Educational Leadership Newsletter

Educational Leadership

news Issue 4 | Fall 2015

St. Paul PUBLIC Schools Principal Academy: a collaboration between the Department of Educational Leadership and SPPS “St. Paul Public Schools has long been dedicated to developing leaders,” said Patrick Duffy, director of leadership development, SPPS. “We recognized a partnership with Minnesota State Mankato’s Department of Educational Leadership would be a way to deepen the experience for our [leadership] interns.”

SPPS has specific goals for leader development. “We feel the following leadership traits are important for every principal in St. Paul schools: instructional leadership (developing teachers, strengthening learning communities, identifying and coaching culturally relevant pedagogy); racial equity leadership (leading with conscience and courage, being able to address the predictable achievement gap trajectory in public schools) and servant leadership (reaching a mindset of development with their teams, resources and systems, changing and improving schools in a sustainable way).

“Candace [Raskin], Melissa [Krull] and Minnesota State Mankato exude those characteristics. The University had a vision and a plan for partnering with us around our goals and developing leaders to that capacity,” said Duffy. “We have a great deal of respect for Dr. Raskin and Dr. Krull, their experience as superintendents, their commitment to racial equity and their courage as leaders.”

Although SPPS enrolled 30 interns in the 12-month Academy, the district does not expect to have 30 principal openings. “We told applicants that we were not preparing all 30 to be principals. We need people system-wide who

are prepared to lead for racial equity with courage, whether it is in the classroom, as a school administrator, or from the central office,” said Duffy. “Minnesota State Mankato was adaptive enough in their curriculum to help us realize that vision.”

From 180 applications, 30 interns were selected to be part of the Academy cohort. They were selected based on their qualifications as well as their desire to grow as leaders. “Interestingly, I think because of the nature of the program itself and the intentionality of St. Paul’s Public Schools to ask questions that required candidates to explore their views around student learning; their beliefs, skill and will to develop staff members and the community around racial equity issues; and their capacity to lead for instructional growth, we ended up with a very diverse pool of people,” said Duffy.

“Members of the cohort have a strong base of lived and professional experience, which lends itself to a rich learning environment in the Academy.”

The Academy began Summer Semester 2015.

While the group is only about halfway through the program, the district already feels the excitement as cohort members reflect on and apply their learning to their work. “There is a real strong vibe about it now, but it is early,” said Duffy.

“We look forward to seeing its impact as time goes on.”

Districts interested in collaborating with the Center for Engaged Leadership may contact Candace Raskin at candace.raskin@mnsu.edu or 952-818-8881.

Outside the Classroom Faculty work outside the classroom—national conference presentations, professional research, community service, collaborative studies, and journal publications—is instrumental in our quest for continuous program improvement. Educational Leadership faculty members do not disappoint. Here are a few of our most recent examples.

Jason Kaufman, associate professor “Flexibility Improves Decision Making” Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education, Howard Univ., Washington, DC October 2015 Research demonstrates that decision-making deteriorates during times of stress. Alternatively, it is possible that decision-making can be positively modified through training. Toward this end, Kaufman presented initial results from a study demonstrating that training college students in attention and relaxation techniques promoted moderate improvement in cognitive flexibility—a core facet of decision-making. The second phase of the study is currently underway.

Scott Wurdinger, doctorate program coordinator “The Power of Project-Based Learning” Academic Impressions Conference, Salt Lake City, UT March 2015 Wurdinger presented a project-based learning workshop. He guided participants through the intersection of competency-based education and project-based learning to explore the impact of project-based learning on student competencies such as problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity/innovation.

Jasper S. Hunt, professor “Panoply of Leadership Topics” Research Project, Summer 2015 Recently, Hunt completed a paragraphby-paragraph analysis of South: The Story of Shackleton’s Last Expedition by Ernest Shackleton. In a previous research project, Hunt analyzed the leadership of Martin Luther King. Through separate and detailed research and analyses of the leadership approaches of King and Shackelton, Hunt created a leadership exemplars approach to teaching his Leadership Studies course. His work offers a panoply of leadership topics to explore with experiential education, educational leadership and other graduate students.

“Inspiring Students to Learn Through Experiential Learning” Center for Academic Excellence, Oxford College at Emory University, Covington, GA September 2015 An expert in experiential learning, Wurdinger engaged conference participants in an experience followed by a discussion on the theories and practices of experiential learning. The goal is to help them gain an understanding of teaching approaches that promote experiential learning and inspire student learning.

“The Power of Experiential Learning: From Discussion to Field Experience” Keynote Speaker, International Sun Conference, University of Texas, El Paso, TX March 2016 For educators looking for new approaches to experiential learning, Wurdinger uses whole-room and small-group discussions to lead them on an exploration of theory and applied approaches. Collaborative learning, problem-based learning, project-based learning, service learning, and place-based education serve as powerful teaching approaches.

Melissa Krull, associate professor

Candace Raskin, professor

Jean Haar, dean of the College of Education

“Institute for Courageous Leadership” National Summit for Courageous Conversations—Rise Up November 2015 When it comes to eliminating predictable racial disparities in schools, courageous principal leadership is required. The Institute for Courageous Leadership is designed for school leaders to build the needed personal capacity to lead with fearlessness and racial focus. In 2015, the first round of research dedicated to quantifying the effects of this Institute was published. Krull and Raskin presented their research and the findings at the 2015 National Summit for Courageous Conversations. Participants in the session experienced and discussed the curriculum used in the program that leads to stronger, more racially developed school leaders. The Courageous Conversation Protocol was used to guide and engage participants in discussing principal leadership and the needed strategies to advance principals as equity leaders.

Timothy Berry, assistant professor

Robbie Burnett, Maverick recruitment coordinator

“It’s a Race Thang. We Need to Understand: Using Interactive Theater to Foster Conversations, Development, and Practice for Racial Equity.”

The National Summit for Courageous Conversations October 2015 Historically, people of color have been less likely to enter college and, once they enter, they are half as likely to graduate. One effort aimed at increasing the retention and graduation rates for Black males at Minnesota State Mankato is a group developed in collaboration between the College of Education and Institutional Diversity—BIG Scholars (Black Intelligent Gentlemen).

Coordinated by Timothy Berry, the group’s goals are to give members the tools they need to thrive in college and provide a pathway for them to assume successful roles in every industry.

Based on best practices, grounded in critical race theory and using project-based learning, BIG fosters mentorship and collaboration at various levels, building student-tostudent, faculty-to-student, and community-to-student relationships.

Representatives of the cohort, along with Berry and Robbie Burnett, presented an interactive theater informance about using Critical Race Theory as an analytical tool on high school and college campuses as a method to help identify systemic racism. For more information about BIG Scholars membership and presentations, contact Timothy Berry at timothy.berry@ mnsu.edu.

Department of

Educational Leadership Survey In Fall 2015, the Department of Educational Leadership surveyed their most recent year’s graduates. The goal of the survey was to evaluate the effectiveness of the department’s degree programs, with specific attention focused on whether degrees from the department promoted professional advancement.

A total of 37 graduates responded to the survey, representing graduates from Summer 2014, Fall 2014, and Spring 2015. Sixty-two percent of graduates reported prior employment in PreK-12 education, 19 percent in higher education, and 19 percent in other fields. Graduates represented typical department composition: Ed.D. in Educational Leadership (5 percent), Ed.S. in Educational Leadership (35 percent), M.S. in Educational Leadership (49 percent), and M.S. in Experiential Education (11 percent). Notably, 70 percent of graduates reported career advancement subsequent to completing the degree, and 81 percent of those graduates attested that the career advancement was the result of earning the degree in the Department of Educational Leadership.

Achieved Professional Goals?

Attribute Achievement to Degree Program?

No 3% Not Yet 27%

No 19%

Yes 70%

Yes 81%

Leading Courageously for Racial Equity— third annual conference

Committed to positively affecting the achievement gap and students of color, the Department of Educational Leadership is hosting its third annual Leading Courageously for Racial Equity Conference. We are excited to announce our keynote speaker, Yvette Jackson, best-selling author, CEO of the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education, and visiting lecturer at Harvard University.

Internationally recognized for her work in assessing the learning potential of disenfranchised urban students, Jackson has developed an integrated process to motivate and elicit potential in underachievers. Her best-selling book, The Pedagogy of Confidence, is a must-read for all educators. In it, she asserts that focusing on weaknesses as a route to increasing achievement has blinded us to the strengths and intellectual potential of urban students and devalued the motivation, initiative, and confidence of dedicated educators to search for and optimize this potential.

Jackson’s mission is to rekindle, in educators, the passion and beliefs that led them to choose education as their career. She is driven to provide and promote pedagogy that enables school dependent students to demonstrate their high intellectual potential and to enable educators to fulfill their potential as outstanding teachers and administrators.

Join us as she shares with us her passion to focus on student strengths as a method to inspire learning and higher intellectual performance.

Thursday, April 21, 2016 Minnesota State University, Mankato at Edina 7700 France Avenue Edina, Minnesota 1:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Yvette Jackson

Registration Deadline: April 1, 2016 Contact: Melissa Krull at melissa.krull@mnsu.edu

The Importance of Networking

Educators are constantly reminded to meet students where they are. We are meeting students and colleagues where they are—online! Two graduate assistants, Antonia Felix and David McNay, are helping us increase our social media presence.

Educational Leadership faculty has access to two smartphones that are tied directly to our social media accounts. Members take the smartphones with them to conferences and events like the Courageous Conversations meeting and MEA conferences. Faculty members live tweet and post images, videos and messages from the events to extend conversations about racial equity and courageous leadership.

If you see us at a conference or meeting, connect with us for a photo! Share your professional ideas and accomplishments with us on Facebook. Join the conversation and follow us on

A member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System and an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity University. This document is available in alternative format to individuals with disabilities by calling the College of Education at 507-389-5445 (V), 800-627-3529 or 711 (MRS/TTY).