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regulated by state or federal mandates alone.They appreciate step-by-step techniques being applied over time, realizing that the kind of improvements called for by implementation of the Common Core State Standards cannot be accomplished in a short time span. Finally, board members are continually “in the loop” with regard to all decisions made by the curriculum council — representative board members are also members of the council — and subject area committees through meeting minutes and reports, and are conversant with how student performance is improving over time. The superintendent provides academic leadership in a setting that is guided by written policies, and thereby well understood by all stakeholders. While the process involves a sharing of leadership responsibility, it does not require the superintendent to work under a vague set of expectations. It also frees the superintendent to become a visionary leader, and allows other specified leaders in the district to review and possibly implement that vision through clearly established understandings.The superintendent is the agent of the board of education, and is responsible for implementing board decisions and keeping board members informed of all matters pertaining to both managerial concerns AND academic needs. Weighty managerial issues associated with budgets, personnel, facilities, legal matters,
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and governmental compliance can easily overshadow even more significant academic concerns, and this system gives the superintendent an opportunity to emphasize the importance of ensuring that student learning is always seen as the key purpose of the district. Most important, the superintendent in this system can be viewed as a kind of first teacher who interacts with teacher col-
program policy, a representative curriculum council, a long-range plan, and subject area committees. Under academic program policies, the curriculum director ensures that all decision-making bodies and the policies that guide them are dynamic and regularly used.The coordinator connects academic program needs to professional development, and ensures that curriculum, instruction,
leagues personally and in council meetings, largely because — as someone who studies curriculum, instructional practice, and quality assessment — he or she can be very conversant with what good teaching is. The curriculum coordinator provides real academic leadership in partnership with the superintendent. Because student learning is the primary purpose behind everything the district does, the curriculum director is responsible for ensuring that the local curriculum is tied to instruction, assessment and learning throughout the district in all buildings, grade levels and subject areas.The coordinator creates and guides actions that lead to the formation of: academic
and quality assessment procedures are fully supported by state-of-the-art staff improvement programs and activities. Finally, the coordinator works with the curriculum council, subject area committees, superintendent, and board of education to ensure that acquired resources are aligned with and used to support a quality curriculum and instructional program. The building principal is part of the district’s academic leadership team (member of the curriculum council), and also serves in a role similar to the historic origins of the title: principal (first) teacher. In that capacity the principal works with other academic leaders in the district to become conversant