Bruce McGraw will leave Lawrence district Jan. 1, 2005.
By: Lea Kahn
School district officials plan to launch a nationwide search to find a replacement for Bruce McGraw, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, who announced his plans to retire effective Jan. 1, 2005.
Dr. McGraw has worked for the school district for 25 years. He began his career in Lawrence as the administrator for curriculum and instruction in 1979. The job title was revised to assistant superintendent in 1993.
Schools Superintendent Max Riley said Dr. McGraw had indicated in January that he was planning to retire at the end of the year. It was not a surprise, he said, adding that "we knew it was coming."
School board President Philip Benson praised Dr. McGraw as a "pillar of this district." He is the district’s in-house expert on the federal No Child Left Behind Act and he can be counted on, no matter what the initiative, Mr. Benson said.
The school district is fortunate to have the foundation that Dr. McGraw created in his 25 years in the district, and it will use that foundation to launch the school district into the future, Dr. Riley said.
For example, Dr. McGraw led the initiative to revamp the science education program from one where students read about science in textbooks to one where students engaged in "hands-on" science projects through the inquiry-based method, Dr. Riley said.
Dr. McGraw also guided the school district into the era of standards-based education, the superintendent said. In standards-based education, educators use tests and other measures to determine if children are learning the material.
"Prior to the standards-based movement, we practiced the logic of confidence," Dr. Riley said. "If we had certified teachers and certified curriculum, then we assumed the children were learning."
But standards-based education stops educators from assuming children are learning and makes them prove that children are learning, he said. It sets up standards for what children have learned.
"Dr. McGraw moved us from focusing on what adults have provided to the children, to what the children actually learn," he said. "His career was about making the transition from assuming children are learning to proving that they are learning."
Meanwhile, the nationwide search for Dr. McGraw’s replacement will get under way this week, Dr. Riley said. Advertisements will be placed in Education Week, as well as major newspapers along the Eastern Seaboard and in online job listing services.
Dr. Riley said he hoped to have Dr. McGraw’s replacement on board in the fall, to allow overlap so the outgoing assistant superintendent can help that person become acclimated. The goal is to create as seamless a transition as possible, he said.
The primary responsibility of the assistant superintendent is to lead the development of curriculum and instruction programs in the school district, Dr. Riley said. That person plays a key role in helping to articulate what is expected of the educational system and in creating a plan to get there, he said.
"Children will work at jobs that have not been invented, with tools that have not been invented," he said. "The old saw about being a ‘lifelong learner’ has arrived. The schools have to prepare children for the future. I am convinced that the schools can prepare the children, but not with the current curriculum."
School district officials are looking for someone with an advanced degree in education or someone who has completed all the coursework but may still be writing a doctoral dissertation, Dr. Riley said. An advanced degree is not required, but it is certainly preferred, he said.
"We are looking for someone with substantial experience in education," Dr. Riley said. "This is not a job for a beginner. We are looking for someone with middle-level leadership experience maybe a principal, or a curriculum leader in a school district or someone who has taken on projects developing new curriculum or implementing new programs.
"We are hearing that a number of superintendents from small school districts are applying for assistant superintendent in larger school districts," he said.
Although the details of the search have not been finalized, there will be some opportunities for community participation, Dr. Riley said. There may be an opportunity for the community to meet the finalists, for example, he said.
There will be plenty of challenges for the new assistant superintendent, Dr. Riley said. The math program in the elementary grades is not as strong as it should be, he said, adding that Dr. McGraw’s replacement will have to provide leadership on that project and move forward quickly.
The new assistant superintendent will have to move the fine arts instruction program forward in the school district, he said. The school district has not paid as much attention as it should to the fine arts program over the past few years, he said.
Also, the assistant superintendent will ensure that the district’s curriculum is aligned with the state standards and that instruction is aligned with the curriculum, he said.
And the assistant superintendent will have a role to play in helping to implement the district’s vision statement, which is being developed by the school board, Dr. Riley said. The vision statement sets out the notion that in Lawrence, the state standards constitute the minimum that is expected of students not the maximum, he said.
The vision statement sets out what the school district expects of its students, he said. How the district gets there is the assistant superintendent’s job, he said. The goal is to ensure that all students meet those standards.