The Superintendent Leaders Network (SLN) connects forward-thinking superintendents who learn and work together to improve their knowledge, skills and actions as instructional leaders. Underwritten by The Malone Family Foundation, the Superintendents’ Leaders Network is facilitated by the Alabama Best Practices Center (APBC) in collaboration with the School Superintendents of Alabama (SSA).
Launched in the fall of 2008 the work of the Superintendent Leaders Network (SLN) is designed around four goals: 1) To create a cohesive professional learning community in which each participant learns from the content and from peers; 2) To further strengthen individual philosophies of leadership; 3) To deepen understanding of the particular challenges related to educating students well in the 21st Century; and 4) To polish strategic thinking, communication, and dialogue skills.
The first SLN cohort met three times each during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years, supported by ongoing virtual discussions. A second cohort will be established for the 2010-11 school year. The first year, the SLN focused on leadership as defined by James Kouzes and Barry Posner in The Leadership Challenge. Participants also examined a variety of adult learning strategies and protocols, including participation in a book study group. Books selected for study groups included: Results Now: How We Can Achieve Unprecedented Improvements in Teaching and Learning, by Mike Schmoker; The Answer to How is Yes: Acting on What Matters, by Peter Block; The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need and What We Can Do About it, by Tony Wagner; and Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns, by Clayton Christensen, Michael Horn, and Curtis Johnson.
The second year, SLN members honed in on 21st century learning and its implications for superintendents, administrators, teachers, and students. Books selected for book study groups include: Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology, by Allan Collins and Richard Halverson; Instructional Rounds in Education: A Network Approach to Improving Teaching and Learning by Elizabeth City, Richard Elmore, Sarah Fiarman, and Lee Teitel; Teaching the Digital Generation: No More Cookie Cutter High Schools, by Frank Kelly, Ted McCain, and Ian Jukes; and Liberating Learning: Technology, Politics, and the Future of American Education, by Terry Moe and John Chubb.
Launched in the fall of 2008 the work of the Superintendent Leaders Network (SLN) is designed around four goals: 1) To create a cohesive professional learning community in which each participant learns from the content and from peers; 2) To further strengthen individual philosophies of leadership; 3) To deepen understanding of the particular challenges related to educating students well in the 21st Century; and 4) To polish strategic thinking, communication, and dialogue skills.
The first SLN cohort met three times each during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years, supported by ongoing virtual discussions. A second cohort will be established for the 2010-11 school year. The first year, the SLN focused on leadership as defined by James Kouzes and Barry Posner in The Leadership Challenge. Participants also examined a variety of adult learning strategies and protocols, including participation in a book study group. Books selected for study groups included: Results Now: How We Can Achieve Unprecedented Improvements in Teaching and Learning, by Mike Schmoker; The Answer to How is Yes: Acting on What Matters, by Peter Block; The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need and What We Can Do About it, by Tony Wagner; and Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns, by Clayton Christensen, Michael Horn, and Curtis Johnson.
The second year, SLN members honed in on 21st century learning and its implications for superintendents, administrators, teachers, and students. Books selected for book study groups include: Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology, by Allan Collins and Richard Halverson; Instructional Rounds in Education: A Network Approach to Improving Teaching and Learning by Elizabeth City, Richard Elmore, Sarah Fiarman, and Lee Teitel; Teaching the Digital Generation: No More Cookie Cutter High Schools, by Frank Kelly, Ted McCain, and Ian Jukes; and Liberating Learning: Technology, Politics, and the Future of American Education, by Terry Moe and John Chubb.
