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What Matters Most for School Leaders

25 Reminders of What Is Really Important

By: Robert D. Ramsey

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

A primer of what is truly important for today's school leaders at all levels, this survival guide is made up of twenty-five fundamental insights and baseline beliefs that never change. Each page reminds administrators why they wanted to become educators in the first place. Each section acts as a compass that showcases:

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

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781412904520
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2004
Page Count: 224
Publication date: October 28, 2004

Price: $40.95

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Description

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.

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

Author(s)

Robert D. Ramsey

Robert D. Ramsey is a lifelong educator who has served as a "leader of leaders" in three award-winning school districts in two different states. His frontline experience includes positions a teacher, counselor, assistant principal, curriculum director, assistant superintendent, acting superintendent, and adjunct professor. Most recently, he has served as associate superintendent in the St. Louis Park (MN) schools, where every school has been designated by the federal government as a National School of Excellence. Ramsey is now working full-time as a freelance writer in Minneapolis.

Table of Contents

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

Reviews

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

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