ADMINISTRATION & Supervision SPRING 2016
Admin & Supv Faculty Denny Berry Assistant Professor U.Va. Northern Virginia Center Sara Dexter Associate Professor CANLEAD Director Dan Duke Professor David Eddy-Spicer Associate Professor Pamela D. Tucker Professor Admin & Supv Program Coordinator Michelle D. Young Professor Executive Director, University Council for Educational Administration Read more about the work of our faculty online at curry.virginia.edu/ adminsupvnewsletter
ADMINISTRATION & SUPERVISION is edited by Lynn Bell, Director of Alumni Relations, and published by the Curry School of Education, P.O. Box 400268, Charlottesville, VA 22904. Email: lynnbell@virginia.edu #UVA Curry
Our third cohort of students in the Executive Studies in Educational Leadership (ExSEL) doctor of education program at the Northern Virginia UVA Center.
Program News B Y PA M E L A D. T U C K E R A N D D E N N Y B E R R Y
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he Administration and Supervision program is continuing its process of program redesign. This past summer the administration and supervision faculty welcomed the third cohort of students in the Executive Studies in Educational Leadership (ExSEL) doctor of education program at the Northern Virginia UVA Center. We launched our redesigned EdD model in 2011 with a heavier emphasis on leadership potential in the admissions process, a cohort delivery model and a more coherent leadership curriculum. Our candidates have been exceptional, and their response to the program has been very positive. Our current cohort represents a diversity of experiences and levels with two high school principals, one middle school principal, one middle school assistant principal, two elementary assistant principals, three central office administrators working in special education, math and advanced academic programs, two teacher leaders and an educational consultant. The students also provide a variety of perspectives as part-time students with full-time jobs in Albemarle, Fairfax, Greene, Loudoun and Stafford County Public Schools, as well as in private school settings. The faculty is delighted to be working with these talented leaders and anticipates their successful completion of the doctoral program within the next three years. We will be admitting our next EdD cohort in 2017. Similar redesign work of the principal preparation program is underway with funding from the Jefferson Trust Foundation. We hope to leverage our early efforts with additional funding from the Wallace Foundation through a major grant for a principal preparation program redesign to be awarded this summer. Grant funding would enable our program to redefine leadership preparation for the next generation of leaders in Virginia. A D M I N I S T R AT I O N & S U P E R V I S I O N • S P R I N G 2 0 1 6
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Lessons
Learning from the nation’s lowest performing schools BY DANIEL L. DUKE
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he years from 2002 through 2015 represent the high-water mark for federal, state and local efforts to improve the plight of America’s lowest performing schools. A president from each political party took advantage of his tenure in the White House to help schools leave no child behind. In the process they found themselves trying to prevent the quest for educational accountability from colliding with the cause of educational equity. The recent reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act – the Every Student Succeeds Act – is a good occasion to reflect on what has been learned from 15 years of intense effort by states and local school districts to turn around persistently low-performing schools. A comparative analysis of selected states and school districts that achieved impressive gains with those that lagged behind turns up a number of lessons. For example, while policy makers understandably hope to scale up local successes, the evidence more often than not
favors highly idiosyncratic solutions customized to local conditions, including available resources, political circumstances and labormanagement relations. Another lesson is that every strategy for raising student achievement has the potential to generate unanticipated problems. A move to close a low-performing school, while wellintentioned, can disrupt an already destabilized neighborhood and transfer students to other low-performing schools. Louisiana’s Recovery School District has been relatively successful at expanding educational choice for the children of New Orleans, but Michigan’s attempt to create its own statewide takeover district for failing Detroit schools has foundered amidst political infighting. Conversions of low-performing public schools to charter schools, one of the options under both the No Child Left Behind Act and the Race to the Top, has an uneven track record. When Tennessee’s Achievement School District insisted that charter organizations
take over existing neighborhood schools in Memphis, local leaders discovered that charter organizations preferred to start schools from scratch. Urban charter schools in several large Ohio cities have struggled to match student outcomes in traditional public schools. These findings underscore the necessity of effectively engaging parents and community partners in efforts to turn around low-performing schools and districts. Yet, even parent and community support cannot overcome the absence of highly qualified teachers and principals. I predict that the greatest challenge facing turnaround efforts in the future will be recruiting and retaining talented educators, especially minority educators, to work in the neediest schools. Read more in Duke’s forthcoming book, The Children Left Behind: America’s Struggle to Improve Its Lowest-Performing Schools (Rowman & Littlefield).
THANK YOU!
The Curry School Foundation recognizes the generosity of the following alumni from the Administration & Supervision program who made donations to the school in 2015:
Albert Armentrout Sarah Armstrong Steve Baker Beth Baptist Frank Barham Jane Barrell Carol Basham Marilyn Basham Mary Becker Margaret Belda Fred Benham Harry Bibb Margaret Blackmon Bruce Bourget Elizabeth Brady William Brancati John Brandt Nancy Briggs Judith Buck Douglas Bullock Carmen Burrows 2
Marilyn Butters Cecil Carter Robert Carter Beverly Cook Jim Cook Nancy Cook Betty Covington Lynn Cross Benjamin Cullen Patricia Daniel Anthony DeLellis Martha DownerAssaf Dorothy Drake Irving Driscoll Catherine Durvin Charles Easley Mark Emblidge Elaine Fogliani Gloria Foley Mark Form
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Jeffrey Fowler Rachel Fowlkes JoDiane Galbreath Mary Garber Richard Garnett Howard Gillette Robert Greet Bob Grimesey Barbara Guyer Charles Harris Thomas Harris Bruce Hatch Robert Hathaway Duanne Hawkins Robert Heffern Maureen Hook Harriet Hopkins Patricia Hopkins Joyce JenkinsWimmer Charles Jones
Margaret Klise Edward Kropp Donna Krueger William Krupp Charles Leonard Jacquelyn Lindsey Douglas Magann Walter Mallory John Marra Nicholas Maschal Karin Matray Lisa McConnell Bruce McDade Lee McLaughlin Sandra McLaughlin Allan McLearen Margaret McMullen Dale Miller Margaret Montgomery Andrew Moore
Martha Moore William Myers Catherine Navarro Steven Nichols Robert Norman Phyllis Pajardo Dan Parks Sammie Parrish Emily Parry Barry Raebeck Dudley Reaves Charlotte Reed Michael Rettig Suzanne Rice Clinton Richards Leslie Roberson Stewart Roberson Phyllis Shannon Larry Shortt Robert Siegel Heather Spaid
Selah Sprinkel William Sprinkel Stephen Stackhouse Ronald Stern Sandra Stern William Sterrett Howard Sullins Jacquelyn TaylorKeyser Nancy Thomas Susan valinski Al Vincent Robert Vogler Deborah Waters William Weimer
Andrea White William White Henry Willett Bonny Wilson Lee Wilson Betty Wolfrey Jane Woodson Philip Worrell Doris Worthington Diana Yesbeck Deborah Yost
These gifts directly benefit Curry students and the quality of their educational experiences!
Spheres of Influence
Admin & Supv alumni have been serving in key state roles over the past decade B Y LY N N B E L L
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ith all the great news about the high quality of Virginia schools over the past year, we can’t help but give Curry School alumni some of the credit. Our graduates across the state are making a noticeable difference, especially the graduates from our Administration & Supervision program – many of whom are serving in key leadership roles in schools and school divisions. Some of those alumni have been making their mark at the state level over the past decade, as well, and a few of them were featured in the Curry online magazine this spring (curry. virginia.edu/magazine):
Mark E. Emblidge M.Ed. ‘04, Ph.D. ‘05 Virginia State Board of Education Member 2002-2010 President 2006-2010 Emblidge is currently director of the Virginia office of Communities in Schools, which serves over 30,000 Virginia students who are at risk of dropping out of school. “Last year 92% of our students were promoted to the next grade and 91% of our seniors graduated from high school,” he says. Margaret VanDeman Blackmon Ed.D.‘92 Executive Director Women Education Leaders in Virginia 2006-2013 Blackmon also served for thirteen years as a member of the Statewide K-12 Education Advisory Council and served on the board of directors of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents from 2000-2006. During a term as VASS president, she helped to initiate the Aspiring Superintendents Program, in which she still participates. As WELV executive director emerita, she continues as a professional coach and is a significant presence at the annual conferences.
Stewart D. Roberson B.S.Ed. ’77, M.Ed. ’81, Ed.D. ‘87 Chair Virginia Standards of Learning Innovation Committee 2014-present “In an unprecedented way, the stars are aligned for the Committee to help drive the revision of far-reaching, impactful educational policy affecting all of Virginia’s classrooms,” Roberson says. “The Committee members’ recognition that they are uniquely positioned to advance substantive, genuine, and positive change is very motivating.” Roberson has chaired the K-12 Advisory Council since 2001. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges and the board of directors of the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education. John W. “Billy” Haun Ed.D. ’11 Chief Academic Officer/ Asst. Superintendent Virginia Department of Education 2014-present Haun’s most influential work in this position is assisting the Board of Education with revising the Standards of Accreditation. Working with Virginia’s challenged school divisions has been most rewarding to him so far. A team of representatives from all state agencies has been created to assist schools in challenged communities with wraparound support and services. “Students cannot come to school and learn if they are homeless, hungry, and lack basic medical attention,” Haun says. He sees his greatest success so far as working with school divisions to develop and implement alternative assessments to replace the five SOL multiple-choice assessments that were removed.
New Research on In-Between Districts B Y E R I N A N D E R S O N , P H . D.
Large urban districts have been the focus of the majority of research on district capacity and effectiveness and on schools undergoing turnarounds. Two thirds of recent federally funded studies on school turnaround are focused on urban districts. Meanwhile studies describing barriers to success in rural districts have been on the increase. These studies, while important, are not generalizable to the majority of districts in the United States—that is, mid-sized districts neither in major cities nor in remote, rural areas. These “in-between” districts often face changing student demographics and must address new circumstances with limited budgets, minimal internal expertise, and possible resistance from those unwilling or unable to acknowledge the extent of change underway. Recommendations for identifying and helping struggling schools need to take this unique set of challenges into consideration. A team of researchers, led by professors Michelle Young, David Eddy-Spicer, Daniel Duke and Coby Meyers, is conducting a study of mid-sized districts to help them best address the needs of rapidly changing schools. They will work with doctoral students and post-docs here at Curry, as well as researchers from the University of Louisville, Indiana University and Lehigh University to identify important research questions regarding district capacity for meeting the needs of struggling schools in mid-sized districts. Their work will consider how districts can identify struggling schools, envision and activate support networks for those schools, and use internal means to develop highquality school leadership teams to make necessary changes.
Read more curry.virginia.edu/magazine
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Administration & Supervision Alumni Newsletter P.O. Box 400268 417 Emmet Street South Charlottesville, VA 22904-4268
CLASS NOTES Mark Angle (M.Ed. ’98; Ed.D. ’02) is the district
superintendent of Douglas County School District #15 in Oregon… Randy Barrack (Ed.D. ’82) was appointed to a full three-year term as a member of the eight-member AdvancED Accreditation Commission. He is executive director of the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals … Michael Campbell (B.S. ’81; M.Ed. ’93) retired from Fairfax County Public Schools after 31 years. ... He currently works for Keller Williams Realty in Madison, Ala. Cynthia Compton (Ph.D. ’02) was promoted to associate professor in Graduate Education Programs at Wingate University–Charlotte in North Carolina. Robert Evans (Ed.D. ’05) ... is the new Director of Teaching and Learning at the American International School of Johannesburg in South Africa. Griffin Fernandez (Ph.D. ’09) is the Education and Public Sector Lead and General Counsel for The Educe Group, a human capital management consulting firm based in Bethesda, Md. ... Rachel Fowlkes (Ed.D. ’84), longtime director of the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, retired on June 30, 2015. Melissa Fretwell (M.Ed. ’99; Ed.S. ’01) is Resident Chaplain at UVA Health System. Stephen Geyer (M.Ed. ’00; Ed.D. ’07) received James Madison University’s 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award for the College of Health & Behavioral Studies... Dorinda G. Grasty (B.S. ‘80; Ed.D. ‘01) was named 2016 Region VIII Superintendent of the Year by the Virginia Association of School Superintendents. She has led Appomattox County Schools for six years. Adam Hastings (Ed.D. ’13) was elected to the 4
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Submit your class note at curry.virginia.edu/classnotes/submit Charlottesville City Public School Board. ... He is dean of Business, Mathematics, and Technologies at Piedmont Virginia Community College. Bobbi F. Johnson (Ed.D. ’02) was named 2016 Region IV Superintendent of the Year by the Virginia Association of School Superintendents. She retired from Culpeper County Schools last June. Seth Kennard (M.Ed. ’04) received the 2015 Washington Post Distinguished Leadership Award. He principal of Charles Barrett Elementary School in Alexandria, Va. Mark Miear (Ed.D. ’06) is superintendent for Montgomery County Public Schools... Pamela Moran (M.Ed. ‘80; Ed.D. ‘97) was named 2016 Superintendent of the Year by the Virginia Association of School Superintendents... Mitch Pascal (M.Ed. ’96; Ed.S. ’03) is principal of Tuckahoe Elementary School in Arlington, Va. ... Trevor Patzer (M.Ed. ’04) is the co-founder and executive director of the Little Sisters Fund, an organization that supports the education of about 1,700 economically disadvantaged girls in Nepal... Steven Payne (Ed.S. ’12) ... is the English, Reading, and Title 1 Supervisor for the Fauquier County Public Schools in Warrenton, Va. ... Rachel Potter (Ed.D. ’06) is dean of the College of Education at Mary Baldwin College... Chad Ratliff (M.Ed. ’06) was appointed to the Governor’s Council on Youth Entrepreneurship. Ratliff is the Director of Instructional Programs for Albemarle County Public Schools... Suzanne Rice (Ed.D. 04) was named Director of Human Resources for Suffolk Public Schools... Luke Saechao (M.Ed. ’07) is the regional adult education program manager at Central Virginia Adult Education Center in Madison Heights, Va. …
Virginia Smith (M.Ed. ’06) published The Silly
Adventures of Gail the Snail and the Disco Ball and The Silly Adventures of Gail the Snail and the Chocolate Cake (both by Tate Publishing, 2014). Brad Smith (M.Ed. ’00) ... recently celebrated his 10-year anniversary at MIT, where he serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives for MIT.nano, a 200,000 square-foot research facility. Melany Stowe (M.Ed. ’04) is the Director of Public Relations and Communications for The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville, Va. ... Jane (Rice) Strong (M.Ed. ’90) ... is the Director of Special Education Procedural Support for Fairfax County Public Schools. Thomas Taylor (M.Ed.’06, Ed.D.’10) was named 2017 Region III Superintendent of the Year by the Virginia Association of School Superintendents. He is superintendent of Middlesex County Public Schools. Alpheus White (M.Ed. ’52, Ed.D. ’59) is director of Glen Manor Vineyards in Front Royal, Va. Their Hodder Hill wine was selected for the 2016 Virginia Governor’s Cup Case. Benjamin Williams (M.T. ’05; Ph.D. ’15) ... received a 2015 Rubenstein Award for Highly Effective Leadership. ... He will become principal of a new DC Public Schools all-male high school ... in 2016. Jamelle S. Wilson (M.T. ’91; Ed.D. ’02) is dean of the University of Richmond’s School of Professional and Continuing Studies. ... She was named the 2016 Region 1 Superintendent of the Year and was recognized as one of the Strong Men and Women in Virginia History… Read more. Many class notes were abbreviated due to space limitations. You can read the full versions, including photos and fond memories, at curry.virginia.edu/ adminsupvnewsletter