Beyond Theory and Degrees

Dr. James E. Fitzpatrick served over forty years as a teacher, coach, principal, and superintendent, in rural, urban, and suburban schools and districts. He is now an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at National Louis University in Chicago, Illinois.

• Foreword- The Honorable James E. Doyle, Governor of Wisconsin (2003-2011)Preface: What I can offer you in your quest to be an Educational Leader!IntroductionChapter 1: Do I have the Pedigree to Lead?Chapter 2: Everything Starts with CultureChapter 3: POCDICE: The Processes of Educational LeadershipPart 2: Leadership at the Building LevelChapter 4: The Principalship: Instructional Leader or Manager?Chapter 5: Hiring Great People: From Recruitment to InductionChapter 6: Selecting and Developing Assistant PrincipalsChapter 7: Teacher Evaluation: A Reflective Look at Current PracticeChapter 8: The Importance of Support Staff, Visibility, and Supervision in a Building.Chapter 9: Decision Making –When the Tough Ones Come Your Way!Part 3: The Superintendency, Board of Education and Life Balance:Chapter 10: The Superintendency-Cannot do it alone!Chapter 11: The Board of Education and Superintendent: Roles and Relationships!Chapter 12: Life BalanceBibliographyAbout the Author

Jim Fitzpatrick embodies educational leadership with every bone in his body. I am thrilled that he authored this book to help our colleagues across the country enhance their leadership capacity. I have had the privilege and honor to count Jim as one of my first mentors twenty years ago when I first became a superintendent. His insight, perspectives, context, and wisdom shaped my understanding of the role of an educational leader and I will always be indebted to him for his mentorship and counsel. While I found the entire book incredibly enlightening, I would draw readers’ focus to the final third of the book. Throughout Jim’s time as a superintendent, he was absolutely masterful at making and communicating tough decisions along with focusing on School Board relationships. In addition, those of us who have been educational leaders for extended periods of time know that we can only survive, and thrive, by creating networks of colleagues with whom to collaborate and by achieving a life-work balance (I know most people call it a work-life balance, but I believe at my core that life should come first).This is an awesome book, written by one of the top educational leaders of our time. I hope you learn as much from Jim’s writings as I have learned from him over the years.