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ED LeadershipTransformation Summit

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trict leadership preparation programs are scaled to produce.

Primer was formed as a comprehensive effort to improve the capacity and competency of princi-pals and campus leaders. A primer is both some-thing that ignites and something that prepares for improvement. Primer began as a series of blog posts and Twitter interactions and has expanded to a regular podcast for leaders and now this sum-mit.

We are grateful for the approval and financial sup-port of Life School which has allowed us to pursue our Primer efforts.

Thank you for joining us today as a contributor to our first Primer Ed Leadership Transformation Summit.

The primary purpose of this summit is to connect creative and innovative leaders and allow them to generate solutions to transform the way prin-cipals and campus leaders are recruited, selected, developed, supported, and evaluated.

The secondary purpose of this summit is to serve as a first step towards creating scalable and sus-tainable principal and campus leader prepara-tion and development solutions. School systems need more effective leaders, authentically devel-oped at a faster rate, and spread throughout all levels of their organization than most current dis-

Primer ED Leadership Transformation Summit

Troy Mooney

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Summit Check-In Opens

Lunch

Life School U

Welcome from Life School Superintendent

Attendee Introductions

Continuing the Work

Problems of Practice Table Group Session 1

Problems of Practice Table Group Session 2

Close of Summit

Optional Campus Tour

Charles Pulliam, Chief Development Officer, Life School

Brent Wilson, Superintendent, Life School

Troy Mooney, Chief Academic Officer, Life School

9:30 am

11:30 am

1:45 pm

10:00 am

10:05 am

1:55 pm

10:30 am

12:45 pm

2:00 pm

9:40 am

Agenda

Ignite Presentations

Summit Discussion with Ignite Presenters

12:00 pm

12:30 pm

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Ignite Presenters

Eva Myrick Chiang

Herbert O’Neil

Dr. Eddie Coulson

Dr. Larry Terry

George W. Bush Institute

Life School

N2 Learning

University of North Texas at Dallas

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Summit Organizers

Troy MooneyChief Academic Officer, Life School

Chief Academic Officer of Life Schools. Former Waller ISD Assistant Superintendent and Fort Bend ISD Kempner High School Principal. Co-host of the iTunes Primer podcast for principals and cam-pus leaders. Founder of www.troymooney.com, a website dedicated to Developing Principled Lead-ers in a Compromising World. Creator of the RAVE pathway of thinking for leaders and the 3IA process for solutions development and implementation. Co-Founder of @txprincipalorg and @primerleader and the #TXED chat. Current Ed.D. candidate at Dal-las Baptist University.

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Herbert O’Neil Jr.Director of Academics, Life School

Director of Academics of Life Schools. Former prin-cipal of Corsicana High School in Corsicana ISD. Founder of Collins University, an innovative project and problem based learning school within a school at Collins Middle School. Co-host of the iTunes Primer podcast for principals and campus leaders. Co-founder of @txprincipalorg and @primerlead-er and #tabsechat. Founder and facilitator of the Life Leadership Academy for aspiring campus and school leaders. Current Ed.D candidate at Texas A&M University-Commerce.

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Attendees

Darla BaggettInterim Dean, School of Education LETU

I’m Interim Dean for the School of Education at LETU where I have served in several administrative positions as well as being an assistant professor and curriculum writer. We offer degrees in undergrad and grad teacher preparation on-ground and online. Our masters program also includes principal preparation, curriculum and instruction, and teacher leadership. My educational journey included a bachelors in Elementary Education, a masters in Educational Administration, and a doctorate of education in Educational Leadership. My professional background goes from teacher to principal to district level Director of Curriculum and Director of Special Programs. I worked at the Region 16 Education Service Center and at Stephen F. Austin University with a focus on federal programs and federal equity issues in schools. Beyond my academic and professional experiences in educational leadership, I am interested in assisting educators becoming leaders whether in the classroom or administrative positions.

Dr. Eddie CoulsonPartner, N2 Consulting Firm

Eddie Coulson is a partner in the consulting firm N2 Learning (N2). Dr. Coulson works with organizations to develop leaders, strategic planning and organizational health issues. N2 conducts a Principals’ Institute annu-ally that provides professional development and networking opportuni-ties for creative and innovative principals in Texas.

Prior to his partnership with N2, Dr. Coulson served as the College Sta-tion Independent School District Superintendent of Schools from 2006-2014. During his tenure as superintendent, voters in College Station ISD passed approximately $300 million in bonds allowing CSISD to construct new buildings, renovate existing buildings and improve the technology infrastructure district-wide. Included in the construction was a new com-prehensive high school that opened in August 2012.

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Attendees

Dr. Neil DuggerDean of the College of Education, DBU

Neil Dugger, Ed.D., currently serves Dallas Baptist University as the Dean of the College of Education and Director of the Ed.D. in Educa-tional Leadership K-12 program. Under his leadership, the DBU College of Education has been ranked as the #1 elementary teacher prepara-tion program in the United States by the National Council on Teacher Quality. The doctoral program was moved back to the College of Edu-cation, and now has 130 students pursuing their doctorate. The Col-lege of Education has also made a commitment to support and provide leadership training for Texas charter schools at both the masters and doctoral level.

Ellie GatesSenior Director, Talent Development for Box

Ellie is the Sr. Director for Talent Development for Box. In her role she is responsible for building culture and leadership development programs to increase people and organizational capability and build high perform-ing teams. Prior to coming to Box she held executive leadership roles across her 20+ year career in business partnering, OD & Learning, and tal-ent management for hyper-growth start-ups to large Fortune 500 com-panies including other companies such as: Adobe, Omniture, Microsoft, T-Mobile, Pitney Bowes, and MCI Telecommunications. Ellie holds dual Masters Degrees in Business Administration (2000) and a Global Leader-ship (2010) in addition to her BA in Psychology. She also loves to write and was a chapter author for ASTD on Leadership Development in The Talent Management Scorecard (2012).

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Attendees

Dr. Lisa GoodnowAssistant Superintendent, Cedar Hill ISD

Dr. Lisa Goodnow proudly serves as the Assistant Superintendent of Academics and Schools for Cedar Hill ISD where she leads a dynamic team of educators and principals committed to improving and expand-ing opportunities for all of the district’s 8,000 students. As an innovative leader, Dr. Goodnow has pioneered the opening of two new schools in Cedar Hill ISD and launched the district-wide STEAM initiative. In Austin ISD, where she served previously as Director of Leadership Develop-ment, Dr. Goodnow developed dynamic new learning opportunities for rising and current principals and assisted in the establishment of the district’s Early College High School campuses. Before that, Dr. Good-now served as the founding principal for an academic high school of choice in Hays CISD, where she started her administrative career. Dr. Goodnow taught middle school English and History and served as the yearbook sponsor early in her career. She graduated with a Ph.D. in Educational Administration, Policy and Planning from The University of Texas at Austin.

Kristin HebertAssistant Director of Instructional Services, Region 10

Kristin Hebert most recently served as the founding principal of Van-deventer Middle School in Frisco ISD. She began in Frisco ISD 10-years ago as an assistant principal at Wester Middle School and also served for three years in the FISD Curriculum and Instruction Department as a Cur-riculum Coordinator. She began her education career as a middle school language arts teacher in 1998 in East Texas before moving into the As-sistant Principal role in Grand Prairie ISD. She completed her Bachelors at Sam Houston State University and Master’s degree from Stephen F. Austin State University.

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Attendees

Matthew HenryDean of Innovative Education, LETU

Mr. Matthew Henry currently serves as the Dean of Innovative Educa-tion and leader of The Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning at LeTourneau University (LETU) in Longview, Texas. Additionally, he is the Chief Information Officer of the university’s Information Technology Department; an appointment which he has held since August 2009. Mr. Henry also serves as the senior academic technology officer, the leader of quality control of online/blended educational delivery, a member of LETU’s Deans Council, and a member of the President’s Cabinet.

Kirsten HundAssociate Director, TEPSA

Kirsten Hund is currently the Associate Executive Director for Instruction at the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association (TEPSA) where she oversees the in-person and online professional development programming for the over 5,900 PreK-8 members. TEPSA provides lead-ership training, networking opportunities, information and support for school leaders and strives to improve the education of Texas school children as well as raise the level of prestige of the principalship. As the TEPSA liaison, Kirsten also participates in many stakeholder meetings and policy committees at the Texas Education Agency and other education consortium groups. Her 18 year career in elementary education includes teaching 1st and 2nd grades in addition to serving as an ESL specialist at several elementary campuses in the DFW area. She served as assistant principal for two years at Austin Elementary in Coppell ISD before joining the TEPSA staff in 2008.

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Attendees

Dr. Tam JonesDirector of Educational Leadership Program, DBUTam Jones is the Director of the Master’s Program in Educational Lead-ership at Dallas Baptist University where he leads the master’s degree and advanced certification program in school principalship. He also is an instructor in the doctoral program and coordinates the Austin seminar summer trip. Prior to coming to DBU, Jones was assistant su-perintendent for curriculum and instruction at Crowley ISD. He also served as senior director for high school education at the Texas Educa-tion Agency and ESC XIII in Austin, Texas. His experience in Texas public schools began as a classroom teacher in middle and high school math-ematics and science that ranged from 7th grade through twelfth grade. He has served in numerous campus administrative positions in Calallen ISD and Alice ISD (Corpus Christi area) as an assistant principal at both middle and high school campuses, and has been a principal at the el-ementary, middle, and high school levels at both the 5A and 6A level.

Dr. William KoehlerFormer Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, TCUDr. Koehler was Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Texas Christian University for twenty five years. In his capacity as Vice Chancel-lor he had oversight responsibility of seven academic deans and an asso-ciate vice chancellor for academic support. As Provost he had oversight of an associate provost and two assistant provosts. At some time during of his tenure as Provost, the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and the Vice Chancellor for Administration as well as the Director of Intercollegi-ate Athletics reported to him. In his dual role, Dr. Koehler was directly responsible for all academic programs, admissions and financial, research institutes and centers, student academic support centers, the library, the University Press and information technology.

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Attendees

Dr. André MorganProgram Director, Raise Your Hand TexasDr. André Morgan joined Raise Your Hand Texas as Program Director in June 2014.In his current role, Dr. Morgan is responsible for providing manage-ment and oversight of RYHT’s development programs for education practitioners in Texas; initiatives include collaborations with Harvard University, Rice University, E3 Alliance and the International Center for Leadership in Education. Additionally, Dr. Morgan leads the planning and implementation of the annual Raise Your Hand Texas Leadership Symposium.Having more than twelve years of experience working on education issues, Dr. Morgan has served in various impacting capacities; Elemen-tary and Secondary Teacher, Elementary Principal, Training and Devel-opment Director, Project and Program Manager, College Professor, and College Dean.

Eva Myrick ChiangManager, George W. Bush InstituteEva Myrick Chiang, Manager for Education Reform and Research and Evaluation, manages the Alliance to Reform Education Leadership (AREL) program while providing support in other areas of the education reform initiative as well.

Prior to joining the George W. Bush Institute, she taught pre-k through college level students in a variety of teaching roles in private, public, and charter schools, and her passion is teaching students to read. She has been a trainer of teachers, and most recently she held the position of Director of Education in the central administration office of an urban charter school.

Eva received her undergraduate degree from Baylor University, and re-ceived a master’s in teaching with an emphasis on reading education from Texas Woman’s University. Eva also earned her law degree from Tex-as A&M School of Law in Fort Worth. She is currently finishing her doctor-ate in curriculum and instruction from Texas A&M University.

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Attendees

Joe SmithTexasISD.comJoe Smith, a strong advocate for public schools, has teaching experi-ences in 4th, 5th and 6th grades as well as Pre-K and PE. He was district athletic director for elementary campuses and, as an administrator, he served as an elementary principal and superintendent. He also spent several years administrating a facility for the mentally retarded.

After retirement he developed TexasISD.com to get information affect-ing Texas schools quickly to districts in order that administrators could act on proposals and unintended conseqences before they became laws. Also, Joe saw value in learning from the mistakes and successes of others, hence he publishes a wide spectrum of articles daily.

As head of TexasISD, he and his staff scan electronic newspapers and professional literature from across the state five mornings a week, pull-ing articles pertinent to public education.

Dr. Larry D. TerryAssistant Professor, UNT DallasDr. Larry D. Terry II is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Texas at Dallas in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and is the Program Coordinator for the Master of Public Leadership program. His research interests include public leadership, citizen engagement, and administra-tive/institutional reform, and his work has been published in Internation-al Journal of Public Administration, Public Administration Review, More than Mayor or Manager: Campaigns to Change Form of Government in America’s Large Cities, and in Local Politics and Mayor Elections in 21st Century America: Keys to City Hall. He is currently working on his first book entitled Conciliatory Public Leadership: Building Trust between Communities and Institutions. Dr. Terry earned his Ph.D. in Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2007.

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Attendees

Dr. Gabriel TrujilloChief of Schools, Grand Prairie ISDDr. Gabriel Trujillo is the Chief of Schools for Grand Prairie ISD. Dr. Tru-jillo has served in education for over 23 years as a principal, Director of Secondary Education, and his current role.

Dr. Christine WirthDirector of Teacher Education, SAGUDr. Christi Wirth is the Director of Teacher Education for Southwestern As-semblies of God University (SAGU). Dr. Wirth earned her bachelor’s de-gree in Elementary Education at SAGU and spent the next 13 years teach-ing upper elementary/middle school and serving as team leader in the Maryland suburbs, right outside of Washington, D.C. During that period of time she completed her master’s degree at Johns Hopkins University specializing in Education Administration and Supervision and then went on to complete her doctoral degree in Education Curriculum and Instruc-tion from Northcentral University. In 2011, Dr. Wirth began her career in higher education, first serving as adjunct instructor and then moving to Waxahachie, Texas, to serve in her current position at SAGU. Dr. Wirth has a passion for helping young educators develop their talents and skills in order to fulfill the calling God has placed on their lives.

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Attendees

Tracy YoungDirector, George W. Bush Institute

Tracy Young joined the George W. Bush Institute in November 2014 as the Director of Education Reform, where she works closely on the school principal leadership and advancing strong accountability initia-tives furthering the President and Mrs. Bush’s goals for raising achieve-ment for every child. Before joining the Bush Institute, she served as the Vice President of Public & Government Affairs at the Texas Charter Schools Association. Prior to her non-profit work, Tracy served as Direc-tor of Communications for Texas House Speaker Joe Straus from 2009 - 2012. During the last year of the George W. Bush Administration, she was Deputy Regional Representative for Secretary Spellings, based in Texas.

Brent WilsonSuperintendent, Life School

Brent Wilson received a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University in 1995, and a Master of Education in Educational Leadership degree in 2014. He joined the Life School Executive Team as Chief Opera-tions Officer in July 2009 after a fourteen year career in the private sector. In 2010 Brent became Superintendent of Life School where he oversees and manages the Academic, Operations, and Financial Departments of the district.

Brent brought his strong, well-rounded management abilities to Life School of Dallas where he is leading the organization as it transitions from the growth phase into maturity by building and strengthening infrastruc-ture, creating and refining systems and processes, and instilling a profes-sional management culture at all levels of leadership. Life School of Dallas has been featured in the Dallas Morning News, Dallas Talk Radio, KLIF and other forms of social media.

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Attendees

Scott FullerChief of Staff, Life School

Life School’s former Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Scott Fuller, has been with the district since its inception in 1998 and has been an integral part of the organization’s success.

Scott has more than 25 years of experience in non-profit administra-tion. During that period, he has served in various capacities and has been instrumental in Life School’s tremendous growth. For a number of years he served as the Director of Finance and Facilities for both The Oaks Fellowship church and Life School of Dallas. In August 2009, Scott focused his attention full-time to Life School and became the Chief Fi-nancial Officer.

In his position as Chief of Staff, Scott now works with Life School lead-ership to create and utilize systems (both formal and informal) to track reliable information on what is happening throughout Life School with regard to the strategic initiatives.

Jennifer WilsonChief Financial Officer, Life SchoolJennifer Wilson (no relation to Superintendent Brent Wilson) joined Life-School of Dallas in April 2012 as the Chief Financial Officer. She received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Texas A&M Uni-versity in 1997, is a Certified Public Accountant, and served Duncanville ISD for 12 years prior to joining the Life School team.

Jennifer began her school business career at Duncanville as the dis-trict accountant/internal auditor where she learned the fundamentals of school finance and implemented daily procedures for maximum ef-ficiency. She capitalized on the opportunity to build relationships with her campus colleagues as she guided them on sound financial processes. Gaining in knowledge and momentum, Jennifer was promoted to direc-tor of finance where she was responsible for the district budget including salary and revenue projections. In 2007, Jennifer became the Chief Finan-cial Officer of Duncanville ISD.

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Attendees

Barry West Charles PulliamChief Operations Officer, Life School Chief Development Officer, Life School

Barry West joined Life School in 2010 as Chief Operations Officer. He re-ceived his Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from Baylor University in 1994. After graduating from Baylor, he joined Advanced Planning to provide estate and financial planning services to retirees. In 1998, he went to work with Hearst Media Services in Houston, Texas where he received numerous awards and accolades as a marketing con-sultant. Barry is a 2013 graduate of Leadership Southwest, Inc., where he currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors.

Charles Pulliam manages the district human resources, professional development, performance measurement, and fundraising operations as well as the organization’s overall people strategies. In addition, he serves Life School by assisting with the establishment of organizational excellence objectives and change management strategies. Charles has assisted numerous corporations with the realization of growth strate-gies as they relate to the attraction and retention of highly qualified human capital.

Charles is a U.S. Air Force veteran, and currently serves his communi-ty through non-profit board advisory, professional development and training facilitation, coaching, mentoring, and other volunteer activi-ties. He is sought after by corporations, nonprofits, and volunteer or-ganizations to speak on topics related to productivity, attitude, work ethic, values, and other subjects.

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Attendees

Vince DawesPrincipal, Life School Oak Cliff ElementaryVince Dawes is the Principal at Oak Cliff Elementary School. Prior to becoming the Principal at Oak Cliff, I spent the last fifteen years work-ing in Broward County Public Schools District, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. During my tenure in BCPS, I taught 3rd, 4th and 5th grades, served as Behavior Specialist, Assistant Principal, Intern Principal, and Principal. Born and raised in Florida, I attended Florida Agricultural and Mechani-cal University (FAMU), where I received a BS in Agribusiness and an El-ementary Education certification from Florida Atlantic University. After attending FAMU and FAU, I received a MBA and Educational Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. I love working with all children and seeing them learn and grow to be lifelong learners and productive leaders. I believe in Excellence every-day, everywhere, for every child, in every classroom! I strive to create a school culture where every staff members believes that every child that walks on campus can and will learn.

Elmer AvellanedaPrincipal, Life School Oak Cliff SecondaryElmer Avellaneda is the Principal of Life School Oak Cliff Secondary. His background includes years of experience as a classroom teacher, Special Education department chair, Assistant Principal, and Associate Principal. His commitment to his teachers and students has always driven him to excel in these roles. He is a proud graduate of Baylor University and Tarle-ton State University.

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Attendees

Kim RiepePrincipal, Life School Mountian Creek

Kim Riepe is the principal at Life School’s newest campus, Life School Mountain Creek. She has been with the district for seven years, serving as assistant principal at the Life School Red Oak Campus for four years and sixth grade teacher for two years. Prior to becoming a part of the Life School family, Kim taught sixth grade at Ferris ISD.

Kim was born and raised in Lancaster, where her parents still reside in the house she grew up in. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with her Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Ar-lington in 2002 and received her Master’s degree in Educational Admin-istration from the University of North Texas in 2010

DeWayne ParkerPrincipal, Life School Lancaster

DeWayne Parker began with Life School in August of 2003 and is now going into his twelfth year. He completed his student teaching in the Austin area and received his Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies from Texas State University in San Marcos. In 2003, Life School Red Oak opened its doors for the first time and in walked the first stu-dent. Mr. Parker was there as one of two fourth grade teachers.

Beginning in the 2006-2007 school year, DeWayne began his adminis-trative career as an assistant principal at the Life School Red Oak cam-pus. As the Life School organization continued to grow, the Life School Lancaster campus was completed and began operations during the 2007-2008 school year. Once again, as in Life School Red Oak, DeWayne was there as the first student walked into the new facility only this time he was the acting principal. He earned his graduate degree as Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Dallas Baptist University and currently remains the principal at Life School Lancaster.

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Attendees

Joy ShepherdPrincipal, Life School, Cedar Hill

Joy Shepherd has worked in the field of education for seventeen years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas and taught for several years before coming to Life School. While teaching in the Life School district she earned a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Dallas Baptist University. In 2010 she helped open the Cedar Hill campus as the Assis-tant Principal/Counselor.

Stephanie ColwellPrincipal, Life School Red Oak

Stephanie Colwell was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. Steph-anie joined Life School in 2005 and during her nine-year tenure, she has taught elementary, middle and high school, along with serving as As-sistant Principal for the Lancaster campus and Principal of the Mountain Creek campus. Stephanie received a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Southwestern Assemblies of God University, and a Mas-ters of Education in Educational Leadership from Dallas Baptist University.

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Attendees

Anne BeckmanPrincipal, Life Middle School Waxahachie

Anne Beckman is a native Texan with 23 years of experience in educa-tion. She was raised in Houston but has been in the DFW area for over 23 years. Anne attended Texas A&M University and Southwest Texas State University where she graduated with a degree in math education. She received her master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Texas A&M University Commerce in 2008. She has a varied background of ex-perience ranging from public to private schools and her administrative experience extends from K-12th grade. Anne worked most recently as principal of Life School Red Oak preceded by Waxahachie and Coppell ISDs as assistant principal before joining the Life School team. Most of her teaching experience was in 4th-6th grade in Midlothian ISD and at Park Springs Christian Academy in Arlington.

Patrick HarvellPrincipal, Life High School Waxahachie

Mr. Harvell brings 22 years of experience in education with him to lead the new Life High School Waxahachie. Prior to coming to Life School, Mr. Harvell served in many administrative roles. Most recently, he was an As-sistant Principal at Corsicana High School. Serving as an Athletic Director for many years and coaching in three state championship football games are also an important part of his extensive background that involves mak-ing a positive impact in the lives of students. Mr. Harvell graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesi-ology, and later earned a Master’s degree in Educational Administration from Lamar University.

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Resources

The Primer Podcast on iTunes

New Approach to Principal Preparation

Preparing School Leaders for a Changing World

NYC Leadership Performance Standards Matrix

Preparing Principals to Raise Student Achievement

Rethinking Leadership: The Changing Role of Principal Supervisors

Principal Preparation Program Self-Assessment Toolkit

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www.lifeschools.net