Like us, we hope you are enjoying a 1 week Late Summer Break!
As we commence the new school year, District Leader’s Podcast will be back next week to continue our programming and providing you with inspiration and support from your colleagues. In addition, here is a preview of our next episode!
Upcoming Episode 45 : Interview with Dr. Bruce Cooper, Professor of Educational Leadership, and Policy, Fordham University. Solutions for School Finance and Policy Issues
Join us for this vibrant discussion as Cooper and King share how school superintendents strategize to succeed during a time of decreased funding and increased demands.
Specific topics include the following hot topic issues in policy and finance related to stimulus funding:
How can the stimulus funding money be allocated and distributed equitably to your schools?
How can superintendents efficiently distribute monies across schools, children and special needs?
Is there a proven method that will help school leaders?
Why is school effectiveness demanded, and is there anything new about how it can be measured?
Enjoy your much deserved Labor Day Holiday and August Break!
However, if you are looking for some great continuing professional development and encouragement, catch up on our previous episodes!
From your District Leader’s Podcast Team
Arthur Griffin Jr., Carolyn Pearson, Ed Milliken, Stan Paz, Sheryl Neal, and Kathy King
*For your convenience, you can click on Part 1 & 2 separately, above.
In this podcast episode, Dr. Smiley shares how Broward County Public Schools has been able to achieve an “A” rating in the state of Florida and become a two time Broad finalist. Dr. Smiley describes the way she and her staff made strategic decisions to put teaching and learning center in the planning and resources process. She also reveals how she cultivated teacher, parent and community support and provides many examples of instructional and administrative technology adoptions to scale and improve instruction and essential services. Finally Dr. Smiley tackles what it is to be a woman in a leadership role in public education. This interview with Dr. Smiley was stimulating as well as inspiring. She clearly knows what has brought success to the district and captured that success in our 2 part series which comprise a one hour interview. Dr. Smiley is extremely proud of the progress the system has gained throughout the years she has been there.
Biographical Background
Dr. Earlean Smiley is employed as the Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction/Student Support for Broward Public Schools, the sixth largest fully accredited school district in the nation. She supervises all aspects of administration including local, state, and federal programs, with an instructional and non-instructional staff of approximately 800 employees in 29 departments. She manages a budget of $185 million within a district operating budget of approximately $5 billion.
Dr. Smiley grew up in the “free state of Jones County,” in that part of south Mississippi’s “Piney Woods” that lies between the opulent country club elite and the impoverished cotton fields of sharecroppers. Smiley was an active participant in student activities and held a number of leadership positions in school and community organizations throughout high school and then in college. Earlean received financial aid based on her academic record and attended Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she majored in Drama, Speech and English. Graduating with honors early, she married and moved to Fort Lauderdale where she began her career as a special education teacher at Northeast High School in Broward.
In the mid-eighties, Earlean pursued graduate studies in Administration and Supervision at Nova Southeastern University, where she received a Master of Science degree. In 1991 she earned her Doctorate Degree in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota. Dr. Smiley’s tenure in education includes serving as an assistant principal; curriculum specialist (North Carolina); a TRIO Talent Search Director (Sioux City, Iowa); principal; and as an adjunct professor at Nova Southeastern University.
Smiley has been highly recognized by the community for her accomplishments. This year she was honored as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Black Women in South Florida; the NAACP presented her with its Advocacy Award; Carrie P. Meek presented her with the Carrie P. Meek Outstanding Leadership Award; she was honored by the Sistrunk Historical Festival Outstanding Achievement Award 2007, and was recognized by the American Association of University Women at its International Women’s Day 2006.
With the experience of an accomplished administrator and the admiration of the community for her leadership, Dr. Earlean Smiley continues to guide Broward County Public Schools in their pursuit of student achievement.
District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. All rights reserved.
For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.
District Leader’s Podcast will be back next week to continue our programming and providing you with inspiration and support from your colleagues. In addition, here is a preview of our next episode! Upcoming Episodes 43 and 44 (2 part interview): Join us for an inspiring interview with Dr. Earlean Smiley of Broward County Public Schools, Florida as she discusses the advancement of her schools and women’s leadership in public schools. Be sure to enjoy this interview as you consider lessons learned from her expereinces which may provide insight for your work with communities, schools and teachers.
Enjoy your much deserved Summer Break! However, if you are looking for some great continuing professional development and encouragement, catch up on our previous episodes!
From your District Leader’s Podcast Team
Arthur Griffin Jr., Carolyn Pearson, Ed Milliken, Stan Paz, and Sheryl Neal
In this podcast episode, Mr. Douglas Rodriguez shares how he has been able to make significant gains at Miami Central Senior High, which has been assessed as an “F” school for the past five years in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Carolyn Pearson is our District Leader’s Podcast host and engages Mr. Rodriguez in speaking about the importance of gaining support in the community, supporting his teachers and bonding with the student body.
Clearly, Mr. Rodriguez is on his way up. Our interview was brief but captured the essence of that special something that he has as a school administrator. We should all continue to track the progress of Mr. Rodriguez and the schools’ progress because it won’t be long till Miami Central is an “A” school.
Biographical Background
Douglas Rodriguez is a life long educator and product of the Miami-Dade County Public School System. He began his teaching career as a Social Studies instructor at Miami Central Sr. High School twenty years ago. He served the district at various schools prior to his first administrative appointment at Howard Doolin Middle School as an Assistant Principal. While an administrator at G. Holmes Braddock Sr. High School Mr. Rodriguez received his first appointment as Principal of Miami Springs Sr. During his tenure at Springs Sr. Mr. Rodriguez led the school from a “D” grade to “B” grade in three short years. In 2005 he was given the honor of opening the first public high school in the City of Doral, Ronald W. Reagan/Doral Sr. The school opened with an “A” grade and has maintained that status each year. Five months ago he volunteered to take over as Principal of Miami Central Senior High School which had received five straight “F” grades from the Florida Department of Education. When test scores were released in June, Miami Central had made substantial gains in all areas of the FCAT.
A native of New York City, Mr. Rodriguez holds a B.A from Barry University, M.A. from Nova Southeastern University and a Specialist from Barry University. He has served as the chair of the Senior High School Principals committee and was selected as Miami-Dade County School’s Police Principal of the Year in 2003, Dade County Council of Teachers of Mathematics Principal of the Year in 2007, Miami-Dade County Principal of the Year in 2008, State of Florida Principal of the Year in 2008 and was the recipient of The Leonard Miller Principal Leadership Award in 2008.
District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. All rights reserved.
For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.
In this episode,noted author on technology trends and issues, Don Tapscott, is interviewed by Arthur Griffin. Tapscott discusses the world of ‘digital natives’ and how the explosion of the Internet into mainstream society has necessarily and completely changed the process of k-12 education. Don Tapscott shows keen insight as he discusses how even people’s brains have changed and the research he’s conducted. He also describes some of his experiences in the field of education to draw connections with these phenomena and findings. Don’t miss this episode with one of the innovative leaders of our time.
Biographical Background
Don Tapscott one of the world’s leading authorities on business strategy, how information technology changes business, government and society and innovation in education. He is Chairman of nGenera Insight. He served as founder and chairman of the international think tank New Paradigm before its acquisition by nGenera. He is an internationally sought writer, consultant and speaker and his clients include top executives of many of the world’s largest corporations and government leaders from many countries. The Washington Technology Report called him one of the most influential media authorities since Marshall McLuhan. He is also Adjunct Professor of Management, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.
Tapscott has authored thirteen widely read books about information technology in business and society, most recently GROWN UP DIGITAL: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World, (McGraw-Hill, NY, October 2008). The book is the sequel to his 1997 book GROWING UP DIGITAL, where he defined the Net Generation. His penultimate book, written with Anthony Williams, is WIKINOMICS: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, (New York, Portfolio, January 2007). Management guru Tom Peters calls it “ … a breathtaking piece of work” and the book was the best selling management book on amazon.com in 2007.
His earlier books include, THE DIGITAL ECONOMY: Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1996), one of the best selling books about technology in business ever, appearing on a number of bestsellers lists including the New York Times business book list. It had a run of seven months on the Business Week bestsellers list. It has been translated into 20 languages. GROWING UP DIGITAL: The Rise of the Net Generation (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1998) won the first Amazon.com Bestseller Award in the summer of 1998. It has been “recommended for all libraries” by the Library Journal. Time Magazine Senior Editor Joshua Cooper Ramo, described Growing Up Digital as a “compellingly written look at the generation that will make it happen.” It has been translated into 14 languages and was released in paperback in May,1999.
Tapscott is also widely know as the co-author of the international bestseller PARADIGM SHIFT: The New Promise of Information Technology (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1992) which was the first book to describe the fundamental change in computing from host-based systems for controlling costs to networks for transforming business models and strategy.
Don Tapscott holds a B.Sc. in Psychology and Statistics, an M.Ed. specializing in Research Methodology, and two Doctor of Laws (Hon) granted from the University of Alberta in 2001 and from Trent University in 2006.
District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. All rights reserved.
For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.
Join us for an intriguing interview with Dr. Arlene C. Ackerman as she discusses her experiences as a lifelong urban educator in schools in and around Philadelphia. Dr. Ackerman discusses the importance of putting the children first in every decision that comes up in a school system with host Arthur Griffin of District Leaders Podcast. The engaging interview discusses diverse topics, from the opportunity gap to the high birth rates of 2007, from universal health care to the impact of President Obama’s Stimulus package. Join us and listen in as this distinguished district leader shares some of her hard-earned wisdom and insight.
Biographical Background
School District of Philadelphia Superintendent, Dr. Arlene C. Ackerman, has more than 30 years of experience in leading large, diverse urban public school systems.
Dr. Ackerman, who assumed her duties in Philadelphia in June 2008, came to the School District from the Teachers College of Columbia University, where she served as Director of the Urban Education Leaders Program and Chairperson of the Superintendents and Scholars Symposium. The Urban Leaders Education Program is the College’s largest doctoral program for public-school leaders. She joined Teachers College’s Education Leadership faculty as the Christian A. Johnson Professor of Outstanding Educational Practice in 2006.
Dr. Ackerman also is Superintendent in Residence of Los Angeles-based Broad Center, where she facilitates and directs the Broad Superintendents Academy. The Academy is a ten-month executive management program designed to prepare CEOs and senior executives from business, government, and education backgrounds to lead urban public school systems.
Prior to 2006, Dr. Ackerman was Superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District and the District of Columbia Public Schools. During her tenure in San Francisco, the city’s public schools–with, 62,000 students and 117 schools–attained five consecutive years of improved achievement for all groups of students while also holding the distinction as the highest-performing large urban school district in the state of California during the last two years of her superintendency.
District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. All rights reserved.
For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.
The District Leaders Podcast is proud to present a two part series on – The Stimulus Funding and Economic Recovery Act, RTI and the New Administration. This valuable podcast is brought to you by a distinguished panel of educational leaders:
Michael Casserly, Executive Director of the Council of the Great City Schools,
Daniel A. Domenech, Executive Director of the American Association of School Administrators and
Arthur Griffin, District Leader’s Podcast host and Senior Vice President of The Urban Advisory Resource for McGraw-Hill Education.
These experts bring district level application to recent announcements from the White House and Department of Education. Listen as these key leaders who have participated in press conferences with the US President and Secretary of Education share insights about what is happening from teacher incentives to IDEA funding, Title I opportunities and restrictions, NCLB shifts, new assessment indications and governmental not only in word, but backed by resources and funding…..
District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. All rights reserved.
For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.
*For your convenience, you can click on Part 1 & 2 separately, above.
[display_podcast]
Description
The District Leaders Podcast is proud to present a two part series on – The Stimulus Funding and Economic Recovery Act, RTI and the New Administration. This valuable podcast is brought to you by a distinguished panel of educational leaders:
Michael Casserly, Executive Director of the Council of the Great City Schools,
Daniel A. Domenech, Executive Director of the American Association of School Administrators and
Arthur Griffin, District Leader’s Podcast host and Senior Vice President of The Urban Advisory Resource for McGraw-Hill Education.
These experts bring district level application to recent announcements from the White House and Department of Education. Listen as these key leaders who have participated in press conferences with the US President and Secretary of Education share insights about what is happening from teacher incentives to IDEA funding, Title I opportunities and restrictions, NCLB shifts, new assessment indications and governmental not only in word, but backed by resources and funding…..
Michael Casserly, Executive Director of the Council of the Great City Schools. Dr. Casserly has served as Executive Director of the Council of the Great City Schools (Chicago, IL) since January 1992. Casserly also served as the organization’s Director of Legislation and Research for 15 years before assuming his current position. As head of the urban school group, Casserly unified big city schools nationwide around a vision of reform and improvement; launched an aggressive research program on trends in urban education; convened the first Education Summit of Big City Mayors and Superintendents; led the nation’s largest urban school districts to volunteer for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP); led the first national study of common practices among the nation’s fastest improving urban school districts, and launched national task forces on achievement gaps, leadership and governance, finance, professional development, and bilingual education. He is currently spearheading efforts to boost academic performance in the nation’s big city schools; strengthening management and operations; challenging inequitable state financing systems; and improving the public’s image of urban education. He is a U.S. Army veteran, and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland and B.A. from Villanova University.
Dan Domenech, Executive Director of the American Association of School Administrators. Dr. Domenech has served as executive director of the American Association of School Administrators since July 2008. A native of Cuba who moved to the United States at the age of nine, Domenech has more than 36 years of experience in public education. Prior to joining AASA, Domenech served as senior vice president of the Urban Advisory Resource for McGraw-Hill Education. In this role, he was responsible for building strong relationships with large school districts nationwide and increasing awareness of McGraw-Hill’s educational programs and services. Prior to his position at McGraw-Hill, Domenech served for six years as superintendent of the Fairfax County, Va., Public Schools, the 12th largest school system in the nation with 168,000 students. Domenech began his teaching career in New York City, where he taught sixth grade in a predominantly black and Hispanic community in South Jamaica, Queens. He then became program director for the Nassau Board of Cooperative Educational Services, which is the largest intermediate school district in the State of New York. Following this, he was first named superintendent of schools for Long Island’s Deer Park Schools and then became superintendent of schools for the ethnically diverse South Huntington School District, also on Long Island — a position he held for 13 years. From 1994 to 1997, he was district superintendent of the Second Supervisory District of Suffolk County and chief executive officer of the Western Suffolk BOCES. Domenech, an AASA member since 1979, served as president of AASA from July 1998 to June 1999. He is also a past president of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, the Suffolk County Superintendents Association, and the Suffolk County Organization for Promotion of Education. He was the first president and co-founder of the New York State Association for Bilingual Education. In addition, Domenech has served on the U.S. Department of Education National Assessment Governing Board, on the advisory board for the Department of Defense schools, and on the board of directors of the Association for the Advancement of International Education. He currently serves on the boards of the Institute for Educational Leadership and the Education Policy Institute. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from Hunter College in New York City and a Ph.D. from Hofstra University in Uniondale, N.Y.
Arthur Griffin, Jr., Senior Vice President for Urban Advisory Resource, McGraw-Hill Education Mr. Griffinis senior vice president of Urban Advisory Resource for McGraw-Hill Education, the premier provider of teaching and learning materials for the pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, higher education and professional markets. In his role, Arthur works closely with sales teams, school administrators and school board members in identifying solutions and strategies to achieve their number one priority – student achievement. Currently, he serves on the Board of Directors of the National DropOut Prevention Center, the Board of Trustees of the National School Board Foundation and the Executive Council of the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education- New York University. Arthur has over 21 years experience in public education. Prior to joining McGraw-Hill Education, he served 17 years on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) Board of Education. Arthur distinguished himself as chair of the school board from 1997 to 2002. He received the Richard R. Green Award, as National Educator of the Year, sponsored by the Council of the Great City Schools. Mr. Griffin has been a guest lecturer at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, the Broad Superintendents Academy, University of Virginia’s Partnership for Leaders in Education, member of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Advisory Committee and a resident faculty member of the Broad and Texas Institute for School Board Members. Mr. Griffin is registered with the Texas Education Agency as a school board trainer. He is a nationally recognized resource in the area of public school governance. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Council of the Great City Schools and Steering Committee of the Council of Urban Boards of Education. He earned a Bachelor of Science – Liberal Studies, from the University of the State of New York at Albany. Mr. Griffin served as an infantry platoon leader in Vietnam and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army.
District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. All rights reserved.
For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.
Biographical Background
Dr. William R. Hite, Jr. was named Interim Superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) effective December 1, 2008 by the Prince George’s County Board of Education. Dr. Hite was hired as Deputy Superintendent of PGCPS in June 2006. Ensuring that all students graduate college- and career-ready, his work in Prince George’s County has been focused on school leadership development and improving the conditions for teaching and learning. This work continues at a rapid pace and without interruption, while the Board of Education implements a search for a new superintendent.
As Deputy Superintendent, Dr. Hite provided direct support to schools and was responsible for the departments of academics and accountability in addition to all six zone offices. He has led the work to reform high schools and restructure central support to enable need-based service to schools. Additionally, he developed systems used to measure central leadership effectiveness against student and school performance.
Previously, Dr. Hite was an Assistant Superintendent in the 106,000-student Cobb County School District in Georgia. While there, he supervised elementary, middle and high school principals and was responsible for the instructional programs for schools within his area.
Previously, he served as Director of Middle School Instruction in the Henrico County School System located outside of Richmond, VA. He also worked as a high school teacher and principal, and a middle school principal. Dr. Hite taught at the University of Richmond as an adjunct faculty member in the School of Continuous Learning.
Dr. Hite is a member of numerous local, state, and national boards including the Doctors Community Hospital Foundation. In 2005, he completed the Broad Superintendents Academy. Dr. Hite holds a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of Virginia, and a Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Virginia Tech.
District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007-2009. All rights reserved.
For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.
In this compelling and intriguing episode, Clayton M. Christensen describes the recent changes in the educational system- both in how it is changing and how it should be changed further. This special interview with our host Arthur Griffin reveals the importance of gaming to the modern student, both for leisure and the benefits that the student gleans from it, as well as discussing many other trends in the modern college student and going into detail about his book Disrupting Class. Join us to learn more about this fascinating author and the ideas he has developed over years of study and experience.
Biographical Background
Clayton M. Christensen, a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School since 1992, is the bestselling author of five books, a renowned management consultant, and a seasoned entrepreneur. His research and teaching interests center on managing innovation, creating new growth markets, and making practical the theory of disruption by focusing on problems of strategy, innovation and growth. Through Innosight (www.innosight.com), the Watertown, MA-based consulting firm he co-founded in 2000, Professor Christensen has used his theory of disruptive innovation to shape the management strategies of well-known industry giants, such as Procter & Gamble, General Motors and Credit Suisse.
Of Professor Christensen’s five published books, his seminal work is The Innovator’s Dilemma (1997), which received the Global Business Book Award for the best business book of the year. In 2008, Professor Christensen released Disrupting Class and the Innovator’s Prescription (forthcoming), groundbreaking examinations of two of America’s most important public sectors through the lens of disruption.
District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. All rights reserved.
For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.
Comments are closed 
