Jody Spiro - How School Leaders Get Results

Jody Spiro has taken a complex subject and made it highly useful If a school leader wants to make a difference, she will adhere to the strategies defined in this book. From visioning to implementation, this book will lead the way, and our students will be the ultimate winners.

Diane Rutledge, Executive Director, Large Unit District Association (LUDA), Springfield, Illinois

Mahalo for High-Payoff Strategies. The book has helped me develop our faculty and create a sharing culture that fosters better learning for students.

Kim Sanders, Principal, Aiea High School, Oahu, Hawaii

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Spiro, Jody, author.

High-payoff strategies : how education leaders get results / Jody Spiro.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-118-83441-1 (pbk.), 978-1-118-84193-8 (ePDF), 978-1-118-84191-4 (ePUB)

1. Educational leadership. 2. Educational innovations. 3. Educational change. I. Title.

LB2806.S6517 2015

371.2--dc23

2015030928

Cover design by Wiley

Cover photograph Ron Chapple Stock|Thinkstock

FIRST EDITION

When I set out on the journey many years ago that led to this book, I had reams of data from interviewing education leaders and hearing their feedback on the tools I had developed. But I was at a loss for the best way to help others use this information. Whereas my first book was designed for change leaders in a variety of nonprofit sectors, after it was published I got feedback that a second book was neededaimed specifically at leaders in education. As many education leaders attempted to use the techniques in the first book, they asked me questions more specifically related to their practice. I then understood the value of the book you are about to read. Whereas Leading Change Step-by-Step outlined general tools and techniques and provided examples from several sectors, High-Payoff Strategies: How Education Leaders Get Results takes those general tools and lessons and makes them specific for immediate application by education leaders.

I did not come to this realization on my own. I had continual feedback from many dedicated education leaders who were using the materials and found them valuable yet did not hesitate to let me know how they could be improved and what additional material was needed. Therefore, many thanks to those critical friends: Andy Cole, Mark Shellinger, and those participating in the National SAM Innovation Project; Glenn Pethel and the group of principals from Gwinnett County; Douglas Anthony and the principals of Prince George's County; Tricia McManus and the principals from Hillsborough County; Ann Clark and Jevelyn Bonner-Reid from Charlotte-Mecklenburg; Tom Boasberg and Mikel Royal from Denverand all my colleagues in New York City, including Marina Cofield and chancellor Carmen Faria.

Although the ideas in this book are my own, I have benefitted from the support and insights of my colleagues at Wallace. I owe special thanks to our president, Will Miller, who always tries to eliminate obstacles to getting good work done. He, Lucas Held, Jessica Schwartz, and Edward Pauly have been important thought partners throughout.

I received much needed encouragement from many people. I'd especially like to thank Linda Cantillano, Simon Fenster, Gay Green Steinhorn, Cindy Green, Anne DiGiovanni, Nicholas Pelzer, Rochelle Herring, Aiesha Eleusizov, Carolina Velasquez, Christine Kudrav, and Abby Spiro.

Of course, to my editor at Jossey-Bass, Margie McAneny: thanks for nudging me most diplomatically to get this done and for always making my work better.

Jody Spiro, EdD, is director of education leadership at The Wallace Foundation. There she leads an interdisciplinary team that sponsors work across the country to learn lessons about how effective education leadership might lead to improved results for school districts, states, and students.

Her career has spanned work in education and change leadership with schools, districts, nonprofits, and governments in the United States and abroad. Prior to joining Wallace, Spiro held leadership positions at large organizations in the private, public, nonprofit, university, philanthropic, and international sectors. These included the Chancellor's Office at New York City Department of Education and senior level positions at the Soros Foundations, Long Island University, and Education Development Center, Inc. She has seen firsthand that the approaches in this book apply in all these venues. In all these positions she always has tried to walk the talk of the ideas presented in this book.

Spiro presents frequently on the topics of change leadership and education leadership at conferences held by organizations such as the American Association of School Administrators, The Council of Chief State School Officers, Learning Forward, and The Wallace Foundation. She is the author of