Horace Mann League Fetes Kirst, Schlechty and Others

Two prominent educators, Michael W. Kirst and Phil Schlechty, received the Horace Mann League’s Outstanding Public Educator Award at the group’s annual luncheon at AASA’s 2010 National Conference of Education on Friday.

The recipients of the league’s annual awards are as follows:

Outstanding Friend of Public Education Award: Michael W. Kirst, professor of education, business administration and political science at Stanford University.

Kirst is a former vice president of the American Educational Research Association and former president of the California State Board of Education. He is the principle investigator on three major research projects: The Bridge K-16 Project, Policy Analysis for California Education and the Consortium for Policy Research in Education.

As part of The Bridge K-16 Project, Kirst has led an investigation of higher education admissions policies, freshman placement/advising policies in colleges and universities and curriculum content and assessment standards in K-12 systems. The project's findings have recently been published in a book (edited by Kirst and Andrea Venezia) titled From High School to College - Improving Opportunities for Success in Postsecondary Education.

Outstanding Public Educator: Phil Schlechty, president of the Schlechty, a pace-setting school reform organization based in Louisville, Ky.

He is an exceptional speaker, thinker, writer and leader. He has deep, abiding passions for equity, excellence, the public schools, and American democracy. His unique talent lies in the ability to draw upon such diverse sources of inspiration and to develop coherence among them around issues of kids, schools, communities, and leadership.


Recent books by Schlechty are Leading for Learning: How to Transform Schools into Learning Organizations and Working on the Work: An action Plan for Teachers, Principals, and Superintendents.

Friend of the Horace Mann League Award: Colleen Wilcox, president of the Horace Mann League in 2007.

Wilcox has 14 years leading the Santa Clara County Office of Education, She previously served school districts in suburban Chicago, Tucson and Los Angeles as both teacher and administrator. She has authored more than 30 publications and papers, is much sought-after as a keynote speaker and is widely active in community affairs.

The Ambassador Award (for service to the Horace Mann League):

Brent Clark, executive director, Illinois Association of School Administrators, Springfield, Ill.;

Nancy DeFord, retired superintendent, Park City, Utah;

Charles Fowler, executive director, Suburban School Superintendents, Exeter, N.H.

Fred Hartmeister, dean of graduate studies, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas;

Gary Marx, president, Center for Public Outreach, Vienna, Va.;

Steve Rasmussen, superintendent, Issaquah, Wash.; Art Stellar, superintendent, Burke County Public Schools, Morganton, N.C.; and

Colleen Wilcox, executive director, Silicon Valley Alliance for Teachers, San Jose, Calif.