Building Relationships, Yielding Results

In Building Relationships, Yielding Results, the seasoned superintendent of an urban school district provides a clear road map for effective collaboration with school boards and the type of relationship-building required to achieve long-term, sustainable reforms. Instead of keeping school board members at arm's length or inundating them with information, Julie L. Hackett demonstrates how to tailor traditional superintendent activities to include board members and increase understanding and trust. In this book, the author:

• Describes how district leaders can adapt existing practices, like entry and strategic planning, to create and develop productive relationships and an inclusive district culture
• Provides strategies that superintendents need to practice consistently in order to implement successful twenty-first-century school reforms
• Includes recommendations for developing and utilizing norms and beliefs protocols, strategic priority lists, and plans for monitoring progress with a school board

In the face of rising expectations, competing goals, accountability pressures, and limited resources, today's superintendents require the skills and vision to accomplish their goals and meet the needs of a range of constituencies. Filled with real-world examples and lively anecdotes, Building Relationships, Yielding Results provides current and aspiring superintendents with an abundance of ideas that can be customized to local circumstances.

Julie L. Hackett is the superintendent of Taunton Public Schools in Massachusetts, USA.