Leadership Matters June 2014

Graduates talk about ISAL experience

“ ISAL has provided me with

direction in guiding my

board through the process of developing a district mission that is student centered…and that mission will provide direction in all decisions.” Christina Grant Thompsonville 174

ISAL II co-chairs Dr. Gary Zabilka, left and Dr. Nick Osborne, right, along with facilitator Dr. Nancy Blair.

“ The integration of research on leadership and the practice of leadership yields powerful results…

“I have gained better skills in problem solving, decision making, instructional coaching and

“ISAL pushed me to focus more on teaching and learning… budgets and schedules, while

the learning and synergy from state leaders in education creates unity in purpose and shared growth.” Dr. Michael Lubelfeld Deerfield 109

leadership…I also now have people in my position that I can count on for advice and support.”

important to get right, will never again take a greater role in my leadership than student achievement.”

Lori Harrison Illini Central 189

Dr. Dawn Green Somonauk 432

“I learned the power of collaboration and establishing a network professionally

“Developing the plans required me to think deeply around the topic of school improvement and focus on my vision for the future of the district…putting the steps of the plan down into action plans served as a guide…” Dr. Kathie Pierce, Fenton 100 “The most important thing I learned is that leadership requires lifelong learning and reflection…it is a journey involving curiosity, adaptive change and vulnerability…and dialogue and discussion with stakeholders.”

“ISAL forced me to hit the ‘pause’ button periodically and really focus on improving myself

with other superintendents…in our profession you can very much be on an island and need networks to succeed.” Steve Murphy Carbondale Comm 165

as a school leader and as a person…as leaders, we need to be flexible and adopt a mindset of continuous improvement.” Dr. Nick Polyak Leyden HS District 212

“The District Development Plan in ISAL served as a road map in my first year as

“ Our team was able to use the resources from ISAL to identify processes in need of clarity. This

clarity resulted in a total reworking of our special education personnel and a re-launch of Response to Intervention with more cohesion between all curricula.” Dr. Jamie Reilly, Maercker 60

superintendent. The plan kept me focused, accountable and true to the mission of improving learning in my district.” Dr. Andrew Wise Olympia 16

Dr. Tami Roskamp Schuyler-Industry 5

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