IN THIS ISSUE:

Message from The Broad Residency's Managing Director: Lynn Liao

It's easy to spot the exciting changes marked by the launch of our newest cohort of Broad Residents this summer. Following a banner recruitment season attracting interest from almost 2,800 candidates, the Class of 2009-11 is our biggest yet at 36 Residents. This is more than triple the size of our first class six years ago. In addition, Residents are concentrated in partner organizations tackling ambitious agendas to transform their academic results, including D.C. Public Schools, Denver Public Schools, Detroit Public Schools, and New Schools for New Orleans. Perhaps most notably, in order to support Secretary Arne Duncan and his team's historic effort to reshape federal policy we have placed three members of this class with the U.S. Department of Education. For information on our new cohort and how to apply to join the Class of 2010-12, please visit our website.

The evolution of Residents' and alumni work has been as significant, as the growth represented by our newest class. In the first few years of the program, Residents were placed almost exclusively on the operations side of the house in districts and charter management organizations due to their professional and educational backgrounds in business. As their abilities became more widely recognized throughout their organizations, they have shifted into roles in areas such as instruction and school management.

In this issue of Education Quarterly (EQ), we profile two graduates working in school management and principal leadership development. We hope you read on to see how their skills translate to these areas that have such direct impact on teachers and students.

Fall 2009 Recruiting Events

Are you seeking a management career in the education industry? Or are you beginning to explore a career transition into the education sector? The Broad Residency will be hosting a series of informational events on university campuses across the country and will be present at three major conferences this Fall to share more information about the opportunity the Residency provides for professionals with your background and expertise to improve education.

Visit our website for details on the following events:

Conferences

October 9-10, 2009: Minneapolis, MN

National Society of Hispanic MBAs

October 16-17, 2009: Long Beach, CA

Society of Women Engineers

October 30-31, 2009: Washington, DC

Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Conference

Campus Presentations

September 29, 2009: Duke University

September 30, 2009: Emory University

October 8, 2009: University of Texas at Austin

October 8, 2009: University of Minnesota

October 13, 2009: University of California – Los Angeles

October 15, 2009: University of Michigan

October 19, 2009: Yale Graduate School of Management

October 20, 2009: University of Chicago

October 20, 2009: Northwestern University

October 26, 2009: Rice University

October 26, 2009: University of Southern California

From Engineering to Education Reform
Broad Residency Graduate to Lead 12 Chicago High Schools

Mechanical engineers design complex systems from spacecrafts to medical devices; most people don't expect them to tackle education reform. But one Broad Residency alumna is putting those skills to work to improve high schools in the third-largest school district in the nation.

After graduating from North Carolina State University's mechanical engineering program, Akeshia Craven had to give up her dream of becoming an astronaut due to a medical condition which disqualified her from pursuing flight school in the Air Force. She spent the following years working for an engineering company, earning her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and working for a consulting firm.

Craven Joins Chicago Public Schools and The Broad Residency
But now Akeshia is applying her engineering and private sector training at Chicago Public Schools (CPS), which educates about 408,000 students in over 660 schools. Shortly after joining CPS, she applied and was accepted to The Broad Residency program to "get the professional development needed to get through the learning curve quickly and build an amazing network," she said.

Now one of the school district's newest chief area officers, Akeshia is responsible for managing principals in more than 12 high schools with thousands of students. Although she didn't follow the traditional educator path, she brings extensive knowledge and experience in academic and instructional issues as the former senior project manager for CPS' instructional leadership council.

Using Data Analysis to Improve Academic Performance
"The work I'm doing now... the approach to problem solving and analytical way of thinking is possible because of my strong background in math and science," Akeshia said. "Data drives all of our decisions and helps us improve academic performance. Analytical skills definitely come into play. I feel like I was called to the work I'm doing now."

Part of Akeshia's goal is to help principals "maintain the momentum" and "build on wins" from CPS' Freshmen On-Track metric, which helps identify at-risk freshmen early enough to intervene with personalized improvement plans and improve academic performance.

"Principals are very capable and motivated to help teachers educate students," Akeshia said. "But there are lots of distracters, with so many things that happen at schools day to day. The challenge is to manage the issues while staying focused on academic performance."

Akeshia plans to spend a significant amount of time in schools to work with principals in determining their schools' strengths and weaknesses, based in large part on student data. She will coach principals on ways to form, motivate and manage effective school leadership teams and help them access resources and support needed from the central office. Despite the long days, she enjoys helping school leaders develop and immediately put into action strategies to improve academic performance. "Instruction is mission critical for students. It's the most exciting work in the school district, with the most immediate and impactful outcome for students," Akeshia said.

Supporting Principals to Ensure Student Success
With principal tenure ranging from a couple of years to a couple of decades, the level and type of training and experience of these leaders varies from school to school. Akeshia is helping assure all principals -- CEOs of their high schools -- understand the district-wide vision and focus on quality instruction, set appropriate academic goals and benchmark indicators, and manage other important school issues affecting students' education. From hiring and supervising dozens of employees to maintaining regular communications with parents, she provides guidance for principals on a long series of issues that can ultimately help or hurt the bottom line -- academic performance.

In a school district with about 85 percent of students coming from low-income households, "Education provides options and the opportunity to escape cycles of poverty. It raises the bar for what is possible," she added. "What our teachers do in the classroom every day will provide students access to better futures. That's why I'm here."

Uncommon Leaders for Uncommon Schools
Broad Residency Alumna Develops a School Leadership Pipeline

In her second year at Columbia Business School, Lindsay Kruse made the decision to join Uncommon Schools Inc., a nonprofit charter management organization that manages urban college preparatory charter schools in the Northeast. Her previous work as a management consultant for Ernst & Young (now Capgemini) was challenging, but she wanted to make a greater social impact and was compelled by education's potential to transform urban communities.

Kruse Transitions from Operations to Leadership Development
Like many Broad Residents, Kruse started on the business side of Uncommon Schools as the director of operations, with responsibility for building systems in such areas as health, facilities, student information, insurance, and safety. After a year and a half, she then transitioned into the role of director of leadership development. In this role she was tasked with building out an aggressive growth model for the organization by creating a professional development program for aspiring school leaders to build Uncommon's leadership pipeline to support that growth.

Kruse designed a year-long Leadership Fellows program that recruits and prepares teachers with a track record of student achievement as well as experienced operations managers to become Instructional and Operational school leaders. The first cohort of eight Fellows was launched in the 2008-09 school year, with a second cohort of 20 Fellows underway for 2009-10.

Leadership Fellows Program Has Immediate Impact
Kruse describes how the training program quickly impacts schools by better connecting principals. "Our inaugural cohort of Fellows has just begun staff orientation and will open their doors to students in a few weeks. They are already beginning to see results. One important goal was to increase the communication and knowledge sharing among school leaders so that systems at the various campuses are shared and best practices travel quickly. During a recent walkthrough of all the school systems with one pair of Fellows, our Managing Director saw the clear evidence of this knowledge sharing. It was very apparent that each system Fellows had developed for their school was informed and influenced by systems across our networks," Kruse explains. "Another goal was that our Fellows would be better prepared to respond to the often unexpected challenges of the job. As the Managing Director threw out question after question, these leaders were able to answer each 'what-if' curve ball that was sent their way."

The challenge of recruiting and developing school leaders was one Kruse never imagined her business career would lead her to undertake, but her private sector training proved invaluable. Her training and experiences as a management consultant enabled her to build complex project plans to develop and execute new initiatives like the Leadership Fellows program and to analyze and synthesize large quantities of information to drive decision-making along the way.

Building Skills and Taking on New Responsibilities in Human Capital
Kruse has also developed new skills and passions through her work at Uncommon Schools. "Coming from a large consulting company, I didn't realize education was something I enjoyed so much. I continue to build my understanding of instruction, discipline, and school culture so that I have the right lens for every decision. I am growing a lot in learning what drives good adult learning. Given everything we are trying to do, I continually work on my ability to build and manage relationships to look for the best possible solution when there are multiple opinions and trade-offs to consider," Kruse said.

As she begins her fourth year with Uncommon Schools, Kruse recently transitioned from the role of director of leadership development to become the senior director of human capital. The move is a natural progression given her increasing interest in developing talent, and she will continue to oversee the Leadership Fellows program. A major challenge in this new role will be to identify and prioritize the greatest levers to support, develop, and retain the best people throughout the organization as Uncommon Schools increases from its current network of 18 schools to encompass 33 schools, serving more than 12,000 K-12th grade students.

Her advice to others who are interested in pursuing a career in urban education is to dive in and get into the details so you can learn as much as you can from everyone around you. "Put yourself in positions that stretch you and that feel slightly overwhelming. The more you ask and the more you try and observe and learn, the more you'll enjoy your work and the more effective you will be!"

Broad Residents on the Move

Akeshia Craven
Akeshia Craven, Broad Residency Class of 2006-2008, was recently appointed Chief Area Officer for Chicago Public Schools supporting a network of schools in both the academic and operational functions. She previously served as the Senior Project Manager for the instructional leadership council, developing a leadership strategy for school principals. Read more.

Melissa Hamann
Melissa Hamann, Broad Residency Class of 2007-2009, was recently named Director of Project Management for Detroit Public Schools, a district serving nearly 90,000 students in 172 schools. During her Residency she served as Special Assistant to the Deputy Chancellor of Teaching and Learning for New York City Department of Education. Read more.

Alex Hernandez
Alex Hernandez, Broad Residency Class of 2005-2007, was recently appointed Executive Director of The African Leadership Academy in South Africa. He will lead the pan-African secondary institution which aims to develop students into ethical leaders. Previously, Hernandez served as the Regional Vice President for the Central Valley for Aspire Public Schools. Read more.

Ryan Hudak
Ryan Hudak, Broad Residency Class of 2005-2007, was recently named Director of Operations for the District of Columbia Public Schools, a district with over 45,000 students in 130 schools. He previously served as an Associate Partner for NewSchools Venture Fund, a national nonprofit venture philanthropy firm. Read more.

Parker Hudnut
Parker Hudnut, Broad Residency Class of 2005-2007, was recently named Executive Director, Innovation and Charter Division for Los Angeles Unified School District. He will oversee the process of opening 50 new schools and turning around 200 low-performing schools. Hudnut previously served as Chief Operating Officer at the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools. Read more.

Don Mitchell
Donald Mitchell, Broad Residency Class of 2007-2009, recently joined the U.S. Department of Education as the special assistant in the Office of the Deputy Secretary. During his Residency, Mitchell served as Special Projects Officer for Prince George's County Public Schools, a district with more than 135,000 students and 200 schools. Read more.

Allison Sands Ahknoukh
Allison Sands Akhnoukh, Broad Residency Class of 2005-2007, was recently appointed as the Regional Director of growth and sustainability for the KIPP Foundation. She most recently served as the Project Manager for strategic projects for Oakland Unified School District, where she also served during her Residency. Read more.

Find Us on the Web

In addition to our website (www.broadresidency.org), The Broad Residency has a presence on Facebook and LinkedIn. Connect with us to join our network, learn about upcoming events, and stay informed about education reform.