Leadership Matters - February 2013

ISAL II kicks off with 22 Illinois superintendents

The second IASA School for Advanced Leadership (ISAL) cohort kicked off its two-year journey on January 11 with 22 superintendents from around the state as part of ISAL II. Developed by IASA to create a new level of leadership in public education, the ISAL program graduated 23 in its inaugural class last August. “Given all of the challenges facing superintendents and public education in Illinois, we thought it was important to provide a unique opportunity through rigorous curriculum,

ISAL II participants. A listing of the cohort can be found on page 8.

related to skills needed to accomplish the district plan  Personal growth planning with benchmarking related to leadership behaviors  Ongoing development coaching focused on leadership behaviors The facilitator for ISAL II is Nancy Blair, a professor of leadership studies at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee and an author of three books on leadership. “I think the ISAL program is unique. I say that because it compares to what we do in our doctoral programs at Cardinal Stritch with regard to transformational leadership,” said Blair, who also facilitated the first ISAL cohort. “We work deeper than most programs, from the inside out, and people come to our university from all different fields, not just education, because of that different focus.” Dr. Nick Osborne and Dr. Gary Zabilka, both IASA Field Services Directors, are co-chairing ISAL II, which includes overall management of the program and facilitating the planning and design committees that help steer the project. Each participant is assigned a “coach,” and the coaching staff includes six veteran coaches from the original ISAL, including retired superintendent Dr. Christine Benson, Dr. Thomas Bertrand (Rochester Community Unit 3A), Dr. Patrick Halloran (Morris Community 101), Superintendent Scott Kuffel (Geneseo Community Unit 228), Dr. Joseph Pacha (Illinois State University professor and former superintendent in Marion, Iowa), and Dr. Don White (Troy Community 30C), who served as chair for the (Continued on page 8)

training and experiences for those men and women who were willing to push themselves beyond what is expected of a superintendent,” said IASA Executive Director Brent Clark, describing why IASA began the process of developing ISAL in 2005. ISAL studies the role of superintendents through five leadership lenses: facilitator of shared moral purpose, change agent, relationship/culture promoter, capacity builder and coherence maker. Participants must develop both a personalized professional growth plan and a comprehensive assessment to determine their school district’s leadership needs. The district assessment pathway includes such things as:  Assessment of core organizational purpose  Data-based assessment of current state  Assessment of coherence (programs, processes, policies to district learning goals)  Gap analysis and district performance goal development  Leadership learning across the five research- based lenses linked to student achievement  Professional district leadership planning with benchmarking linked to student achievement  Ongoing performance coaching The self-transformation as a leader pathway includes:  Assessment of core values and personal vision  Assessment of coherence within leadership practice  Gap analysis and leadership goal development

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