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What Matters Most for School Leaders
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What Matters Most for School Leaders
25 Reminders of What Is Really Important


November 2004 | 224 pages | Corwin

Reawaken, refocus, and recommit to your career as a school leader!

If you are a school leader who has ever felt lost, confused, or disheartened, then this single, compact, survival guide is for you! A primer of what is truly important for today's school leaders at all levels, it is a how-to book made up of twenty-five fundamental insights and baseline beliefs that never change. Staying focused on what really matters, each page reminds administrators of the simple, guiding truths and timeless values that made them want to become educators in the first place.

Each section acts as a compass that showcases:

  • Commonsense, cornerstone principles
  • Life lessons from school leaders
  • Real-world examples from successful administrators
  • Practical tips on how to concentrate on what counts, and apply what's most important on the job everyday

What Matters Most for School Leaders contains hard-earned wisdom and forgotten truths that are freshly viewed and packaged in modern-day terms. Call it a pep talk or a refresher course, it reawakens, rekindles, renews, and refocuses on the perspective, passion, and priorities of school leaders, reviving their sense of purpose and enhancing their image in the educational field.


 
Preface: Why This Book? Why Now?
 
Introduction: Some Things Never Change
 
1. What You Do Is Special
 
2. Primero Los Ninos: Children First
 
3. There Are No Throwaway Kids
 
4. Strong Schools Make a Strong Nation
 
5. Schools Are Sacred Places of Hope
 
6. Teaching is the Greatest Profession
 
7. Passion is the Engine That Drives School Leadership
 
8. What Matters Most Costs the Least
 
9. Schools Are Only as Strong as the Community Allows
 
10. When It's Your Own Kid, It's Different
 
11. That Pesky Golden Rule Still Works
 
12. Someone Has to Be the Grown-Up
 
13. Good Leaders Learn to "K.I.S.S." and Enjoy the Happiness of Subtraction
 
14. You Can't Have Too Much Integrity
 
15. Commonsense is Better Than a College Degree: The Grandma Test
 
16. Sometimes Kids Need Candy More Than Milk
 
17. A Chicken Doesn't Stop Scratching Just Because Worms Are Scarce
 
18. The Reverse Side Has a Reverse Side
 
19. The Best Leader Is a "Servant Leader"
 
20. Your Mother Didn't Raise You to Be a Bureaucrat
 
21. Politicians and Armchair Quarterbacks Don't Get It--So You Have To
 
22. If You're Not Having Fun, You're Doing It Wrong
 
23. Things Are Never as Bad as You Think They Are; and You're Braver, Stronger and Smarter Than You Imagine
 
24. You Work to Live, Not Live to Work
 
25. It's Worth It!
 
A Final Word: The Ouija Board Effect
 
Resource A: What Others Say About What Matters Most (In School and In Life)
 
Resource B: Other Books About What Matters Most
 
Resource C: Other Lasting Truths That Couldn't Be Squeezed Into This Little Book
 
Index

The author weaves quotes, inspirational messages, and stories in a masterful way.

Gary McCartney, Superintendent of Schools
South Brunswick School District, Monmouth Junction, NJ

The book's major strengths are its readability and its excellent number of practical, doable suggestions for busy principals and superintendents to implement.

Sandra Harris, Associate Professor
Lamar University

"This compact guide of 25 fundamental insights and baseline beliefs offers a common-sense approach to school leadership, providing practical tips and strategies."

The School Administrator
February 2006
Key features
  • Will be a strong addition to the leadership list, especially at a time when fewer and fewer people are applying for the principalship
  • Good candidate for K-12 bulk sales of leadership titles
  • Potential for higher education sales for profs wanting to demonstrate "why we do it"
  • Market in EAQ, EAA journal ads

For instructors

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ISBN: 9781483361161

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ISBN: 9781412904513
$90.95

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ISBN: 9781412904520
$40.95