Annual Forum Features State Education Leaders
Written by: Shawn Kornegay
The Educational Leadership Forum, created five years ago by Richard Gonzales, director of the Neag School’s educational leadership preparation programs, and Robert Villanova, program director for the Executive Leadership Program (ELP), highlighted the theme of recruiting and supporting the next generation of leaders in education this fall. “We created by Educational Leadership Forum to honor and celebrate the impact that our graduates have in the field as practitioners along the way,” said Gonzales during his remarks.
Dean Gladis Kersaint and alum Alan Addley ’08 ELP, ’14 Ed.D., superintendent of Darien Public Schools, also gave welcoming remarks, and University of Connecticut Administrator Preparation Program (UCAPP) alumnus Jonathan Budd ’03 6th Year was recognized for his outstanding portfolio of work in educational leadership.
Budd shared his experiences from starting as a high school English teacher over 20 years ago to his current role as the assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction, and assessments for Trumbull (Conn.) Public Schools. “As educational leaders, we must pass along the torch to others and should do so with integrity and be mindful that the best days of education are before us, not behind us,” he said.
Paths to Leadership
Villanova, an ELP alumnus, moderated the evening’s panel discussion featuring Miguel Cardona ’01 MA, ’04 6th Year, ’11 Ed.D., ’12 ELP, Connecticut education commissioner; Tamu Lucero, superintendent, Stamford Public Schools; and Chip Dumais ’09 ELP, executive director, Cooperative Educational Services (CES).
“Leadership matters,” said Villanova during his opening remarks. “We want to talk tonight with an experienced panel of educators [about] how leaders can create conditions that attract the best and brightest people — and the most caring — to positions of leadership.”
Villanova then led the panel through a series of questions about their leadership paths and their recommendations for recruiting and retaining the next generation of talented leaders, especially from underrepresented groups.
Lucero, who has now been superintendent in Stamford since this past spring, started on her path to educational leadership swiftly. During her first year as a teacher in Columbus, Ohio, she missed learning so much that she decided to go back to school to earn a master’s degree and principal certification. After finishing three years later, her principal told her: “I know you just finished your degree, but I think you are ready to become a principal.”
At the age of 24, Lucero became an interim principal and was eventually appointed principal, a role in which she served for 15 years and, she says, “absolutely loved every minute of my time there.”
Dumais also shared his rise to leadership, which began with his first role in education as a science teacher.
“I had people who believed in me early and started my career with the best guidance and support that I could get,” said Dumais, who sought ways to participate in collaborative opportunities with other teachers across the state. “It was about building relationships and broadening perspectives. It was about increasing your understanding of your job beyond your job.”
“Having a perspective broader than my current job was the most hirable asset that I could have, and that allowed me to get into other positions. Once I became an assistant principal, I knew I wanted to be a principal, because you could see the impact one could have on a larger scale.”
— Chip Dumais ’09 ELP,
Executive Director, Cooperative Educational Services
Although he initially had no intention of being an administrator, the encouragement he received to broaden his perspective kept him going to school, eventually leading him to earn his certification in administration.
“Having a perspective broader than my current job was the most hirable asset that I could have, and that allowed me to get into other positions,” he said. “Once I became an assistant principal, I knew I wanted to be a principal, because you could see the impact one could have on a larger scale.”
He later applied to the ELP program not with plans of becoming a superintendent, but wanting to develop a perspective that was broader than the principalship so that he could be a better principal. That turned into the opportunity to become superintendent for Region 5, which led to his current position at the CES.
“I do believe one of the best things about being superintendent, is that often you have the opportunity to say ‘yes,’” he said.
Cardona opened with sharing how proud he is to be a Neag School alum. He told the audience he realized he wanted to be a leader when he was 10 years old and his sister told him he was “bossy.” The first in his family to go to college, Cardona pursued a career in elementary education.
“I was happy in the classroom, but then a superintendent approached me about going into the administration at the time when I was serving on a district-wide committee,” he said. After being asked several times if he had signed up for an administrator program, Cardona decided to pursue UCAPP — what he calls “one of the best decisions I ever made.”
By 28 years old, he was principal at Hanover Elementary School in Meriden, Conn., where he served for 10 years. “It was a wonderful experience, and I had no intention of leaving,” he said, “but was I called to join the central (district) office to help with performance and evaluations.”
To enhance his professional development, Cardona decided to continue his education through Neag School’s Ed.D. program and through ELP, in addition to teaching UCAPP courses.
“I was happy as the assistant superintendent,” he said. “Then I got a call from someone who was meeting with the governor who said, ‘I worked with you on different panels before and I appreciate the way you approach your work, and I wanted to know if I could put your name forward.’”
“I was humbled. … Things started to evolve quickly,” he said. “But my message here is my pathway. … Be passionate; it’s an extension of who you are. I’m the commissioner, but I’m still Miguel Cardona. I’m still that fourth-grade teacher who has passion for the kids. It’s just a different scope of influence now. My pathway is based on my values to be 100 percent in everything you do and keeping kids at the center.”
“We need to do a better job of making sure black and brown kids want to be in school and are graduating at high rates and thinking about themselves as potential teachers. If we don’t, then the conversation will be superficial.”
— Miguel Cardona ’01 MA, ’04 6th Year, ’11 Ed.D., ’12 ELP,
Connecticut Education Commissioner
Recruiting the Next Generation
Each panelist also weighed in on diversifying the administrator talent pool into the future.
“We need to do a better job of making sure black and brown kids want to be in school and are graduating at high rates and thinking about themselves as potential teachers. If we don’t, then the conversation will be superficial,” Cardona said. “We can’t disconnect the work we have to do to close the achievement gap in Connecticut with diversifying the workforce.”
“We need took at the students in the classroom as potential teachers. How are we doing that?” he asked. “We need to create programs that incentivize relationships with colleges. How do we encourage middle and high school students thinking of themselves to become teachers?”
He pointed out as an example Orlando Valentin ’15 (ED), ’16 MA, a Neag school alum, current UCAPP student, and teacher in Meriden, Conn., who was in attendance. “He has a passion for things,” Cardona said. “You need to give them the space for that and let them run with it. You have to see it, and let them lead.”
Lucero spoke about women in leadership. “Unfortunately, in teaching, it’s a field that’s largely women. It’s the flipside when you get into leadership, because men apply for jobs when they’re 60% feeling like they’re qualified for the job, and women wait until they are 100% qualified for the job when they apply.”
“When you select people to sit on panels, you are saying something when there is only one woman in the room,” she added. “We need to pay more attention to what we’re doing and be purposeful about it because it is important that our voices are heard.”
When Lucero is looking for good leaders, she says looks for all types and all backgrounds. “If women don’t see themselves as leaders, we need to tap them on their shoulders.” She also recommended “leading from the position you are in,” adding, “You don’t have to be in the role of the superintendent to do work that helps the superintendent. Those people rise to the top.”
From Dumais’ perspective, the most important part of the event occurred in the hour before the panel, when attendees had the opportunity to network. “For all the students who are here, expand your network,” he said. “Take advantage of all the people who are here to support your leadership development. That’s why they’re here.”
In closing remarks, Cardona shared his advice, too. “I’m here tonight because UConn has done so much for me. It’s a family,” he said. “One of the benefits of my education through UConn was that it was a cohort. That experience shaped who I am as a leader. Take advantage of that. You are part of the family now.”
Interested in taking your education career to the next level? Learn more about Neag School’s Executive Leadership Program (ELP), which holds its next information session on Dec. 10, and UConn Administrative Preparation Program (UCAPP).
Alumni, students, faculty, and administrators from the Neag School of Education joined education professionals from across Connecticut last week for an evening of networking, followed by a panel discussion, at Hartford’s Spotlight Theatre.
The fourth annual Educational Leadership Forum, created by Richard Gonzales, the director of the Neag School’s educational leadership preparation programs, and Robert Villanova, program director for its Executive Leadership Program (ELP), highlighted the theme of leadership for equity.
“No topic is more timely or relevant to school leadership and leadership preparation today,” said Gonzales, who established the event to commend the work of graduates from the Neag School superintendent/district leader and principal preparation programs.
ELP is Connecticut’s first program designed specifically to prepare future superintendents to face the challenges and ever-increasing demands necessary to lead rural, suburban, and urban school districts. The UConn Administrator Preparation Program (UCAPP) has also helped shape education in Connecticut by ensuring aspiring principals are ready to handle student and school needs from the start of the academic year.
“Equity is not about the same treatment for all students. Equity is a process that ensures every student [is] guaranteed the same result and the same outcomes.”
— Patricia Garcia,
Superintendent, Windham Public Schools
Defining Equity
Sarah Barzee, an ELP alumna and chief talent officer at the Connecticut State Department of Education, moderated the panel discussion featuring Patricia Garcia, the superintendent of Windham (Conn.) Public Schools; UCAPP student and Connecticut State Department of Education Turnaround Bureau Chief Lisa Lamenzo; literacy specialist at Clinton Public (Conn.) Schools and UCAPP student Jim Messina; UCAPP alumna and clinical instructor at the Neag School Jennifer Michno; and superintendent of East Hartford (Conn.) Public Schools and IB/M alumnus Nathan D. Quesnel ’01 (ED), ’02 MA.
“We have increasingly realized that the value proposition in education is people … namely, our educators,” said Barzee during her opening remarks. Barzee spoke about working to erase barriers in education by addressing four facets of school readiness — talent management; instructional leadership; culture and climate; and organizational effectiveness.
“I was awakened to the inequities that exist in educational systems … Once awakened, I could not un-see the issues and challenges facing many of our students,” she said. “If we all work together, our individual efforts will expand exponentially, resulting in deep and meaningful change in our schools.”
She led the panelists through a range of questions touching on topics such as how equity manifests in education, what tangible goals would allow programs to provide equitable outcomes for students, and what challenges exist that disrupt student learning. To start, Barzee asked panelists to define equity, focusing on how teacher and principal inexperience, low retention rates, and even ZIP codes can oftentimes be barriers for students, particularly minority students and English-language learners.
“Equity is not about the same treatment for all students. Equity is a process that ensures every student [is] guaranteed the same result and the same outcomes,” said Windham Superintendent Garcia. In her school district, Garcia added, where 75 percent of students are Latinx and 30 percent are second-language learners, equity means eliminating inequitable processes and policies in order to ensure similar outcomes among all graduates.
Lamenzo, turnaround bureau chief in Clinton, pointed out that educators must recognize when certain processes and policies are no longer effective and when to initiate change. Because equity intersects with other aspects of education, she said, it must serve as the foundation for change.
Another facet of an equitable education, said Superintendent Quesnel, is ensuring educators have high expectations not only for students, but also for themselves, in order to push students to use higher-order thinking skills and give them the tools they need to successfully complete rigorous coursework.
“We need to talk about what we expect from ourselves as the deliverers, as the providers, as the coaches, as the leaders in our (education) systems, and what we expect to give,” he said. “We are all so aware how ZIP codes, neighborhoods, and cultural barriers define outcomes for kids, and how unequivocally wrong that is and how painful that is to look at.”
Messina and Michno described equity of education as a matter of social justice; not providing students with appropriate work for their grade level, they said, is a disservice that widens achievement gaps, and the space between students’ realities and their dreams.
“We need to talk about what we expect from ourselves as the deliverers, as the providers, as the coaches, as the leaders in our (education) systems — and what we expect to give.”
— Nathan D. Quesnel ’01 (ED), ’02 MA,
Superintendent, East Hartford Public Schools
The Opportunity Myth
Barzee went on to discuss the Opportunity Myth, a report recently released by The New Teacher Project, which surveyed 4,000 students across five school districts to analyze how the education system is failing students, particularly students of color, students from low-income families, those with mild or moderate disabilities, and English language learners.
Researchers identified four pertinent areas of student success — grade-appropriate assignments, strong instruction, deep engagement, and teachers with high expectations — and found students spent 500 hours per academic year (the equivalent of six months of wasted class time in each core subject) on assignments that were below grade level.
“It found that students have big, clear goals and plans,” Barzee said. “The researchers found, however, in classroom after classroom filled with ‘A’ and ‘B’ students … [the] big goals for their lives were slipping further and further away each day, unbeknownst to them and their families, not because they couldn’t learn what they needed to reach them, but because they were rarely given the chance to do so.” She challenged the panelists to identify one tangible action to address equity and issues outlined by the Opportunity Myth.
The panel of educators discussed the impact of low expectations at low-resource schools, and how achievement gaps widen due to a lack of understanding of what students’ needs are.
“In the report, it says that students with access to these four resources close gaps. That gap … starts early, and it widens over time, so being proactive is important. A big part of this work is understanding and truly knowing, and not assuming (what students need),” said Lamenzo.
Knowing these needs starts with knowing the students themselves and what they hope to get out of their education, added Messina, who has focused on improving instruction and resources for English-language learners.
Michno, who has worked with the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to conduct research related to family, school, and community partnerships as well as a multi-million Wallace Foundation initiative to improve principal preparation programs, highlighted the importance of “understanding the power of family-school community engagement and partnership” and said that thriving school districts have typically made connections with families and other community stakeholders.
Barzee’s final question for the panel requested them to analyze the processes and policies promoting inequities in their own districts and schools, and asked them to identify one challenge or barrier they could disrupt and attempt to reverse to provide an equitable education for students.
“The recruitment and retention of teachers that believe in every student, that are committed to every student, and demonstrate that commitment to students, is one of the things I would disrupt,” said Garcia.
“What matters is where our kids are coming from, and how we can lift our kids up,” said Quesnel. “What we can do today and tomorrow is work to close that gap that exists by getting us, as adults, to look inside and try to understand and deal with our own biases, as uncomfortable as it may be.”
Miguel Cardona ’00 MA, ’04 6th Year, ’11 Ed.D., ’12 ELP, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning for Meriden (Conn.) Public Schools, and Bridget Heston Carnemolla ’13 Ed.D, ’14 ELP, superintendent for Watertown (Conn.) Public Schools, each shared insights into their experiences in the Neag School’s educational leadership program and personal revelations on leadership as the featured speakers for the Neag School’s third annual Educational Leadership Alumni Forum.
Neag School Dean Gladis Kersaint kicked the event off with welcome remarks, while Richard Gonzales, faculty event co-host and director of the Neag School’s educational leadership preparation programs, spoke on the strength and national prominence of the University of Connecticut Administrator Preparation Program (UCAPP). Gonzales also touched on UCAPP’s involvement in a Wallace Foundation-funded national initiative known as the University Principal Preparatoin Initiative (UPPI), which is focused on improving principal preparation programs across the country.
At a recent national meeting on UPPI, Gonzales said, he listened as the event’s keynote speaker, Stanford University professor Linda Darling-Hammond, recognized UCAPP by name in her address as a principal preparation program dedicated to continuous improvement.
“We have a reputation from the past, and we are continuing that reputation,” said Gonzales. “One of the questions I often get is around the UPPI initiative: ‘Why redesign? Why fix what’s not broken?’ The simple answer is because we’ve learned along the way that we can do better — and why shouldn’t we get better?”
“Stay humble. Titles don’t make you a good leader. Action makes you a good leader.”
— Miguel Cardona, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, Meriden (Conn.) Public Schools
Leadership Lessons
As the first featured alumni speaker of the evening, four-time Neag School alum Cardona spoke about how much he has learned from Neag School’s educational leadership programs and from his family. “I’m really pleased that I have both my UConn family here and my home family,” he said.
In his address, Cardona went on to share personal stories on leadership, including one anecdote starring members from the UConn men’s basketball team. Spending time one evening on the Storrs campus with his son — a big basketball fan — Cardona and his family happened upon a group of UConn men’s basketball players.
This was, Cardona said, “about the same time the UConn men’s basketball team was on their way to winning a championship, and my son and I watched basketball all the time.”
The players took pictures with his son, gave him a T-shirt, and shook his son’s hand. To Cardona, “That was a leadership lesson: Stay humble. Titles don’t make you a good leader. Action makes you a good leader. Be remembered by testimony, not titles,” he said. “That’s something I learned … from my experiences with UCAPP and the other UConn programs, and a life full of leadership experiences at Meriden.”
Cardona also spoke about his experience co-chairing a statewide commission focused on closing the achievement gap. The group had listened to testimony from stakeholder groups and experts, including faculty and administrators from the University of Connecticut and Neag School, Cardona said.
“If you are going to close any gap, leadership matters,” Cardona said, reflecting on the leadership role Neag School faculty played in the effort. “They were trendsetters for reshaping leadership programming.”
“You can’t simultaneously be all things to all people. It’s a necessary limitation, but requires us to be present at the moment — and to consider the role and the impact of that role at that moment.”
— Bridget Heston Carnemolla,
superintendent, Watertown (Conn.) Public Schools
Balancing Personal Life With Professional Life
Superintendent Carnemolla also served as a featured speaker at the event, sharing how her Neag School journey as part of the doctoral program in educational leadership and the Executive Leadership Program (ELP) helped develop her as a leader.
Carnemolla spoke in part about juggling her family life and her position as a school principal while attending the Neag School’s Ed.D. program. Recalling classes led by instructor Robert Villanova, she shared what she learned from him on leadership: “You can’t simultaneously be all things to all people,” Carnemolla said. “It’s a necessary limitation, but requires us to be present at the moment — and to consider the role and the impact of that role at that moment. You also have to know your role as a leader.”
In having shifted from a role as principal to one as superintendent, Carnemolla also says she saw how each of her Neag School educational leadership program experiences served her. “Both the doctoral and executive leadership programs [at the Neag School] prepared me to think of these roles differently and how I could impact positive change,” she said.
Carnemolla reflected on the impact of gender in leadership as well.
“Clearly I’m a female role model, and I have a very specific obligation,” she said. “It is often very different for girls and women who want to be leaders. We face different challenges from our male counterparts.
“We, as strong, competent women who take these positions of power, it’s our moral obligation to teach young people to value everyone and to value everyone’s perspectives,” she added.
Carnemolla credited educators with inspiring her and giving her a tangible goal for who she could be. She was taught, she told the audience, “to find her own voice and to use it for good and challenge things that are unjust.”
“If you are in a current leadership position, I congratulate you and I applaud you,” she says. “If you are just starting, I encourage you to continue. You can, and you will, make a difference.”
Interested in taking your education career to the next level? Find further information about Neag School’s Executive Leadership Program (ELP) or UConn Administrator Preparation Program (UCAPP) today.
View photos from this year’s Educational Leadership Forum, or check out video coverage of the event.
Neag School Welcomes Back Educational Leadership Alumni for 2016 Annual Forum
Written by: Shawn Kornegay
Following an evening of networking among more than 130 educational leadership alumni, students, and colleagues, two notable Neag School alumni — school principal Alicia Bowman and superintendent Joseph Macary — took to the stage to share their program experiences and insights on leadership during Neag School’s Second Annual Educational Leadership Alumni Forum, held Nov. 1 at UConn’s von der Mehden Hall in Storrs.
Lessons Learned
Featured speaker and three-time Neag School alum Alicia Bowman ’01 (ED), ’02 MA, ’08 6th Year, who began her education career as a sixth-grade teacher at West Woods Upper Elementary School in Farmington, Conn., rose through the ranks to become team leader, then literacy specialist, then assistant principal, before beginning her current position as principal. She spoke about her lessons learned in these roles over the past 14 years.
“Leadership is making happen what you believe in, and I believe that learning and leading are inseparable,” says Bowman, who was recognized in 2015 by both the Connecticut Association of Schools and the National Association of Elementary School Principals as the National Distinguished Principal of the Year. “As a school administrator, I have the opportunity to create a community where students, teachers, and administrators are teaching and learning simultaneously, under the same roof.”
As a former sixth-grade teacher, Bowman compared school leadership to leading a classroom. “It involves the same challenges: thinking critically, seeing situations in new ways, being able to make mistakes, knowing yourself, and being passionate about the work that you do,” says Bowman. “Leadership development is a personal journey aimed at becoming an authentic leader whom others will follow.”
Bowman went on to speak about her realization that effective leaders do not have all the answers, but that they should have the ability to ask the right questions; consciously surround themselves with colleagues who believe in the work and have shared core beliefs; listen and engage with students; share emotions in order to build deeper relationships; and maintain work-life balance between work and family.
“Leadership is making happen what you believe in, and I believe that learning and leading are inseparable.” Alicia Bowman ’01 (ED), ’02 MA, ’08 6th Year
Bowman says she used to think that recognition and celebration did not need to be a priority in high-performing organizations, and that having fun might make an organization’s team appear as if they were not working hard enough, or were not serious enough. That outlook, she admits, has changed: “I think celebration, recognition, encouragement, and appreciation are vital to an organization. When the recognition is specific and deliberately delivered, it’s even more motivating than money.”
She also focused on the importance of cohort learning, which she experienced as part of the Neag School’s UConn Administrator Preparation Program (UCAPP).
“Our cohort was a community of learners where each member brought a unique perspective and their own experiences to our collective leadership development,” she says. “That cohort experience modeled for us the power of professional collaboration and shared accountability. In a culture of trust and support, we were able to have honest conversations about teaching, learning, and leading.”
From Intern to District Leader
Another three-time UConn alum, Joseph Macary ’94 (CLAS), ’05 ELP, ’16 Ed.D., superintendent for Vernon Public Schools in Vernon, Conn., served as the evening’s next guest speaker. Macary talked about his managerial, leadership, instructional, and political experiences, calling his superintendency “the most challenging and rewarding position I’ve ever had.”
Macary’s vision for leadership centers on working together as a team to make learning with high expectations a priority for all children. “Education is truly the way people excel in today’s society,” he says.
A first-generation Lebanese-American, Macary’s family came to the U.S. years ago for the educational opportunity. “My family left their country, left their families, so that we could get a better education in a prospering society,” he says.
He says he learned early on about the importance of getting firsthand experience. While earning a degree in political science at UConn, he had an internship at the state Capitol, assigned to the appropriations committee. That experience would prove invaluable, as he often now works with elected members of school boards and other political entities.
Prior to accepting the leadership role for Vernon Public Schools, Macary spent 10 years with Wolcott Public Schools, in Wolcott, Conn., starting out as an intern while attending UConn’s Executive Leadership Program (ELP). While holding a full-time teaching job, attending board meetings that often ran late into the night, and welcoming his second child, Macary completed 120 hours for the internship — and says he “loved every moment of it.” He emphasized the power of internships, whether at the state Capitol or as part of ELP.
Macary moved up the ranks in Wolcott, achieving the level of superintendent, before moving over to Vernon. While in Wolcott, Macary also pursued the Neag School’s Ed.D. program, with a research focus on secondary education and policies for helping secondary schools improve.
All along the way, Macary has focused on making a difference in children’s lives and creating conditions for success. He says he believes in the “whole-child approach to learning: the academic, the social, and the emotional.”
“The mental health of our children is our biggest problem right now,” he adds. “For those of you in schools and classrooms, that is what we struggle with each day, and we need to reflect a whole-child approach.”
He also believes in having a partnership with the communities and families. “You need the parent, you need the student, and you need the teacher working together.”
And creating those conditions for success is the responsibility of school and district leaders, he says. “It’s the leadership that puts the students in front of that classroom, fed, well-nourished, healthy, and ready to learn. It’s the leadership that puts the teacher in front of that classroom, properly trained, with a good curriculum, and with a strong instructional core.”
Macary noted that, for him, the key parts of leadership — the political, the managerial, and the instructional leadership — all came from UConn.
“We need to understand that we need strong leaders in education today, so that we can create the conditions for people to succeed, that they can create that instructional leadership, and that instructional core, to make things happen,” he says. “We need school and district leaders to create the conditions for students to succeed in our schools and classrooms across the state and nation. I urge you to support leadership — through UConn — to make a difference in children’s lives.”
Following their presentations, Bowman and Macary responded to questions from the audience.
Are you interested in taking your education career to the next level? Find further information about Neag School’s Executive Leadership Program (ELP) or UConn Administrative Preparation Program (UCAPP) today.
Neag School Hosts Inaugural 2015 Educational Leadership Alumni Forum
Written by: Stefanie Dion-Jones
Before an audience of more than 125 friends, colleagues, Neag School graduates, students, and faculty, two high-profile Neag School alumni took to the stage this Tuesday at UConn’s von der Mehden Hall in Storrs to share their insights on leadership, as well as their own preparation program experience at UConn, as part of the School’s inaugural educational leadership alumni forum.
‘Leadership Is Not About You’
Three-time Neag School alum Desi Nesmith ’01 (ED), ’02 MA, ’09 UCAPP, now chief school turnaround officer for Connecticut’s state Department of Education, spoke in part about some of the challenges currently facing many school districts – particularly large, urban districts – across the country, including negative perceptions, teacher turnover, and the ever-present pressure to raise student achievement.
“Because the pressure to perform becomes so great, we oftentimes forget what we need to focus on in the classroom at the student level,” said Nesmith, who has previously served as an elementary schoolteacher and principal in Connecticut, and in 2014 received the prestigious Milken Educator Award. “As school and district leaders, what are we going to do about it? The keyword there is ‘we.’”
“Good leaders don’t do it alone. They create a community of leaders around them – people they want to support, people they want to empower.”
–Desi Nesmith ’01(ED), ’02 MA, ’09 UCAPP
According to Nesmith, being a skillful educational leader is about far more than “having a business card and your name plate on the door.” It requires collaboration – successfully getting parents, students, as well as teachers to “buy into your vision and help you move it forward.” Leadership, he added, “is not about you.”
Nesmith also emphasized the time and investment it takes to shape qualified educational leaders, and credits the UConn Administrator Preparation Program (UCAPP) with providing the vision and robust set of learning experiences – including a cohort model and thoughtful internship placement – that he believes are necessary to creating well-rounded leaders.
“Good leaders aren’t made in a day, a week, or a month,” he said. “It takes time. It takes experience. Good leaders don’t do it alone. They create a community of leaders around them – people they want to support, people they want to empower.”
Evolution of a Leader
Garth Harries ’12 ELP, superintendent of New Haven Public Schools, also spoke about how his Neag School experience, as part of the Executive Leadership Program (ELP), helped shape his own evolution as a leader.
Harries shared a story from his time in a previous role in New York City, where he led a controversial decision to close Bushwick High School in Brooklyn. Though he initially faced great opposition from the community, Harries ultimately opened three new, successful small schools in place of Bushwick High, and the graduation rate tripled.
“When I left New York – before I went through the Neag program – I had one perspective on that: It was a lesson in what is possible, on the urgency of the work we do,” he says. “It was a lesson in the inevitability of controversy as we try our mightiest to provide the education we believe our students deserve.”
Now an ELP grad and a third-year superintendent, Harries says: “I’ve come to see other layers of that story.”
In part, he told the audience, “Where I once may have taken a somewhat paternalistic sense [that] we did what was right, and in the end we were successful, what I’ve come to understand is … the need to engage the full community.” Harries talked about bringing the lessons he learned at the Neag School with him to New Haven – for instance, involving the teacher’s union in education reform efforts, acknowledging the importance of the instructional core, and coming to the understanding that “students are not just evidence of success; they are agents of success.”
Following their talks, Nesmith and Harries together fielded questions from the audience.
Are you an aspiring school leader? Find further information about the Neag School’s Executive Leadership Program (ELP) or UConn Administrator Preparation Program (UCAPP) today.