S03E18 - From the Classroom to the Boardroom | AJ Crabill

Build Momentum for Education - K-12 Superintendent Series

In this episode of Build Momentum, Sarah and Katie are joined by AJ Crabill. AJ is a Conservator at DeSoto ISD in DeSoto, Texas, and as a Director of Governance at the Council of the Great City Schools. The education reform advocate and public speaker also served as a Deputy Commissioner at the Texas Education Agency and as Board Chair of Kansas City Public Schools. He is the author of the best-selling book “Great on Their Behalf: Why School Boards Fail, How Yours Can Become Effective.”
Some Questions We Ask:

• Tell us more about your journey in education. (01:07)
  What educational path led to where you are today? (02:31)
  What advice can you give to education leaders on how to elevate their roles? (06:15)
  Tell us more about your book. (10:13)
  As an education reformer, what are your thoughts about our system and its impact on our country? (12:06)
  What is the difference between being focused on student outcomes versus adult inputs? (16:26)
  What is your final advice for all educators? (20:18)

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• About AJ’s educational journey and what he does as a student outcomes evangelist (01:18)
  About AJ’s past classroom experiences and his current leadership roles (02:50)
  AJ’s advice to education leaders (06:40)
  All about his book, Great on Their Behalf: Why School Boards Fail, How Yours Can Become Effective” (10:33)
  His thoughts about the education system and its impact (12:24)
  His thoughts on student outcomes versus adult inputs (16:40)
  The key to being a fantastic educator (20:38)

Quotes:
“It's not actually a change in what happened [in the past] that is driving my behavior, it's a change in how I see what happened and how I view it and what meaning I assigned to it—that is driving my response.”
“If there's any magic in public education, it's in the classroom—it's definitely not in the boardroom. And so the thing that matters most is the quality of instruction that students are experiencing day in and day out. If everything else is wrong and that's right, children are blessed. If everything else was right and that's wrong, children aren't going to get the blessings that they deserve.”
“The job of school boards is to represent the vision and values of the community. Their job is to constantly be listening for the community's vision of what they want students to know and be able to do, adopting goals that describe what the community expects to see out of their school system, and then monitoring progress toward those goals, constantly trying to figure out, ‘Are we actually producing the community's vision for our children?’ Nobody else in the organization has that role of saying, ‘What is the community's vision and how are we making sure that it is happening?’”

Connect with AJ:
AJ's Website
AJ’s LinkedIn
Great on Their Behalf Website
Purchase the Great on

Stay in touch with Sarah Williamson:
Free Case Study Guide
SWPR GROUP Website
LinkedIn
Stay in touch with Chad Bolser:
LinkedIn
About "The Secret to Transformational Leadership," which Sarah co-authored with Dr. Quintin Shepherd:
Transformational Leadership Secret website
Purchase the print or ebook