School Leadership Summit Works to Transform Leaders in Arkansas Schools

Nearly 100 principals, administrators and aspiring school leaders recently gathered in Northwest Arkansas for the first College of Education and Health Professions School Leadership Summit.

The day-long event brought together participants from across the state to learn from one another as they examined the state of leadership in schools and the role it plays in school transformation. 

Dean Emeritus Reed Greenwood championed the event and provided financial support with the goal of directly improving the quality of school leadership in Arkansas. He began the day by welcoming the group and reiterating their shared mission.

"This is an opportunity to come together and devote a day to an important group of leaders: our building-level school principals," Greenwood said. "Principals are the forefront of our educational system, working with our teachers and others to provide the best education for our PreK-12 students."

Greenwood has become a driving force for change as he continues to pursue opportunities to bring people together to improve education in Arkansas. Last year, Greenwood supported the college's Teacher Advocacy Forum, a day-long exploration to empower classroom teachers and amplify their voices.

Jason Grissom, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Public Policy and Education at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College and faculty director of the Tennessee Education Research Alliance, delivered the summit's keynote lecture. Grissom's research on national school leadership provided data and insights on school leadership demographics and what the most effective school principals are doing to help students.

"Principals are really, really important," Grissom said. "It's difficult to envision an investment with a higher ceiling on its potential return than a successful effort to improve principal leadership."

Megan Duncan, executive director of the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators, led the next session geared towards strategy, stewardship and service. Her presentation stressed the importance of positive thinking, active listening and taking unique approaches to problem-solving.

During a "Perspectives from the Field" school leadership panel, participants had the opportunity to ask questions and learn from principals across the state who have faced hardships and successfully transformed their schools. Panelists included Matt Boeving from Decatur School District, Erika Hubbard from KIPP Delta Public Schools and Jenni Phomsithi from Danville Public Schools.

Throughout the discussion, Michael Hensley, assistant professor of practice in educational leadership, asked panelists to discuss the difficult challenges they've faced as leaders and how they addressed them. Boeving shared how he helped guide his school through the loss of a student and a tornado that impacted the area by being intentional with building trust in his community.

Hubbard said it took time to build the same trust in her school as she worked to transform mindsets across her teachers and staff.

"They needed to know that someone is showing up for them and showing them how to do things," she said. "I think 'why' is important, but also 'how' with teachers makes a really big difference."

After the panel concluded, John Bacon, executive director of the IMPACT Arkansas Principal Fellows program, led the school leaders in small-group discussions, allowing participants to share their individual challenges and areas of progress.

The day concluded with time for "capturing commitments" from those in attendance. 

Kara Lasater, associate professor of educational leadership, led the group of school leaders in sharing personal and collective commitments to action in support of robust school leadership now and in the future.

Leaders made a wide range of commitments, from prioritizing and protecting their own well-being to pledges to take school-wide actions to improve student and staff outcomes.

Hensely, who led the summit's planning committee, said participants left with new connections and ideas that will "legitimately benefit their students."

"When we were dreaming up the idea for this event, we were thoughtful about who needed to be included and what our focus needed to be, and the best version of that dream looked a lot like the event that took place," he said. "It looked like that specific group of people coming together from across the state to consider what transformation can look like in the face of complex challenge because Arkansas students deserve it."

Throughout the day, speakers and panelists reiterated the power of joining forces to create change.

"Every big change, every transformation, starts with recognizing and realizing that today matters," said Dean Kate Mamiseishvili. "Big change and big transformations don't just happen all at once. They happen in small, intentional moments, day by day, decision by decision."

"The opportunity to transform, to inspire, to lead, is not some time in the future. It's today."