Joshua Starr recommends every new superintendent
—
and his!
her leadership team
—
read William Bridges’ Managing Transitions:
Making the
Most
of Change. “This book does an excellent job of
helping the reader understand the dynamics of change and how to
manage it positively,” Starr says. “I asked all of my senior staff to read
it,
and we referred to it often throughout that first year.”
Other resources for newcomers:
The “Transition Team Report,” completed in September 2011 at the
outset of the superintendent’s first year, can be found at http//bitly/
TransitionTeamReport.
“The Listen and
Learn
Report,” based on the superintendent’s public
sessions with stakeholders in the community and distiict staff, can be
found at
The New
Superintendents
Journal, published by AASA each fall,
includes articles written by recognized national experts on topics
identified by new superintendents as areas where they need help. The
2013-14 electronic edition can be found at
wwwaasa.orgluploaded
Flles/PubllcationsJNSEi-2013-2014.pdf
teachers.
from time to time about the
school
district. The
events went so well at the high school level that
we added middle schools in my second year.
Twitter is an outstanding engagement tool
that allowed me to share items of interest
with thousands of people at one time. If I saw
instruction in a classroom that I thought was
really powerfiul, I’d snap a picture or take a video
and tweet
it.
If I read an article that raised inter
esting points or captured an important issue, I’d
send it out to my followers. I’d also use Twitter
as a way to let people know what I was doing
each day,
whether it was school visits, a sit-down
with a state or county leader or a visit to a local
community organization.
Through my Twitter feed,
my followers
—
many of them parents and staff members
—
were able to learn a little bit about me and
what I value in education.
Many of our princi
pals, teachers and staff now have joined Twitter,
creating a lively, ongoing conversation about
MCPS and education, in general.
A Vanguard Position
As I begin my third year,
we have truly begun
the work of improving an already excellent
school district. This includes the adoption of a
new strategic planning framework aligned to
the skills and knowledge our students will need
in the 21st century
—
academic excellence, cre
ative problem solving and social and emotional
learning,
which means attending to the hope,
engagement and well-being of kids. I believe
our new framework will put Montgomery
County in the vanguard of national education
because of our strong focus on skills beyond
academics.
We’ve had strong community
support
for the
framework and other initiatives, and I know
that is, in great part, due to the work we did
during my first year to engage and listen to
our students, staff and community members.
We will continue to employ many of the same
strategies used in my entry work to commu
nicate with our stakeholders. Together we will
build a strong future for our students and be
a national model for preparing kids to be suc
cessfiul beyond graduation.
—
—I
--
During his year of listening and learning as the new
superintendent in Montgomery County,
Md., Joshua
Starr solicited views from an array of classroom
L1U.
i]
I
-4
Additional Resources
JOSHUA STARR is the superintendent in Mont
gomery
County,
Md.
E-mail:
38
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR
NOVEMBER 2013
