ATLANTA – State leaders from across the region will meet in Atlanta on May 8-9 for the Southern Regional Education Board’s annual forum on school leadership issues — with a special focus this year on improving training, support, evaluation and working conditions for school principals.
The forum will be held at the Atlanta Airport Marriott Hotel and begins at 8 a.m. on Thursday, May 8, continuing through the evening meal. The conference continues on Friday, May 9, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Print and broadcast journalists are invited to attend.
Too often, training and support for school leaders in SREB states have been left to chance. Through the work of many states and the help of the SREB Learning-Centered School Leadership Program, that situation is changing.
"Several states are making school leadership one of their top priorities in education. These states need to build on those accomplishments, and other states need to follow suit," said Gene Bottoms, SREB’s senior vice president for school improvement.
"This annual gathering brings together state schools chiefs, legislators, higher education officials, researchers and others to develop plans for improving school leadership in every state," said Bottoms, who oversees SREB school leadership program.
Scheduled speakers and panelists include SREB President Dave Spence; University of Pennsylvania scholar Andrew Porter; NYC Leadership Academy Executive Vice President Kathy Nadurak; Houston-based author and consultant Don McAdams; Reginald Green of the University of Memphis Center for Urban School Leadership; Andy Calkins of the Mass Insight Education and Research Institute; and others.
Other speakers and presenters include John Bell, who is overseeing statewide school leadership improvements for the Alabama Department of Education; Mary Jo Howland, who is leading school leadership improvements for the Tennessee Department of Education; Nathan Roberts, who is leading the same work for the Louisiana Department of Education; Kathy O’Neill, the director of the SREB Learning-Centered School Leadership Program, and others.
Breakout sessions will be held on developing new and better statewide school leadership standards, helping colleges and universities with the redesign of their programs, implementation of redesign work, and refining principal preparation programs that already have been redesigned.
The SREB Challenge to Lead Goals for Education, developed and approved by state leaders in 2002, call for every school to have leadership that results in improved student performance — starting with an effective school principal.
A major SREB report, Schools Need Good Leaders Now: State Progress in Creating a Learning-Centered School Leadership System, examines progress in each SREB state in developing school leaders who look beyond traditional administrative tasks and focus on improving schools and student learning — the key to preparing students to succeed in the competitive, 21st century global economy. The report highlights major improvements in several states and calls on all SREB states to develop higher standards for school leaders and for training programs, recruit better-qualified candidates as principals, overhaul principal preparation programs, improve professional development for principals, provide special help for leadership teams in traditionally low-performing schools, and more. Read the report at: Schools Need Good Leaders Now.
To attend the forum or learn more about your state’s progress in improving school leadership, contact SREB Communications.
SREB, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, advises state education leaders on ways to improve education. SREB was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to help leaders in education and government work cooperatively to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region. SREB has 16 member states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Each is represented by its governor and four gubernatorial appointees.
