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Key Topics include: Leadership | School Board Member | ARCHIVE | Trends in Education | Making the Tough Decisions | Improving Student Performance | Urban Education
Join us for a compelling interview with a prominent school board member who has served education through many organizations. Mr. William H. Isler offers a broad and deep view on several critical issues from his history of deep involvement involved in early childhood education and public service, from his role as school board president in Pittsburgh PA in this conversation and interview with District Leader’s Podcast co-host Arthur Griffen Jr..
Mr.Isler’s education service experiences spans service on this urban school board and Saint Vincent College’s Board of trustees, but also leadership of Family Communications, Inc., and The Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at Saint Vincent College (to name just a few of the outstanding areas of service).
Topics in this episode include leadership development and vision, student achievement, closing the achievement gap, equity, urban education, child development, breaking trends in education, and funding of educational programs.
Mr. Isler argues passionately about community responsible to early childhood education: from equity, to research evidence, demographics and funding.
His vision of the power of substantial early childhood foundation is heard in the quote he refers to “You can give children ABC’s and 123’s or you can give them tools for learning..”
Join us for another not-to-be-missed episode of the District Leader’s Podcast to be encouraged about the future of our schools and servant leaders.
Biographical Background
Bill Isler is a longtime professional educator and advocate for children. He began his career as a teacher and administrator, then served the Pennsylvania Department of Education as Commissioner of Basic Education and Senior Program Advisor for Early Childhood Education before joining the Family Communications, Inc., staff in 1984 and becoming the inaugural Executive Director of The Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at Saint Vincent College in 2005.
Under his leadership, FCI continued to produce the award-winning MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD, longest running program on PBS, while expanding into the development of training materials for individuals who work with children. FCI also publishes books for children and for adults and produces materials related to MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD. A significant accomplishment of the last two decades is the growth of partnerships with non-profit agencies and institutions. These collaborations have attracted more than $30 million in support from foundations and governmental agencies for innovative programming such as the Girls’ Math, Science and Technology Project, developed cooperatively with Carnegie Mellon University to engage young girls in math and science for the technology demands of the 21st century workplace.
In addition to his leadership role at FCI and The Rogers Center, he is President of the Pittsburgh School Board, President-elect of the Council of Great City Schools, and advisor to the National League of Cities Council on Children, Youth, and Education, Rand Promising Practices Network, Hillman Cancer Institute, and the Allegheny County Department of Human Services Office of Children, Youth & Families. He is a Board member of The Grable Foundation, Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, an Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and a member for more than three decades of the Association for the Education of Young Children. He received The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Isabel P. Kennedy Award for child advocacy and was named “Person of the Year” in 2007 by the Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern Pennsylvania. He is also “Alumnus of Distinction” of Saint Vincent College, and currently serves on the college’s Board of Trustees.
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