The Superintendent's Fieldbook : A Guide for Leaders of Learning

"Much of what we know about how to be successful in our roles as superintendent is generally learned the hard way. Having a resource to turn to in an effort to mitigate the trial and error nature of our approaches in dealing with the challenges of today′s superintendency provides a compelling reason to pick up the book."
Howard Smith, Superintendent of Schools
Public Schools of the Tarrytowns, Sleepy Hollow, NY

"New and current superintendents, or prospective school leaders should read this book. I think the authors tied in a lot of leadership theory and practices that would compliment individual styles of school superintendents."
Gina Segobiano, Superintendent
Signal Hill School District, Belleville, Illinois

Learn how to navigate effectively through the new demands facing districts and schools!

The goals and challenges for district leaders are constantly changing. Leadership and governance are only parts of the puzzle when other elements such as the NCLB legislation, budgets, standards and assessment, changing demographics, and public engagement are brought into the picture. Today′s superintendent needs an effective tool to help steer the school district to success.

Drawing on the experiences of nearly 200 superintendents over the past ten years, The Superintendent′s Fieldbook offers guidance that can be referenced again and again. Written for current and future superintendents, principals, school board members and teachers, this valuable guide is divided into nine sections--each offering ideas to implement, practical lessons, exercises, and questions for reflective practice.

The authors identify seven key "commonplaces" of the successful modern superintendent including:

• Leading within a governance structure
• Understanding and addressing standards and assessment
• Considering race, class, and the achievement gap
• Developing your schools′ principals from building managers to leaders of learning
• Exploring collaborations with agencies of government and organizational allies
• Engaging your community to construct a shared vision of the future

Vignettes describing real events and situations will help you connect lessons learned to your own district experiences, and help you and your district thrive in the rapidly changing world of education.