Presented by Dr. Ash Vasudeva, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Dr. Charoscar Coleman, Instructional Director, Prince George’s County Public Schools (MD); Michael Hanson, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Dr. Betsy Hargrove, Superintendent, Avondale Elementary School District (AZ); and Meisha Ross-Porter, the Bronx Executive Superintendent, New York City Department of Education (NY)
Moderated by Dr. Valerie Truesdale, Assistant Executive Director, AASA, The School Superintendents Association
Hosted by AASA, The School Superintendents Association
AASA’s Leadership Network, providing premier professional learning for educational leaders
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Watch Dr. Ash Vasudeva, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, as he and district leaders share how to strengthen systems processes and improve student outcomes. Presenters discuss how systems leaders are using improvement-science-based tools, processes and approaches to strengthen systems processes to advance more equitable student outcomes. A diverse group of district leaders discuss why they have embraced improvement-science approaches and how the mindsets, principles and practices of improvement science are helping them make progress on their goals for every student. They describe how this work has enabled their districts to be user and problem centric, systems oriented, and measurement focused in order to achieve equitable outcomes for ALL students.
Dr. Vasudeva is joined by the following district leaders who will discuss advancing equity through improvement science:
By surfacing how improvement-based thinking has been used to guide and inform systems actions–before and during the COVID-19 crisis–this edWebinar is designed to productively inform and impact district leaders in the United States and globally.
This recorded presentation will be of particular value to school superintendents, K-12 school and district leaders, and aspiring leaders.
About the Presenters
Dr. Ash Vasudeva is Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, where he oversees the Carnegie Foundation’s policy and communications efforts to build the field’s capacity for improvement research and networked improvement communities. Prior to joining Carnegie, Dr. Vasudeva was a senior program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he focused on supporting school systems to implement college- and career-ready standards and strengthen educator effectiveness systems.
Previously, Dr. Vasudeva was Co-executive Director of Stanford University’s School Redesign Network, where he developed the LEADS network (Leadership for Equity and Accountability in Districts and Schools), which enabled superintendents and their cabinets to collaborate on systems reforms with faculty from Stanford’s School of Education, School of Business, and School of Design (d.school). Dr. Vasudeva taught science at Pasadena High School and entered the field through Teach For America. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Carnegie Mellon University and his doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Dr. Charoscar Coleman earned a dual degree in economics and business from the University of Pittsburgh, a master’s degree in secondary education from The George Washington University, and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Maryland College Park.
Dr. Coleman has served the students of Prince George’s County Public Schools for the past 25 years. Dr. Coleman currently serves as an instructional director. In this role, he is responsible for supporting schools across the school district by providing direct coaching support to principals and articulating the school system’s mission, goals, accomplishments, needs, and strategies to area schools and communities. He has worked with schools serving students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Over the course of his career, Dr. Coleman has served as a high school teacher, assistant principal, and principal of three different schools: Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School, Central High School, and Dr. Henry A. Wise High School. During his 14 years as a principal, Dr. Coleman was twice nominated for The Washington Post Principal of the Year Award.
Mike Hanson is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He is the former superintendent of the third-largest urban school district in California, and Co-founder and inaugural President of CORE, a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve student achievement by fostering highly productive, meaningful collaboration and learning between California’s largest school districts. Mike currently serves on the board of Valley Children’s Healthcare System where he chairs the compensation committee.
Prior to his 12-year tenure as Superintendent, Mike served in many roles as a public educator in both New York and California, including deputy superintendent, high school principal, social science teacher, and coach. His work has focused on teacher, school, and district improvement through building capacity in others, systems knowledge, formalized collaborative relationships, and improved governance. His work in continuous improvement focuses on issues of equity and access. Areas of demonstrated expertise are improved student achievement, improved behavior of students, increased diversity of high-quality human capital, and leadership development. His interests include strategic creation and use of data systems as well as supports for public school employees. Mike is a California native who lives in Sacramento with his wife, Julie. They laugh constantly with their three children.
Dr. Betsy Hargrove has been the Superintendent of the Avondale Elementary School District since 2012 after having served as the Assistant Superintendent since March 2009. She provides ongoing leadership in creating a positive climate of high expectations for all involved with the educational programs of the district. She also works to engage in the continuous improvement of the Avondale educational community by implementing and monitoring the achievement of the district goals and mission for every student to grow as a thinker, problem-solver, and communicator to pursue a future without limits. Ensuring this mission is reached, Dr. Hargrove and her team actively seek opportunities to build relationships with community stakeholders, business people, and civic leaders to make connections within the district and sites.
The Avondale Elementary School District has embedded a continuous improvement focus in all systems throughout the organization. The layering of high-yield instructional practices, job-embedded professional development, focused and collaborative accountability, and teacher and leader empowerment has demonstrated ongoing success. The result is that AESD has outperformed the state in growth in achievement four years in a row.
Dr. Hargrove has presented at the American Educational Research Association, Character Education Forum, National Staff Development Council Mega Conference, TAP National Conferences, 21st Century STEM Conference, Arizona School Administrators, National School Board Association, U.S. News STEM Solutions National Leadership Conference, School Connect Summit and American Association of School Administrators to share this approach and highlight the successes of the Avondale Elementary School District. Beyond the shared professional and academic accomplishments of the entire AESD community, Dr. Hargrove is most proud of her two daughters, Morgan and Clare.
Meisha Ross-Porter currently serves as the Bronx Executive Superintendent where she is deeply invested in deepening school leaders’ equity lens and building collaborative practices across schools. Prior to taking the helm as the Bronx Executive Superintendent, Meisha served as Superintendent for Community School District #11 and Principal of the Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice (LGJ). During her tenure at LGJ, Meisha served as Community Coordinator, Internship Coordinator, and taught English before becoming an assistant principal and then taking the helm as Principal in 2004. Having worked her way up through the ranks, she is exceedingly aware of the challenges city schools face and has dedicated her life to improving the learning environment for all students. Meisha also believes that if school leaders, teachers and parents focus on empowering students to achieve their unique individual potential they will be prepared to meet the demands of the 21st century.
Born in 1973 in Far Rockaway and raised in Jamaica, Queens, Meisha began her life just as her students do. A product of the New York City Public Schools, she graduated from Queens Vocational and Technical High School and went on to receive her Bachelor of Arts in English concentrating in cross-cultural literature and Black and Puerto Rican studies at Hunter College. She later received her master’s degree in administration and supervision from Mercy College and completed her School District Leader certification through the NYC Advanced Leadership Institute and is currently pursuing her Ed.D. at Fordham University. Meisha lives in the Bronx with her husband, Norris Porter, her daughter, Jordyn, and honored daughters Deshauna Lakara and Jydin.
About the Host
Dr. Valerie Truesdale joined AASA early in 2019 as the assistant executive director responsible for guiding leadership development services and programs. With years of experience in the superintendency and roles in instructional technology, she knows that AASA’s Leadership Network can be a substantial resource for school leaders trying to keep pace with the rapidly changing delivery of K-12 education.
Closed captioning will be added to the recording within 2 weeks of the live presentation.
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