In Phoenix, Arizona, leaders from schools, businesses, and organizations converged at the Footprint Center not for entertainment but to brainstorm strategies to bolster the education sector. Over 800 attendees gathered at the 10th annual School Connect Summit to review educational accomplishments and explore improvement avenues for the state's schools and students, as reported by ABC15.
Despite Arizona's ranking of 49th in the nation for per-student spending by the National Education Association, local partnerships have been pivotal in addressing funding insufficiencies. These collaborations aim to not only enhance facilities but also to provide vital health training and mental health support programs for schools. "One of the companies that partner with School Connect came into one of our schools, and based on our request, realized that we had some restrooms that needed to be redone, refurbished, simply to be made to look better for our kids," Carter Davidson, superintendent of the Litchfield Elementary School District, told ABC15.
On another front, education leaders are exploring various leadership styles to optimize their impact. According to ThoughtExchange, models like instructional, coaching, democratic, constructivist, and transformational are among the effective approaches to leading educational institutions. These styles focus on developing teacher quality, long-term personal and professional growth, collaborative problem-solving, student-empowered learning, and visionary change leadership respectively.
For example, the Saddleback Valley USD's adoption of transformational leadership style involved incorporating community feedback into district plans using ThoughtExchange survey software. Michael Gomez, Ed.D., praised the platform saying, "You truly don't know the benefits until you jump in. Once you experience how it reduces your processes, timing, and workload—you'll never go back." He recognized the tool's potential to innovate and streamline decision-making by gathering diverse perspectives across the community.
