Care and Feeding of the First-Time Visitor by BRAD HUGHES

Superintendents should play the role of “information shepherd” at their board of education meetings so the rookies in the audience have a chance to grasp the topics on the meeting agenda.

Education as a Civil Right by DEBORAH HUNTER-HARVILL

The president of the National Alliance of Black School Educators is pushing for a policy to reverse the disparities and inequities in public education, including what she sees in her own district.

Go to the Head of the Class by MARILOU RYDER

A full day as a substitute teacher in her district’s high school left this superintendent with fresh insights to influence her decisions. She discovered 90 minutes is a long time to be in front of a class of easily distracted students.

Before You Move Into Higher Education by ROBIN L. FANKHAUSER

When she moved from a superintendency into a professorship, the author quickly discovered the realities of work life in higher education. Among her eye-openers: You will no longer be the king or queen of everything, and your office will be smaller than your college dorm room.

People

The latest update on appointments, retirements, honors and deaths in the superintendency. In this month’s Sidelight: A superintendent who has spent 25 years on the stadium payroll of her beloved Philadelphia Phillies.