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1995-2000


MAY 2007

PROFILES IN EDUCATION:
Dr. Arlene Ackerman Intersects the Worlds of Teachers College and the Broad Institute



By Joan Baum, Ph.D.

They just created a special position for her so you know Dr. Arlene Ackerman’s a significant player. “They” are the Eli Broad Academy and Foundation, major advocates of leadership development programs nation wide to “improve governance, management and labor relations in our nation’s largest urban school district.” Established in 2001, The Broad Center for Superintendents, a national academy for the identification, training and support of the “next generation of public school superintendents” is out to make a dramatic difference by encouraging “talented business, non-profit and government executives—along with traditional education leaders—to train as superintendents in urban public schools. Enter Arlene Ackerman, the Christian A. Johnson Professor of Outstanding Educational Practice, Organization and Leadership at Teachers College (TC), Columbia University, who has just been appointed the first Broad Superintendent in Residence. Based in L.A., the position—a first for the Broad Foundation—will give Dr. Ackerman a highly visible role in directing, mentoring and serving as executive coach in one of the nation’s largest urban school systems. She will be in charge of advising an initial cohort of 14 aspiring superintendents, each of whom will be given a faculty mentor, and guiding them in areas related to governance, infrastructure, leadership. She will continue her work at Columbia and use both positions to reinforce common goals. She is, to say the least, thrilled at the opportunity to help insure that in all school systems and districts in the United States, “children come first.”

Before coming to TC, where she directs the Urban Education Leaders Program and chairs the Superintendents’ Leadership Institute, Dr. Ackerman had been Superintendent for six years in San Francisco, where she oversaw the management of the city’s Unified School District. She appreciates that some concerns are regional. L.A. has a growing Hispanic population and, like N. Y, embraces areas that are largely African American.

Citing, among influential mentors, former NYC Schools Chancellor Ray Cortines and John Stanford, a two-star general who had been a city manager in Georgia and became the first non-traditional superintendent in the country, Dr. Ackerman, also acknowledges influences closer to home. Her two sons, interested in math, not too long ago were involved in high school teaching. She speaks of being horrified when she visited one son, who had been given no text books or guidance. She reached into her own pocket and helped him set up his room and provided resources. The experience was, she recalls with quiet passion, a moment that she knew she would take with her forever, “a new reality.” Politically savvy, she also knew that she would involve administrators, parents, teachers—especially new teachers—in regular round-table discussions of needs. This determination, she realized, would be particularly important for the non-traditional aspirants, some of them, lawyers, army personnel, other outside professionals, who constitute an important part of Broad’s educational outreach to attract corporate leaders.

Academy participation is part-time, sessions meeting from Thursday to Saturday, once a month, with visits from prestigious guest speakers. For an African American daughter of a minister and teacher, the new position is a dream come true and a sobering responsibility. She had always loved teaching and public service, Dr. Ackerman says  (she was once a candy striper in a pediatrics ward) and taught in both schools and homes. “I never met a grade level I didn’t love.” She’s learned not just through theory but real-world experience. What makes for a good teacher? A disposition to take calculated risks, flexibility, humor, openness to multiple perspectives. What makes for a successful administrator, whether appointed or elected (she favors a hybrid of both)? Some knowledge about everything and expertise in a field that makes for intelligent presence on a board. Boston, she feels, has a good system, with a board of qualified and efficient members who put youngsters first. She’s for the concept of Leave No Child Behind, recognizing that it needs revisiting in implementation, for national criteria, and for national standards for teacher certification.

Dr. Ackerman, who has an Ed.D in Administration, Planning and Social Policy from Harvard, accepts the challenge of her new role with enthusiasm, a healthy respect for its difficulties, and an unusually affable manner that suggests at least one reason why she has been so far such a successful advocate of best practices.#

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