small-city superintendent asks you to consider four exhibits in support of his contention that the continuation of haves and have nots among public schools is all by design.

A Presidential Agenda for the Schools
By Harold Kwalwasser
The former general counsel in the Los Angeles Unified School District points to four ways the federal government can re-balance the federal-state-local district relationship.

Give Me One Magnificent Obsession
By Randall H. Collins
You are a hero only when you are right. Some 27 years ago, that was perhaps the first enduring lesson in the largely joyous superintendent career of AASA’s president.

Why It’s All Worthwhile
By Daniel A. Domenech
Whenever he’s asked why anybody wants the job of superintendent today, AASA’s executive director thinks of Ernesto, a troubled 5th grader whom he mentored during his time in Fairfax County, Va. He retells Ernesto’s story to the rest of us.

From a Rough Cut to a Polished Gem
By Mark T. Bielang
A look at a school system in need through the lens of a systems-thinking superintendent.

Bringing the District Back In: The Role of the Central Office in Instruction and Achievement

Charter School Outcomes

Fertilizers, Pills, and Magnetic Strips: The Fate of Public Education in America

Leading Professional Learning Communities: Voices From Research and Practice

The Little School System That Could

Measuring Up: What Educational Testing Really Tells Us

Schooling by Design: Mission, Action, and Achievement

The Six Secrets of Change: What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their Organizations Survive and Thrive

Time to Learn

People
Appointments and retirements in the superintendent ranks in recent months. The Sidelight glares on Superintendent Art Stellar and his valuable collection of Coca-Cola-sponsored Santa dolls.

Inspired by His Aspirations
By Francesca Duffy
Mark Eastman had a vision when he arrived in Oxford, Maine, in 1995 as the new superintendent and the project coordinator of the then-unfinished comprehensive high school. That vision entailed raising student aspirations, a goal to be measured by postsecondary enrollment.

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