Top Southern School District Leaders Cite Student Focus and Compelling Vision

Key to Higher Student Achievement in Era of No Child Left Behind

San Francisco, February 20, 2004—With a new national emphasis on accountability and higher academic performance, a group of top school district superintendents from the Superintendents Leadership Network (SLN) today released a new report that challenges traditional management practices and links leadership development to improved district and student performance.

Supported by the BellSouth Foundation and working in partnership with the Center for Leadership in School Reform, the Network was formed in 1997 to create a collaboration of peers who could define common district leadership challenges and work on innovative solutions. The newly published report, Superintendents Leading Change, draws on seven years work of district superintendents in nine Southeastern states and showcases practical, yet powerful, strategies to lead change in districts and boost school performance. The Network is comprised of some of the best and brightest leaders in states across the Southeast; eighteen Network members have been honored as the prestigious “Superintendent of the Year" in their states.

“Strong leadership empowers everyone in a school district to strive higher and accomplish more—all to the benefit of our students,” said Mary D. Boehm, president of the BellSouth Foundation. “We’re proud today to share the lessons and successes of our Superintendents Leadership Network participants and believe their involvement in the Network will inform other superintendents across the country and spark dialogue on behalf of all public school students .”

Among the Superintendents Leadership Network’s key recommendations:

1 Refocus district priorities to ensure all students are engaged in high-content, quality work;

2 Design challenging, interesting, and satisfying work for principals, district-level leaders, and the board of education and find ways for them to be part of a district system that supports innovation;

3 Create strong beliefs with a compelling vision and communicate this information to all staff giving clarity to everyone’s work within the district;

4 Discard old hierarchical notions of power and authority and empower all district staff to become leaders.

“Network superintendents have blazed new paths in leadership and have seen real results in their districts,” said Phillip C. Schlechty, founder and chief executive officer of CLSR. “Through our Systems Standards, we have provided them with the tools to assess and build district capacity so everyone is focused nurturing engagement rather than simply producing compliance."

Over the last few years Network superintendents have focused on three main topic areas to address in their work. These areas include building district capacity, building leadership capability, and informing their field of their findings. The Network created several “inquiry” groups to rethink the specific roles, rules, and relationships between the superintendent and boards of education, other district-level leaders, and principals to focus on providing students with high-content, engaging work.

Engaging the Board of Education

To address greater involvement of the board of education, the Superintendent and School Board “inquiry” group examined what a superintendent could do to help refocus boards of education to become more “student centered” and to improve the quality of work provided to students. Among it’s top five recommendations for superintendents to more effectively lead boards:

1 Understand the needs and interests of individual board members.

2 Design meaningful work for board members that address their individual needs and collective goals.

3 Design meetings of the board consistent with roles, needs, and the core business of school district.

4 Use data to inform the work of the board.

5 Prove the board with information and support it needs to build community.

Inspiring Leaders of Leaders: Superintendent and Principals

While much research has been shared on superintendents leading change and parallel research on principals leading change, there has been little focus on the roles and the relationships between the superintendent and the school principal. To examine this issue, the Superintendent and Principal “inquiry” group looked at the new roles and relationships that need to emerge between superintendent and principal to empower principals to become leaders of leaders. Key advice from this working group to superintendents include:

1 Create an environment of trust and support principals to take risks to pursue the core purpose of schools and the district’s belief and vision.

2 Provide the principal with protection from adverse consequences in their quest to lead change.

3 Stress the need for principals to focus on long-term innovations and improvements to help schools demonstrate success on high-stakes achievement measures.

4 Speak and act consistently with the district’s beliefs, vision and mission and purpose of the schools.

5 Build a trusting and collegial relationship with principals that they will value and will assist everyone to act on a common set of beliefs, a compelling vision, and the core purpose of schools.

Leading With Vision: Superintendent and Vision

Central to leading change within a school district is creating a set a set of strong beliefs and vision and articulating those beliefs and vision to everyone in the district. The Superintendent and Vision inquiry group sought to answer a set of questions including how to create a compelling vision and shared beliefs, why vision is critical to direction setting, and what tools have proven useful in building and maintaining beliefs and vision. Among the inquiry group’s recommendations:

1 Develop clear, powerful messages.

2 Maintain focus and direction.

3 Develop shared understanding and commitment.

4 Live their beliefs and develop trust.

5 Take charge of the calendar and the agenda.

6 Act as the chief teacher in the school district.

BellSouth Foundation

The BellSouth Foundation is an endowed trust of BellSouth Corporation that is devloted to education in the South. Since its creation in 1986, the Foundation has funded over 595 grants and operated numerous special initiatives with a total investment of more than $56 million. For more information about the BellSouth Foundation, please visit the Web site at www.bellsouthfoundation.org.

Center for Leadership in School Reform

The Center for Leadership in School Reform (CLSR) is a private nonprofit corporation with headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1988, Dr. Phillip C. Schlechty launched CLSR as a means to provide high-quality and responsive support to those who are leading school reform efforts across the nation. CLSR works with public school districts and their leaders to transform the existing system of rules, roles, and relationships that govern the way resources are used in schools to one that is focused on the quality of work we provide to students.

Superintendents Leadership Network

The BellSouth/Center for Leadership in School Reform Superintendent Leadership Network (SLN) has operated in nine states since 1997. Currently, there are 32 active members, nine affiliate members, and 32 alumni. Network members represent urban, suburban, and rural school districts in the nine states served by BellSouth: Alabama, Florida, Georgia,

For more information about the Superintendents Leadership Network or to interview district superintendents about the report, please contact Debbie Pickford at 202-955-9450. For more information about the Center for Leadership in School Reform, visit www.clsr.org