Educational Leadership

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Tired upset mature gray-haired Asian, business woman, manager or teacher, takes a break from online work, massages her head with her hand, has a headache, sits at the table, took off glasses,need rest
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School Leaders Can Mitigate the Teacher Hiring Crisis

The teacher-hiring crisis is far from over. High teacher-turnover rates are outpacing the sharp decline in student enrollment numbers in K-12 public schools. Read More ›
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Kid with school backpack look on schoolyard towards an open entrance or exit door. Schools and preschools remain locked for children during lockdown, coronavirus pandemic and second wave of covid-19.
Photo by Inna on Adobe Stock

Despite the Known Harm, Schools Shutdown Yet Again

At least 5,506 schools opted not to provide in-person learning when schools resumed the week of January 3. With closures primarily occurring in large urban districts, the number of students and families negatively impacted by this latest disruption to education is enormous. Read More ›
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The used medical face mask hangs on the wood lecture chairs in the empty classroom. Concept during the Coronavirus disease COVID-19 outbreak and pandemic in the 2020s. Back to school concept.
The used medical face mask hangs on the wood lecture chairs in the empty classroom. Concept during the Coronavirus disease COVID-19 outbreak and pandemic in the 2020s. Back to school concept.

Perfect Time for a K-12 Redesign

K-12 public education, already in crisis pre-COVID-19, is on a steep downward trajectory — with the severe lack of instruction time, staggering learning loss, alarming dropout numbers, and serious student disengagement. With half of the schools closed nationwide, just six weeks shy of a full year of no in-person instruction, it's the perfect time for a K-12 redesign. Read More ›
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portrait of a group of asian elementary school children
Photo by imtmphoto on Adobe Stock

Why Do Singapore Students Outperform the Rest of the World?

Research reveals that the most significant influence on student academic achievement is the quality of the teacher in the classroom. Singapore has the highest performing children in the world. Is it possible they have the best teachers? What is Singapore doing dramatically different that the U.S. can emulate? Read More ›
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Drawing tools lying over blueprint paper
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Preparing to Reopen Schools

The American Enterprise Institute just released its Blueprint for Back to School report, recommending that state and federal leaders be prepared for another atypical school year by offering regulatory flexibility regarding seat time, graduation requirements, and procurement rules to permit schools to remain operational in unprecedented circumstances. Read More ›
Small Brave Goldfish With Shark Fin Costume Leading Others Through Stormy Seas - Leadership Concept
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Will Education Leadership Adapt?

The Coronavirus has caused great uncertainty and change — especially in schools.  It has also given us an opportunity to pause and think about how we can improve education in America. Ryan Smith, Co-Founder and CEO of Qualtrics, wrote in a recent Forbes article, “Data shows that workers are looking to their own employers and managers to lead even more than they are looking to governments and other organizations.” Unfortunately, one of key features of today’s public education system is a lack of effective leadership that can help us navigate these stormy waters. ACTE program chair Don Nielsen explains that we have an ineffective system of training, hiring, and promoting leaders within public education.  The core of the problem is Read More ›

Woman walking over the edge of the cliff on seaside without looking
Woman walking off of a cliff with the eyes covered
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Progressivism Fails to Clear the Gap

A recent report, The Secret Shame, shows the deleterious effects of progressive policies on education outcomes of minorities. The report concludes that the top 12 progressive cities such as San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Detroit have larger educational achievement gaps between whites and minorities than the top 12 conservative cities, such as Fort Worth, Anaheim, Virginia Beach, and Oklahoma City. Specifically, “progressive cities, on average, have achievement gaps in math and reading that are 15 and 13 percentage points higher than in conservative cities.” To determine the progressive and conservative cities, the report relied on independent political scientists Chris Tausanovitch and Christopher Warshaw who “pooled data from seven large surveys of U.S. public opinion to rank the nation’s biggest Read More ›

Lonely chair at the empty room
Lonely chair in the spot of light on black background at empty room
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Innovative Leadership: An Emptiness In Public Education

One of the largest cities in the country once applied corporate solutions to the public education problems. The time frame was 2003-2017, when Mayor Michael Bloomberg worked with Joel Klein, Chancellor of New York City Public Schools, in bringing about a training academy for school principals, a concept we at ACTE have been promoting. The NYC Leadership Academy was in search of a change agent, an educational entrepreneur who thinks of doing school differently—a leader who is not satisfied with the status quo. With a limited supply of innovative leaders in public education, Bloomberg invited Jack Welch, former GE executive, to chair the Academy. Welch linked educational leadership to that of the corporate world: “We used to say in the Read More ›

man with binoculars looking at Success banner on a mountain top
person with binoculars looking at the path to reach a Success banner on top of a mountain
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Visualize Becoming a Visionary

Bravo to Ben Rodriguez, the new principal of Buckeye Union High School in Buckeye Arizona. He recognizes that you “become the visionary as the principal.” These words echo what Don Nielsen, program chair to the American Center for Transforming Education, writes in his book, Every School, “A visionary principal always leads an effective school.”   However, too often schools are not left in the hands of visionaries, but with managers. Why is this? The answer is two-fold. The present system advances education leaders not on proven leadership , but upon who wants to be an education administrator. As Nielsen argues, “Leadership development in public education is a process-driven system, not a competency-driven system. Further, the quality of leadership training provided Read More ›