Leading Good Schools to Greatness: Mastering What Great Principals Do Well

About Susan P. GrayWilliam A. Streshly

Susan Penny Gray PhD has been an educator for more than 40 years in Indiana and California including 15 years as Director of Curriculum Services for the San Marcos Unified School District in San Marcos California and 7 years as a member of the Educational Leadership faculty at San Diego State University. During her tenure as Director of Curriculum Services she was responsible for the development implementation and maintenance of exemplary programs recognized throughout California in Reading/Language Arts Mathematics History-Social Science and Science for grades K through 12. She was also responsible for effective teacher and principal support strategies that during the years under her direction evolved into a powerful system of coaches and facilitators of staff development. Dr. Gray has walked the talk in helping principals become truly effective instructional leaders. Her insights give down to earth practical meaning to the research discussed in this book. Dr. Gray serves on the San Diego State University (SDSU) Educational Administration Preparation Programs Advisory Committee. In her capacity on this committee and as a current member of the faculty of the Educational Leadership Department in the School of Education at SDSU she has assisted in implementing changes in that schools administration preparation program. She has designed and currently teaches an administrative course on instructional improvement through evaluation and supervision. In this course students participate in a walk-through supervision practicum formal evaluation exercises and the design of teacher and administrator evaluation systems. In addition Dr. Gray teaches and coordinates the advanced administrator credentialing program at SDSU and supervises the fieldwork for administrative credential candidates at all levels. In addition to her involvement with the faculty of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University Dr. Gray serves as an officer on the Board of Directors of California Curriculum Management Systems Incorporated (CalCMSi). She is certified to train administrators and teachers in Conducting Walk-Throughs for Higher Student Achievement and has implemented this training in several states across the country. She has also served as an external evaluator of schools and is a certified School Assistance Intervention Team leader for the State of California. She received curriculum management audit training from the California Curriculum Management Audit Center in Burlingame California in 1998. Since then she has served on school district audits in California Washington Texas Ohio Arizona Maryland New York and Pennsylvania. She has also served on academic achievement teams conducting comprehensive on-site assessments of the educational operations of school and community college districts in California. Dr. Gray earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California Santa Barbara and her masters degree from San Diego State University. In 2006 she received a doctoral degree in educational leadership through the Claremont Graduate University/San Diego State University Joint Doctoral Program. William A. Streshly is Emeritus Professor of Educational Leadership in the College of Education at San Diego State University (SDSU). Prior to coming to SDSU in 1990 he spent 25 years in public school administration including five years as principal of a large suburban high school and 15 years as superintendent of several California school districts varying in size from 2500 to 25000 students. In addition to his numerous publications in the professional journals Dr. Streshly is author or co-author of five practical books for school leaders The Top Ten Myths in Education Avoiding Legal Hassles (two editions) Teacher Unions and Quality Education Preventing and Managing Teacher Strikes and From Good Schools to Great Schools: What Their Principals Do Well. Currently Professor Streshly is a Senior Lead Auditor for Curriculum Management Systems Inc. an affiliate of Phi Delta Kappa International. He has audited the instructional operations of more than 40 school districts in 16 states. His intense interest in the role of effective school leadership stems from his own extensive experience as well as his in-depth observation of the work of hundreds of practicing school principals across the country.