He’s been called the Rock Star Superintendent, but Global Partnership Schools’ Rudy Crew is much more than glitz and glamor. He is the ultimate reformer who builds a firm foundation for success. At the core of Rudy’s contagious leadership style is integrity, candor, confidence, flexibility, loyalty, humility, accountability, preparedness, resourcefulness, and patience. He motivates others and creates a culture that helps a school district achieve success long after he has moved on.

“Change is about relationships—adults and children, specifically teachers and students,” said Crew. “When a unit of change happens in a classroom, it spreads through the school and beyond, changing the culture throughout the district. This culture moves everybody into a new zone of thinking, behavior, and core assumptions of what it takes to educate all children.”

Crew’s School Improvement Zone in Miami and the Chancellor’s District in New York City have often been cited as leading school reform models. In fact, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), believes the Chancellor’s District is the best reform model ever implemented. (more…)

    

The Toughest Job Around – What Cathleen Black’s brief tenure as New York’s school chancellor says about running the city’s education department.
The New York Times Room for Debate

Rudy Crew served as chancellor of New York City Schools from 1995 to 1999 and superintendent of Miami-Dade County Schools from 2004 to 2008. He is a professor at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education and president of Global Partnership Schools.

As I said when Cathie Black was appointed, running a large urban school district is much more than a matter of managing time, money, and people. Ms. Black failed in what was known to be her weakest suit — namely, she knew nothing about running a school system. She quickly became a leader with few followers among the ranks of principals, teachers, and parents, thus unable to create or sustain a vision for the system.

In fairness, Ms. Black is only one-half of the miscalculation. The other half is a growing set of assumptions — now dominating everything from the selection of chancellors and superintendents to the national discourse about public schools — which led to her appointment in the first place. (more…)

    

Linda Conner Lambeck, Staff Writer, Connecticut Post

BRIDGEPORT — A number of Warren G. Harding High School students still cluster in hallways after the bell rings for second period on a recent day. A few wear hats and have iPod wires stuck to their ears.

There has been an all-out food fight in the cafeteria and a lockdown caused by a concern there might be a student in school with a gun. Last Friday, a fire alarm was pulled, forcing everyone — including Schools Superintendent John Ramos and other officials there for a meeting — out into the street.

If officials at Global Partnership Schools doubted the challenges that face them at Harding, the first month of school has cleared that up.

Hired by the district to turn around the long-struggling school by “restarting” Harding with an infusion of cash and expertise, the New York-based educational consulting group arrived late this summer to be Harding’s so-called Superman. (more…)

    

In the current issue of MultiMedia & Internet @Schools, Rudy Crew looks at the opportunity to revitalize and reform the education system.

Four Competencies for a 21st-Century Education and How to Implement Them

By Dr. Rudy Crew – MultiMedia & Internet @Schools (Sep 1, 2010)

When President John Kennedy announced the Space Race nearly half a century ago, he was not just calling Americans to compete. The race was a policy direction that engaged stakeholders—from engineers and teachers to test pilots and astronauts—to envision a way to the moon and then make it a reality.

Today, we have a similar opportunity to revitalize and reform our education system by drawing on bold ideas, the wisdom and passion of educators, and the commitment of parents, families, and communities that comprise the heart of the issue. (more…)

    

With billions being aimed towards turning around low-performing schools, many want to get into the game. Manny Rivera and Rudy Crew were quoted in The New York Times, “School Overhaul Draws a Crowd, but Not Necessarily a Credentialed One” (A11; 8/10/10), which looked at the array of companies with little experience in school turnaround.

Rudy Crew, a former New York City schools chancellor who has formed his own consulting company, said he was astonished to see so many untested groups peddling strategies to improve schools.
“This is like the aftermath of the Civil War, with all the carpetbaggers and charlatans,” Dr. Crew said…

Recognizing the risks facing school districts that sign contracts with untested groups, the American Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit conservative policy group, issued a report last month urging that districts require performance guarantees, under which contractors failing to meet achievement targets would forfeit payments. (more…)

    

Rudy Crew joined U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and a distinguished panel of education experts to discuss critical issues surrounding federal education policies impacting communities of color at the NAACP National Convention in Kansas City.

Education is ‘civil-rights issue of our generation,’ Cabinet official tells NAACP

By Mará Rose Williams — The Kansas City Star
Posted on Wednesday , July 14, 2010

Calling education “the civil rights issue of our generation,” U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Wednesday issued a national challenge for whole communities to get involved in improving public education.

“The only way to achieve equality in society is to achieve it in the classroom,” Duncan told NAACP delegates meeting in Kansas City for the group’s annual convention. (more…)

    

Rudy Crew joins U.S. Education Secretary for Discussion at NAACP Convention

July 13, 2010, NEW YORK — At this week’s 101st National Convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Global Partnership Schools president and University of Southern California professor, Rudy Crew, will join a distinguished panel of education experts to discuss critical issues surrounding federal education policies impacting communities of color.

Crew, who served as chancellor of the New York City Public Schools and as superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, will be joined by Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan; Will Jawando, White House Office of Public Engagement; George Khaldun, chief administration officer of the Harlem Children’s Zone; Tiffany Anderson, superintendent of the University Academy Charter School; and Ken Surratt, assistant director of CREDO. Adora Obi Nweze, chair of the National Board’s Education Committee, will moderate the panel exploring such issues as: (more…)