Teach Effectively!

Linda Seebach, whose excellent column for the Rocky Mountain News about the Follow Through chapter in Zig Engelmann’s new book was the subject of an earlier post on Teach Effectively, published a column a couple of years ago summarizing advice about choosing senior administrators for local education agencies. In 2005 she was passing this advice along to Michael Bennet, then the new superintendent of the Denver (CO, US) Public Schools (DPS), as he prepared to select a chief academic officer.

Ms. Seebach published suggestions from perhaps a dozen individuals, some of whom would be familiar to people who have read critiques of public education by individuals who strongly advocate rigorous basic education. There are too many to snip and insert here, so I’ll just recommend the entire column to readers. In particular, I recommend this column to boards of education who interview candidates for superintendencies. Not only are there some fun turns of phrase, but many of the recommendations should be taken to heart when choosing administrators. Some of the quips remind me of comments that I’ve heard my friend and colleague, Ben Sayeski, make. Ben was the principal of a worst-to-first elementary school and is now contributing to the Darden-Curry Partnership for Leadership in Education; he has a slightly-but-appropriately-irreverant perspective on some of the actions that pass as administrative leadership.

Ultimately, Mr. Bennet chose Jaime Aquino as Chief Academic Officer. Mr. Aquino left the the New York City Department of Education to join DPS. Mr. Aquino has been on the job for about 18 months now, so it’s probably a little early to judge his accomplishments. Here’s hoping that his plan for DPS is predicated on adopting evidence-based educational practices.

Follow this link to read Ms. Seebach’s column. Read the press release describing Mr. Aquino’s appointment. Learn more about the Curry-Darden Partnership for Leadership in Education.