Educational Leadership: An Agenda and Plan for School Improvement 

Address by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

In his position as the nation’s top education official, Duncan has placed strong leadership side by side with excellent teaching as essential elements for turning around failing schools and lifting the learning of all students. This address underscores that message and puts leadership into the context of the new federal education reform priorities.

• Arne Duncan's full address (18 minutes)

Keynote by M. Christine DeVita, president, The Wallace Foundation

DeVita offers reflections on the progress and key lessons learned from a decade of work aimed at improving leadership in states and districts around the country.

• M. Christine DeVita's full address (18 minutes)
• DeVita discussing four lessons on leadership
  (7 minutes) 
• DeVita on extending learning beyond school
  (3 minutes)

Plenary Panel: State and District Leaders Discuss School Leadership

A panel of top state and district leaders and a leading education researcher discuss new research and field studies about the opportunities and challenges facing states and districts trying to build systems that can better support school leaders. The session was moderated by Wallace’s Christine DeVita, and the panelists were: Delaware Governor Jack A. Markell; Fort Wayne, IN Schools Superintendent Wendy Robinson; Montgomery County, MD Public Schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast; and Michael S. Knapp, Professor, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, College of Education, University of Washington, Seattle.

• The entire panel discussion (53 minutes)
• Delaware Governor Jack A. Markell on what to avoid in policymaking (1 minute)
• Fort Wayne, IN Schools Superintendent Wendy Robinson on  the critical concept of systems
  (4 minutes)
• DeVita asking panelists what should be on a national agenda (6 minutes)
• Education Professor Michael S. Knapp, University of Washington, discuss research on the state role
  (2 minutes)
• Montgomery County, MD Public Schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast on how a district can close the achievement gap (6 minutes)

Plenary Panel: Can D.C.’s Mayor and Schools Chancellor Turn Around the City’s Schools?

In a candid conversation about the many challenges of turning around the public school system in the nation’s capital, PBS Education Correspondent John Merrow interviews Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and the District’s Schools Chancellor, Michelle Rhee.

• The entire panel discussion (64 minutes)
• Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty on the "politics of performance, not the politics of patronage" (1 minute)
• Washington D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee on measuring principals on performance
  (2 minutes)
• Washington D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee on gathering data to turn around failing schools
  (2 minutes)

Plenary Panel: Race to the Top: Leadership, Innovation, Change

Top education leaders joined a U.S. Department of Education official to talk about the crucial role of leadership in meeting the new federal “Race to the Top” reform priorities. Moderated by Kati Haycock, President of The Education Trust, the panelists were: New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein; Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville; and Joanne Weiss, Director, Race to the Top, U.S. Department of Education.

• The entire panel discussion (71 minutes)
• Joanne Weiss, Director of Race to the Top, U.S. Department of Education, discusses what Race to the Top is (4 minutes)
• Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville on what states can do to lead reform (3 minutes)
• Joanne Weiss, Director of Race to the Top, U.S. Department of Education, on what to do about the nation's 5,000 most troubled schools (4 minutes)
• New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein sharing two anecdotes on educational equity (2 minutes)
• Education Trust President Kati Haycock, New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and Race to the Top Director Joanne Weiss discuss the importance of leaders (7 minutes)

Plenary Panel: Looking Forward: Creating 21st-Century Leaders

 In the rapidly shifting landscape of education, what does great leadership look like? What demands will leaders face? What needs to happen at all levels of the system in order to ensure that all schools have the leadership they need to meet the future needs of children and society? Virginia Edwards, editor and president of Education Week, led a discussion by: Arlene Ackerman, superintendent of the Philadelphia School District; Peter McWalters, past commissioner of the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and a consultant to the Council of Chief State School Officers; William G. Ouchi, Sanford and Betty Sigoloff Distinguished Professor at the Anderson School of Management, UCLA; and Robert B. Schwartz, William Henry Bloomberg Professor of Practice and Academic Dean, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

• The entire panel discussion (64 minutes)
• Academic Dean Robert B. Schwartz at Harvard's Graduate School of Education on Harvard's new interdisciplinary program for education leaders
  (4 minutes)
• Peter McWalters, former Rhode Island State Commissioner and a consultant, on state policies about education standards, assessments and teacher training (4 minutes)
• UCLA Business Professor William G. Ouchi on research findings about principal autonomy
  (4 minutes)
• Philadelphia Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman on what districts most need from the federal government (3 minutes)