Report: Empowering the 21st Century Superintendent

Of all the challenges you face as a superintendent, according to the Consortium for School Networking, “technology leadership may be the one that leaves you feeling the most unprepared, uncertain and vulnerable. You’re not alone.” Empowering the 21st Century Superintendent includes five themes and action steps for technology leadership. From focus groups and one-on-one interviews, it is increasingly clear that:

• Superintendents recognize that technology is critically and increasingly important in education, and while they embrace their leadership role as technology advocates who create the vision and set the tone for technology use in their districts—many acknowledge that their own technology knowledge and competencies aren’t up to par.
• Superintendents take pride in the promising technology practices in their districts but admit that effective, system-wide use of technology to support student achievement remains an elusive goal.
• Keenly aware that disparate deployments of new technologies could divide schools between the haves and have-nots–superintendents worry that their own districts and students could fall behind.

Whether you’re a superintendent or not, this one is a good reality check for anyone involved in education and technology. Check out the full report here.