PROFILES IN EDUCATION:
Dr. Arlene Ackerman
Intersects the Worlds of Teachers
College and the Broad Institute
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
They just created a special position for her so you know Dr.
Arlene Ackerman’s a significant player. “They” are the Eli Broad Academy and
Foundation, major advocates of leadership development programs nation wide to
“improve governance, management and labor relations in our nation’s largest
urban school district.” Established in 2001, The Broad Center for
Superintendents, a national academy for the identification, training and
support of the “next generation of public school superintendents” is out to
make a dramatic difference by encouraging “talented business, non-profit and
government executives—along with traditional education leaders—to
train as superintendents in urban public schools. Enter Arlene Ackerman, the
Christian A. Johnson Professor of Outstanding Educational Practice,
Organization and Leadership at Teachers College (TC), Columbia University, who
has just been appointed the first Broad Superintendent in Residence. Based in
L.A., the position—a first for the Broad Foundation—will give Dr.
Ackerman a highly visible role in directing, mentoring and serving as executive
coach in one of the nation’s largest urban school systems. She will be in
charge of advising an initial cohort of 14 aspiring superintendents, each of
whom will be given a faculty mentor, and guiding them in areas related to
governance, infrastructure, leadership. She will continue her work at Columbia
and use both positions to reinforce common goals. She is, to say the least,
thrilled at the opportunity to help insure that in all school systems and
districts in the United States, “children come first.”
Before coming to TC, where
she directs the Urban Education Leaders Program and chairs the Superintendents’
Leadership Institute, Dr. Ackerman had been Superintendent for six years in San
Francisco, where she oversaw the management of the city’s Unified School
District. She appreciates that some concerns are regional. L.A. has a growing
Hispanic population and, like N. Y, embraces areas that are largely African
American.
Citing, among influential mentors, former NYC Schools Chancellor
Ray Cortines and John Stanford, a two-star general who had been a city manager
in Georgia and became the first non-traditional superintendent in the country,
Dr. Ackerman, also acknowledges influences closer to home. Her two sons,
interested in math, not too long ago were involved in high school teaching. She
speaks of being horrified when she visited one son, who had been given no text
books or guidance. She reached into her own pocket and helped him set up his
room and provided resources. The experience was, she recalls with quiet
passion, a moment that she knew she would take with her forever, “a new
reality.” Politically savvy, she also knew that she would involve
administrators, parents, teachers—especially new teachers—in
regular round-table discussions of needs. This determination, she realized,
would be particularly important for the non-traditional aspirants, some of
them, lawyers, army personnel, other outside professionals, who constitute an
important part of Broad’s educational outreach to attract corporate leaders.
Academy participation is part-time, sessions meeting from
Thursday to Saturday, once a month, with visits from prestigious guest
speakers. For an African American daughter of a minister and teacher, the new
position is a dream come true and a sobering responsibility. She had always
loved teaching and public service, Dr. Ackerman says (she was once a candy striper in a pediatrics ward) and
taught in both schools and homes. “I never met a grade level I didn’t love.”
She’s learned not just through theory but real-world experience. What makes for
a good teacher? A disposition to take calculated risks, flexibility, humor,
openness to multiple perspectives. What makes for a successful administrator,
whether appointed or elected (she favors a hybrid of both)? Some knowledge
about everything and expertise in a field that makes for intelligent presence
on a board. Boston, she feels, has a good system, with a board of qualified and
efficient members who put youngsters first. She’s for the concept of Leave No
Child Behind, recognizing that it needs revisiting in implementation, for
national criteria, and for national standards for teacher certification.
Dr. Ackerman, who has an Ed.D in Administration, Planning and
Social Policy from Harvard, accepts the challenge of her new role with
enthusiasm, a healthy respect for its difficulties, and an unusually affable
manner that suggests at least one reason why she has been so far such a
successful advocate of best practices.#
