Mindsets Leadership Series: The Cost of Underutilizing Teacher Talent

Presented by Dr. Rosa Coronado, Senior Director for Academic Employee Relations, San Jose State University; Joe Schneider, Principal, Liberty Park Elementary (FL); Karen Whetsell, Instructional Superintendent, Central Region Secondary Schools (FL); David Samore, Ed.D., CEO, David Samore & Associates, LLC; and Aubrey Escobar, M.Ed., Chief Education Officer, Mindsets Learning

Sponsored by Mindsets Learning

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The challenge of teacher retention continues to worsen in the U.S. in spite of this issue becoming the number-one concern of most school districts. As schools began to open up and return to brick and mortar, the American public’s initial euphoria and celebration of teachers gave way to hypercriticism and distrust of teacher judgement. Post-pandemic, large numbers of students have not returned to public school classrooms, and many remain in a home-school or non-traditional environment.

Recent research reveals that one of the main reasons teachers leave the classroom—in addition to increased hostility from parents and politicians, top-down mandates of non-educators, and lock-step curricular expectations—is the dwindling space for creativity. Teachers feel victimized, not empowered. What can be done to bring teachers back to the conversation determining leadership? Does a round table of ideas exist where their experience and expertise are both sought out and respected? When teachers leave the profession after a handful of years, what has changed to ensure that current teachers stay in our classrooms? Can we assign a value—of any kind—to empowering teachers in decision making and problem solving? Can we collaborate more and delegate less, so teachers are integral to the interpretation and execution of directives?

This recorded edWebinar delivers a lively and provocative conversation where innovative ideas are celebrated and status-quo practices are challenged. It is of interest to K-12 school and district leaders as well as teachers.

This edWebinar is part three in a three-part series on leadership. View part one, Mindsets Leadership Series: The Hard Truth About Thought Leadership in Action, and part two, Mindsets Leadership Series: Upskilling Teachers for Today and Tomorrow.

About the Presenters

Dr. Rosa E. Coronado has served in education since 1996 spanning a variety of roles including site, district, county office and university leadership positions. She currently serves as Senior Director for Academic Employee Relations with San Jose State University (SJSU). Prior to coming to SJSU, she served as the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources for the Salinas Union High School District. Before that, Dr. Coronado served as the Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services for the San Benito County Office of Education where she was responsible for Human Resources, Public Relations, Communications, and Educational Services.

She holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership for Social justice and is committed to giving back to her community by ensuring her work is focused on the educational equity and advancement of all students. She recently finished a manuscript entitled Recruitment and Retention of Latina School Leaders for the upcoming book Baila Conmigo: Mentoring Latinas as School Leaders, an edited book through ICPEL Publishing.

Joe Schneider has served in Palm Beach county for over 25 years and a school administrator for more than 20 years. For the last 11 years, he has served as Principal of Liberty Park Elementary, a dual language Title 1 school. Previously, he was Principal of Galaxy Elementary in Boynton Beach for 5 years, the first 3E school in the state of Florida. He prides himself on creating positive school climates in which students come first. He believes strongly in the dual language program and currently has two of his own children in the program.

As a native of Palm Beach County, Karen Whetsell has been serving the students of The School District of Palm Beach County for more than 30 years. Starting as a substitute teacher while still in college, she knew she wanted to make a difference by creating strong, supportive learning environments that provided opportunities for all students. Mrs. Whetsell has served as a teacher, curriculum specialist, assistant principal, and principal at all three levels, elementary, middle and high school, as well as the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning. At the school level, Ms. Whetsell has worked closely with teachers, staff, and students to achieve or maintain the “A” status at every school she has supervised. She has presented locally, and at the State and National Levels. Recognized twice as a finalist for the Florida Council of Instructional Technology Leaders Principal of the Year, she recognizes the importance of technology education and integration. Mrs. Whetsell has been married since 1987 to her husband, Greg (LWHS class of ’78), and has one daughter, Savannah (DSOA class of ’11). They welcomed a new puppy, Kona, into their home in October 2018.

Dr. David Samore has been a teacher and administrator of K-12 schools for 35 years in Iowa, Florida, South Carolina, Spain, and Colombia. Dr. Samore served as the Director of Global Leadership and Innovation in Palm Beach County, Florida, and in 2015, was named the Florida Principal of the Year by the NASSP, which highlighted his growth mindset for all students. As Principal, Dr. Samore’s dual language immersion school was recognized twice as the School of the Year​ for North America by the Embassy of Spain. He was recently honored by King Felipe VI of Spain and conferred the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Isabel la Católica.

Dr. Samore is currently a guest lecturer at Universidad Cardenal Cisneros in Madrid, Spain, and is CEO of David Samore & Associates, LLC, a private consulting practice that helps organizations fulfill their highest potential through common sense leadership and purposeful talent discovery. Dr. Samore also serves as an advisor to Mindsets Learning and contributes to Supervisión 21, Spain’s leading educational leadership magazine.

With more than 20 years of experience in the classroom, as an administrator, professional learning curriculum designer/facilitator and as an EdTech solutions consultant (Math, Literacy, ELD, MTSS), Aubrey Escobar will lead up Mindsets’ innovative strategies for district partnerships (sales), managing project implementation and rollout processes in order to align Mindsets Learning’s content offerings to district initiatives to ensure success. Most recently, Aubrey has founded the Latina and Indigenous Women in EdTech Cooperative to educate and support young Latina and Indigenous women with information and career navigation guidance in the Education and EdTech sectors.

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Mindsets Learning re-engages students in math through inquiry-based, real-world challenges. Themes include sports, art, data science, entrepreneurship, environment, and many more for grades 4-8. www.mindsets.com