Best of the Blogs
School Administrator, October 2019


“The idea that a mentor or teacher can contribute to one’s development of grit is as important as the belief that a mentor or teacher can contribute to one’s development of talent or learning.”

From “Grit” by Judy Paolucci, superintendent, Smithfield Public Schools, Smithfield, R.I., on her blog Super Scoop


“Despite a growing awareness of what science has found to be more effective practices, education clings tightly to a model that I can argue creates problems (i.e., fosters mistrust, perpetuates decision-making based on faulty assumptions, emphasizes rules and processes at the expense of good communication) instead of solving them. It defies logic.”

From ”An Afterword on the Performance Management Series” by Allan Mucerino, superintendent, Alvord Unified School District, Corona, Calif., on his blog Allan J. Mucerino, Ed.D.


“I can tell you that being out at recess, and in the lunchroom for a snack, that just learning to follow directions and focus on the teacher are skills that we take for granted in many children.”

From “Did Someone Say ‘JUMP START to Kindergarten?’”  by Mike Brophy, superintendent, West Valley School District 208, Yakima, Wash., on his Superintendent’s Blog


“[W]e are told to never quit. But sometimes when you quit the thing that isn’t working or you don’t like, you get to focus more on the area that you love or in which you have great skill. And you actually achieve more! It’s not quitting because it’s hard. It’s quitting because it isn’t yielding the results you want.”

From “What Makes a Success?” by Kimberly Pietsch Miller, superintendent, Bexley City Schools, Bexley, Ohio, on her Superintendent’s Blog



Read the full postings of these and other members’ blogs at www.aasa.org/SAblogs.aspx.