IN THIS ISSUE:

Message from The Broad Residency's Director of Recruitment and Selection: Chaka Booker

The word recruit has its origins in the French word recrue, which means "new growth" or "to grow." It is fitting then, that the Director of Recruitment and Selection leads off this edition of EQ in which a theme is growth. In this quarter's newsletter, you will learn more about the school systems in Detroit, New Orleans, and Philadelphia. All three cities are, in one form or another, in the midst of re-growing the organizations which educate their children. The organizations we partner with, however, aren't the only ones with new growth. As an organization The Broad Center is growing. In the last year, we've hired new people to The Broad Residency team in the areas of recruitment, professional development, alumni services, and project management. These critical areas are strengthened by our new colleagues, further improving our ability to support the Residents and organizations we serve.

In the spirit of growth, we've continued to make adjustments and changes to our Broad Residency recruitment efforts. The website now features an improved placement process page to provide more information to candidates. We've also added a webpage for our partner organizations to improve their ability to coordinate with us and provide added transparency for our candidates. In order to improve our decision-making, we've made changes to our selection process such as providing the opportunity for candidates in major cities to interview in-person during the first round (to be eligible for these "regional interviews," applications must be submitted by January 4).

For the first time, we will be holding a "Networking that Matters" event in January in Pittsburgh, a city in which we are growing our presence. Finally, we recently had the opportunity to capture district CEOs' thoughts about The Broad Residency on video. This video highlights our dedication to providing talented and passionate leaders to our partner organizations. Ultimately, it is the children served by these organizations who are our motivation. It is their educational experience we work to positively impact. And as we grow, we hope to grow their chances at having the positive and productive lives they deserve.

Networking Events in January

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, Net Impact and several education organizations are hosting a series of networking events in select cities across the country this January to connect business professionals with education organizations. Superintendents and senior leaders will provide keynote remarks about the district's reform initiatives. This is a great opportunity to mingle with representatives from several education organizations and learn about opportunities for professionals with your expertise to improve education.

Visit our website for details on events in the following cities::

How State Involvement Can Drive District Reform
Alternate Governance Models in Detroit, New Orleans and Philadelphia

One of the unique features of the American elementary and secondary public education system is that it is a primarily locally run enterprise. Different than most other countries which operate centralized, nationally run systems, public schools in the United States are governed by over 15,000 local school boards. While there is some funding and direction set at the federal and state levels, governance of each district rests in the hands of these local education agencies. Occasionally, however, the state will intervene and play a more direct role in governing and managing a local school district – typically when there is a serious fiscal crisis and/or persistent academic failure.

In this issue of EQ, we highlight three school systems currently under some form of state control (Detroit, New Orleans, and Philadelphia) and the opportunities that this alternate governance model is providing for dramatic changes to how these systems do business. We hope to place new Broad Residents into each of these three districts to add additional capacity and accelerate the pace and impact of reform.

Detroit, Michigan: Restarting the Academic Engines in Motor City

Bobb has spent the last year working aggressively to root out corruption, identify and correct mismanagement, implement effective financial systems and controls, move out ineffective staff, and develop a plan to address both operational and academic issues critical to turning the system around. As a former city manager and graduate of The Broad Superintendents Academy, he is well-equipped for the role and has made great strides in his first year, including the following key financial improvements:

• Implementing a comprehensive corrective action plan to improve internal controls and integrity of financial information.
• Restructuring the Finance Division to recruit, develop, retain, and attract competent staff at all levels.
• Re-engineering all internal fiscal processes to optimize efficiencies and cost effectiveness.
• Regularly benchmarking with governmental and private sector organizations to adopt and implement best-in-class processes.
• Leveraging new technologies to implement a new budgeting and forecasting system that will integrate with the District's PeopleSoft enterprise resource planning system.
• Establishing the Finance Division's annual business plan and performance measures that links to the District's strategic plan and academic plans.

In addition to specific measures to address the financial crisis, Bobb has also made progress in other areas, such as:

• Implemented plans to restructure 40 schools and made dramatic personnel changes to improve the effectiveness of the principal corps
• Launched an aggressive student retention campaign (the "I'm in" campaign)
• Catalyzed local business leaders to revive the Detroit Public Schools Foundation
• Passed a bond measure to improve infrastructure and build new schools
• Negotiated a new teachers contract that will save $100 million over the life of the contract and includes fundamental academic innovations

Current Broad Resident Jeron Campbell and Broad Residency alum Melissa Hamann are part of Bobb's management team working to implement these reforms.

New Orleans, Louisiana: The Birthplace of Jazz Now Reinvents Education

Under the leadership of Superintendent Paul Vallas, the Louisiana Recovery School District is bringing much-needed reforms to approximately 70 schools in New Orleans through the implementation of strategies such as:

• Expanded choice that is attracting national education entrepreneurs, improving schools through healthy competition, and expanding quality options for parents and students
• Allowing schools to recruit and retain staff based on merit and performance to produce a higher quality workforce with higher expectations, a superior work ethic and content-area mastery
• A data-driven curriculum and instructional management system that is based on proven models
• More instructional time on task in the form of a longer school day and longer school year.
• Establishment of local school leadership teams via TAP (Teacher Advancement Program)
• Modernization of all core classrooms with technology to help deliver instruction and facilitate interventions

In addition to the work of the Recovery School District, organizations such as New Schools for New Orleans and KIPP are contributing to the efforts to rebuild the public school system in New Orleans. Broad Residents Delano Ford, Neerav Kingsland and Sherman Whites currently serve in these two organizations.

New Orleans has always been a place where different cultures have come together to create a unique blend of language, cuisine, music, and culture. We see the same thing happening in the public schools as people are coming together with diverse reform strategies and school models to create a truly unique educational landscape with the promise of better opportunities for the children of New Orleans.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The City of Brotherly Love Embraces Innovative Approaches to Governance and School Management

The SRC tapped experienced superintendent Arlene Ackerman to lead the district in June 2008 and she has been implementing a reform agenda since day one. Ackerman's vision and goals for the Philadelphia district, the 8th largest in the country, are synthesized in a five-year strategic plan called Imagine 2014. The plan is centered on five priority areas:

• Student success – to ensure that students will grow each year and graduate with the academic skills necessary for success in college, work, and life
• Quality school choices – to build a system of schools in which success is rewarded and failure is not tolerated
• Great staff – to have a talented staff that reflects the diversity of the student body
• Accountable adults – to ensure that all employees understand the depth and breadth of their accountability for the success of the children and schools
• World-class operations – to provide the best business and operational practices that equitably support our educational mission, maximize efficiencies, and minimize costs

In addition to its hybrid governance structure, The School District of Philadelphia also has a hybrid school management structure. While the majority of schools are managed directly by the school district, the district contracts with outside providers to privately manage over 25 schools and also works with approximately 70 charter schools within the district's boundaries. Among the schools directly managed by the district, schools are grouped into different categories to tailor management and support based on their performances levels:

• Vanguard Schools – high-performing schools that are given greater autonomy and support for replication
• Empowerment Schools – struggling schools that are provided with additional supports
• Renaissance Schools – consistently low-performing schools that are being restructured and transformed with bold new educational approaches

This unique structure is all a part of offering as many quality choices for families and students as possible to ensure that all students can and will succeed. We are pleased to have six current Broad Residents and alumni working with Dr. Ackerman and her leadership team to transform the Philadelphia school district.

Broad Residents on the Move

Margaret Angell
Margaret Angell, Broad Residency Class of 2006-2008, was recently named Director of Secondary Transformation for the District of Columbia Public Schools, a district with more than 45,000 students in 130 schools. She previously served as a White House Fellow in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Read more.

Lisa Dare
Lisa Dare, Broad Residency Class of 2004-2006, was recently appointed Executive Director of Strategy and Planning for The College Board, a not-for-profit membership association serving seven million students. Dare previously served as Chief Operating Officer for the Division of Teaching and Learning for the New York City Department of Education. Read more.

Trina Clark James
Trina Clark James, Broad Residency Class of 2005-2007, recently founded the Jamaa Learning Center where she will serve as Chief Executive Officer. The free, open-enrollment, college- preparatory, full-service community charter school will open in the fall of 2010. James previously served as Executive Director of SUTAK (St. Louisians United to Attract KIPP). Read more.

Shannon Kete
Shannon Kete, Broad Residency Class of 2003-2005, was recently appointed Chief Operating Officer for Project Lead The Way, a national not-for-profit educational program that gives middle and high school students in over 3000 schools the ground-level education they need to develop strong backgrounds in science and engineering. Previously, Kete served as a vice president in the Investment Management Division at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Read more.

Ann Waterman Roy
Ann Waterman Roy, Broad Residency Class of 2006-2008, was recently appointed Director of Capital and Strategic Planning for Boston Public Schools. In this role, she oversees capital budgeting, and also plans and facilitates the implementation of major district-wide initiatives. She previously served as Executive Director of Excel Academy Charter School. Read more.

Joyce Walker
Joyce Walker, Broad Residency Class of 2006-2008, was recently named Executive Director for Citizen Schools, a growing network of after-school education programs for students in the middle grades in Boston, Mass. Walker previously served as Special Assistant to the Chief Academic Officer for Baltimore City Public Schools. Read more.

Kenneth Zeff
Kenneth Zeff, Broad Residency Class of 2003-2005, was recently appointed Chief Operating Officer for Green Dot Public Schools, a charter management organization that operates high high-achieving public schools where nearly all students graduate and go on to college. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer for ICEF Public Schools. 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.