Please join us for a hybrid book talk/panel discussion with the book's editors from 1-1:45pm, followed by an in-person workshop from 1:45-2:30pm. Register here: bit.ly/civic-leader

Featured Book:

Superintendent as Civic Leader: Stewarding the Future of Public Education

An evidence-based guide for educational leaders who want to make positive change for our nation’s youth, with an original, in-depth look at the political role of superintendents

The superintendent’s role looks different today. What was once viewed as an organizational leadership role is now understood as a civic leadership role, which requires unique political expertise. Superintendent as Civic Leader introduces an original framework for superintendents that will help them develop the necessary knowledge, skills, and dispositions to successfully perform as educational leaders in their local communities.

In this book, the editors argue that understanding and dealing with complex political situations requires attention to three axes: the micro (understanding and navigating self), the meso (understanding and navigating the local community), and the macro (understanding and navigating the state and national context). With field-tested guidance from a collective made up of superintendents from across the US, leaders of influential educational organizations, and scholars of the politics of education, chapters offer real-world examples of leaders’ political skills in action, re-building local trust, and mobilizing for change. Readers will come away with strategies to transform challenges into opportunities through key efforts such as relationship building, clear communications, and community engagement.

Education leaders must embrace political leadership if they are to ensure that every child has access to a high-quality education. Their job is to bring people together in service of children, even when everything seems contested. For superintendents and other educational leaders, this book is an essential resource to not only understand today’s politicized climate but also to navigate and serve as successful, effective leaders within it.  

Speakers:

• Jennifer Perry Cheatham, Ed.D.'10, is a senior lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she also serves as co-chair of the Public Education Leadership Project and is also chair of the Initiative on Superintendent as Civic Leader.
• Christina Grant is the executive director of the Center for Education Policy Research and a lecturer at the Harvard Graduation School of Education.
• Ross Wiener is Strategy Consultant at the Initiative on Superintendent as Civic Leader and Vice President at the Aspen Institute and Executive Director of the Education & Society Program.

The panel discussion will be moderated by Russell Booker, Joint Senior Fellow at The EdRedesign Lab and the Initiative on Superintendent as Civic Leader at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.