The questions are based on criteria that include being committed to the principle that all students can learn; being able to set high expectations for staff and students; being respectful of the district’s traditions and culture; being a leader able to delegate effectively; being a developer of people and teams; and having strong people skills.
Wednesday’s interview was with Blane McCann, superintendent of the Shorewood, Wis., School District. He previously served as executive director of K-8 instruction at the Kenosha Unified School District in Kenosha, Wis.
McCann has a doctorate of philosophy in educational policy and leadership from Marquette University.
Public transparency, personal integrity and respect for a school district's culture top the list of personal qualities stressed Wednesday by the first of three external candidates to succeed retiring Westside school Superintendent Jacquie Estee.
Blane McCann, 54, answered questions for nearly 90 minutes as school board members continued their weeklong series of public interviews with their five finalists for superintendent. McCann currently is school superintendent in the Milwaukee suburb of Shorewood, Wis.
Among highlights of McCann's discussion with the board:
Communicating with the public.
McCann said "being a very authentic person" who generally likes people is vital to a school administrator's success. At Shorewood, he said, his superintendent's office is located in the high school so he can be around students and staff every day. He also seeks to meet monthly with the district's parent-teacher associations and labor groups to build up trust.
The district's patrons, including the school board, "have to know you and believe you have integrity," McCann said. "I want to be able to deliver on what I say I'm going to do. I don't want to overpromise."
He also addressed the board's stated desire to hire a superintendent who respects a district's traditions and culture. He did his doctoral dissertation on the subject, McCann said, which strongly influenced his philosophy "that one person coming in shouldn't change the culture." He would want to learn and become part of Westside's culture before suggesting changes to it, he said.
Biggest challenges facing the district.
Based on current trends, McCann said, a teacher's role in the coming years will need to shift from being primarily "a purveyor of knowledge." That suggests a difficult adjustment, he said, but "we want to bring relevance and rigor to what we're doing" even as the educational model evolves. Westside should be a district "where people take risks and take chances."
He strongly believes in character education and development of the "whole child," he added. That includes broadening the definition of student wellness beyond physical health to include cognitive, social, emotional, occupational, environmental and spiritual wellness. The last emphasizes not religion but the degree to which a student is comfortable with who he or she is, he said.
Role of technology in educating students.
Technology was not a great priority at Shorewood before he came there, McCann said. Today, the district and its patrons have fully embraced the need to exploit technology to prepare students for the working world. A $10 million maintenance package recently approved by voters included $2 million for technology upgrades, he said.
Measuring effective teaching.
McCann placed great emphasis on developing a "learning profile" of each student so teachers understand how he or she learns best. In addition to knowing their content and seeking professional improvement, they "need to develop that relationship (with students) and know their students very well" to be effective teachers, he said.
Standardized tests/graduation rates.
Though meeting state proficiency standards is important, McCann said, it's important to realize that those standards can fall short in measuring students' knowledge and abilities. Shorewood also measures student achievement against the ACT College Readiness Standards, an approach that means students cannot wait for high school to step up their academic performance.
Early childhood education.
Shorewood has both half-day and full-day kindergarten, said McCann, who previously directed the Kenosha district's Head Start program. His current district also had operated two early childhood centers, he said, but budget challenges forced Shorewood to spin them off to private interests.
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