An Interview with Washington State Superintendent of the Year – Dr. Adam Swinyard Q. Congratulations on being named Washington State Superintendent of Year! WASA highlighted your work as a champion of equity in announcing your well-deserved recognition as superintendent of the year.   Q.  How do you focus a large district on equity? Clear Focus on…

Vital Signs for Education 4-minute recap of this month’s blogs “Vital signs” measure our essential bodily functions like pulse rate, temperature, respiration, and blood pressure. Vital signs tell us when our body is distressed and needs medical attention.   Education in Distress Public discourse is contentious. Mental health is compromised for kids and adults. Education seems…

1-minute summary; 6-minute read Core Question:  How do we touch hearts and minds for good? “Everything hangs on one’s thinking …” – Seneca “Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford Core Idea: What we aim at … we eventually achieve.   Words matter. Values matter. Start by defining our north star…

District Goals – Key to Success 4-minute read Four years + four goals = student success. Focused goals, well monitored, improve learning Reeves reports that:  Focus is a prerequisite for school improvement. Focus had the highest relationship with student achievement  Focus, with effective monitoring, and adult efficacy yielded strikingly positive results for all students and…

Turn Moments into a Movement 5-minute read Leaving a legacy and leading for the future takes more than keeping the lights on – although there are days when that is a true accomplishment! Here are some thoughts about turning great Moments into Momentum and Movement.   13 Ways – and ONE CAVEAT – to Leave a…

Start anywhere but start now: An Equity Review Process: 10-minute read “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke Core Thesis:  Good Equity Work Can Be Done Over the last five years, I have read every book on district-wide equity, tracked equity success stories…

 More Books for January 2023 4-minute read Best Books in: Leadership:  6 Types of Working Genius and nine others Equity: The Third Reconstruction and three others Culture: The Burnout Epidemic and two others Bonus:  The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams … and others   Leadership:   The 6 Types of Working Genius: A Better Way to Understand…

Review:  A Failure of Nerve by Edwin Friedman 2-minute read Core Idea: A calm, steady, non-anxious leadership presence is key. Problem: Leadership is change. Change creates fear. Fear leads to sabotage.   A failure of nerve jeopardizes progress and encourages chaos.   Social and political anxieties paralyze our ability to think, dream, and move forward. Solution:   Leadership…

Schools For Africa … serving 3000 Fulani children in Nigeria The Challenge: Fulani have herded cattle across Africa for generations.  Now they face drought, urbanization, and fenced farms.  As cities and farms grow, deadly conflicts break out between the Fulani herdsman and landowners. Anti-Fulani hostility grows.  Their way of life is under constant attack and…

Lessons Learned … Culture of Care. My Window on Education As an active full time coach/consultant I have the privilege of working with:  Three superintendent cohorts representing 50 Superintendents and nearly 200,000 students; two leadership development teams; and a dozen 1:1 coaching relationships.  I see weekly and monthly a broad sweep of educational issues as…