Blog Author: Nelson Coulter Influence is an interesting dynamic. We can think of it as the act of impacting some sort of outcome through unobvious and often indirect means. The Earth is a physical body, yet it influences weather patterns, seasonal changes, celestial bodies beyond itself. The Sun is similar. While it is a finite physical body (in one sense), …

Blog Author: Dr. Randy Burks, Superintendent, Hamlin Collegiate ISD “Clarity of vision will compensate for uncertainty in planning. If you are clear and confident about the destination, you can handle a few detours along the way. If you are unclear about the destination of the journey, even the most sophisticated, well-thought-through strategy is useless.” (from “Next Generation Leader” by Andy Stanley.) …

Author: Nelson Coulter I recently read The Merit Myth: How Our Colleges Favor the Rich and Divide America by Anthony Carnevale, Peter Schmidt, & Jeff Strohl (2020). My top takeaways: Educational separation and sorting, by race and class, begins in kindergarten. College admissions and IQ standardized tests are inherently skewed to disfavor the non-privileged. “Enrollment management” processes used at elite universities ensure access …

Blog Author: Lupe Singh, Chief Schools Officer, Collegiate Edu-Nation At this time of the year, we usually start making remarks such as, “Where did the school year go?”.   When looking back at the school year, we usually define the year by events and seldom ever in meaningful positive moments. Try it! Hopefully, we all have positive memorable moments that can map out our school year. — …

Author: Andy Wilson, Superintendent, Roscoe Collegiate ISD In November, I attended a Zoom meeting with one of our P-TECH students who had a rough first semester. The student is capable of much greater academic success than what he had demonstrated.  In turn, each school employee softly admonished the student and vigorously encouraged him to implement a few supports that could turn his second …

Author: Dr. Michelle Cline, Superintendent, Throckmorton Collegiate ISD I am currently reading Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Dr. Carol Dweck. This book is about how a simple belief in yourself guides you in all aspects of your life. Dweck states this belief actually permeates every aspect of your life. The two mindsets she speaks about are a growth mindset and a fixed …

Author: Nelson Coulter Bandwidth is a term we have come to use with great frequency over the last 20 years.  We typically use it to describe the amount of capacity a system has for delivering/processing digital data. The more bandwidth you have in the system, the more capacity it has to receive, move, and process the digital information at hand. In …

Author: Nelson Coulter I recently read Conscious Leadership: Elevating Humanity Through Businessby John Mackey, Steve McIntosh, and Carter Phipps (2020). This was an excellent read, detailing how leaders can approach the work of influencing others from a holistic mindset of improving the future through a triadic focus on environmental, social, and economic stewardship.  JM is the founder of Whole Foods and actively practices/encourages …

Author: Nelson Coulter Dr. Pedro Noguera has coined the phrase “Probecito Syndrome” to describe the view of many toward children raised in non-privileged environments.  Loosely translated, it means “poor baby” syndrome.  It is the assumed inability of those children to achieve academically, based on the environments in which they were raised.  Former President George W. Bush also spoke of this viewpoint as “the …

Author: Nelson Coulter Times of uncertainty put a strain on all of us. Times of uncertainty call for exceptional service from those of us in leadership roles (whether we’re parents, teachers, managers, preachers, mentors, board members, executives, coaches, captains,….). How can we best lead in times of uncertainty?  What do others need to hear, see, feelas they rely on us to lead forward? Consider …

Author: Nelson Coulter Most of us want to be successful. And the meaning assigned to the word “success” is unique to each of us. Regardless of our respective goals, our priorities, the task of actually achieving them is the tricky part. How do we get to where/what we wanna be? Being able to stay focused on that which is important …

Problems are not hard to find. They present themselves to us, every day, in a million ways. Identifying problems is not rocket science. The challenge is always in figuring out how to address them in some meaningful and sustainable way. Dr. Kim Alexander, as school superintendent in the rural community in which he was raised (Roscoe, Texas), saw a problem: …