From the Director

January 1, 2006

Happy New Year!

Of the many things associated with the holiday season, none is more important than the opportunity for reflection. The rare pause within the larger rush enables us to take stock of our fortunes, mark the completion of one of life’s chapters, and make plans for the year ahead. For EPFP, the passage from 2005 to 2006 has provided an occasion to work on a Strategic Plan for the transformation, modernization, and expansion of EPFP. Two initiatives form the heart of the Strategic Plan: (1.) creating an EPFP™ Starter Kit of particular use to new EPFP™ sites; and (2.) directing the construction of the new EPFP™ website (www.epfp.org). As well, EPFP™ Program Associate Taryn Tyler and I have begun planning in earnest for the Washington Policy Seminar in the nation’s capital, April 5-8. In the months ahead, the great challenge of day-to-day work on EPFP™ will be to strike a balance between the imperative of enduring reform and the press of regular business.

The fourth quarter of 2005 was my first full quarter as Director of EPFP. I spent this period of time working diligently to become conversant with the history of EPFP™ and with the substance and formats of the EPFP™ curriculum as put into practice at sites in nine states and the District of Columbia. A total of 201 Fellows are taking part in EPFP™ during 2005-2006, EPFP’s 42nd program year. During my first two months on the job, Taryn and I put in place the groundwork necessary to carry out the 2005 Leadership Forum, which took place December 4-7 at the Eden Roc Resort & Spa in Miami Beach, Florida. The Leadership Forum, and the Fall Site Coordinators Meeting preceding it, enabled me to deepen my relationships with the Coordinators, Fellows, and Alumni, some of whom I had already met during visits to EPFP™ events in Pennsylvania and North Carolina in October. During the first quarter of 2006, I will be making visits to EPFP™ sites in New York, Minnesota, and Michigan.

The theme of this year’s Leadership Forum was “Leadership in Context: Educating Citizens in a Global Age.” Site Coordinators made essential contributions to the structure and content of the program, which focused on the implications of globalization for leadership in various settings. EPFP™ Alumni figured prominently in the conference. The two and one-half days of activities sought to reinforce two messages in the minds of EPFP™ Fellows: First, with the leveling winds of globalization gusting as never before and hastening the pace of change in every society in the world, even the most seemingly remote and stable communities are learning that they must adapt in order to prosper. Second, leaders often find it difficult to build consensus in such a setting, and educators are coming to understand that they must prepare students to earn a living and function as informed, critical citizens in a democratic system buffeted by transformative forces.

There were many highlights of the Leadership Forum. Donna Shalala, President of the University of Miami, opened the conference by reflecting candidly on her many leadership experiences over a remarkable career. Alberto Carvalho, Associate Superintendent with the Miami-Dade Public School District, spoke eloquently about the challenges of leadership in a diverse school district. Keynote speaker Yong Zhao, Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology at Michigan State University, noted that education policy in the age of globalization too often addresses the problems of the past rather than anticipating the problems of the future. Dan Alvarez, Lecturer at Florida International University, described vividly the dilutive and fragmenting effects that globalization can have on existing cultures. Fellows witnessed panel discussions on leadership in the community and also on leadership and technology. They participated in a simulation on consensus building, a workshop on diversity awareness and leadership development, and an exercise aimed at helping them identify their core values. Dr. Robert Monson of Columbia University, a New York Site Coordinator, led a special evening session with thirteen Carnegie Fellows in Secondary Education who have a year-long opportunity to explore the theory and practice of secondary education reform. A final panel discussion, on high school reform, set the stage for inspiring closing remarks by IEL’s President, Betty Hale.

The Fall Site Coordinators Meeting took place on December 3 and 4, just before the Leadership Forum commenced. Participants spent the lion’s share of the first day analyzing strategic questions about the future direction of EPFP. We examined a prototype of the new EPFP™ website and appraised the website’s planned modules and capabilities. We also discussed at length the Starter Kit to be designed as a touchstone for establishing new, sustainable EPFP™ sites. The second and shorter day of the Coordinators Meeting centered on sharing “best practices” and innovations from the sites relating to the three substantive strands of EPFP: leadership, policy making, and professional networking. This sharing will continue at the Spring Coordinators Meeting preceding the 2006 Washington Policy Seminar and also at the Summer Coordinators Meeting in July in Washington, DC.

Taryn and I will commence 2006 by drawing together many elements of the new EPFP™ Strategic Plan, which will contain a detailed road map for the transformation, modernization, and expansion of the program over the next few years. The Strategic Plan will include benchmarks by which progress can be measured. Our initial job will be to think big. We will ask anew what EPFP™ should be doing, how it should go about doing these things, and what the program should look like several years from now. The new EPFP™ Starker Kit and website will become primary tools in establishing new EPFP™ sites in a sustainable fashion. Establishing a site is a significant undertaking, and new Site Coordinators must have a one-stop resource to aid them in this enterprise. We envision the Starter Kit as a comprehensive, structured, and accessible volume containing two things: (1.) a guide to the substance and formats of the EPFP™ curriculum; and (2.) a guide to the organizational and logistical processes of building and maintaining a successful EPFP™ site. If you have further ideas for the development of the Starter Kit, the website, or the future of EPFP™ in general, please let me know. I value your insight and welcome your input.

As 2006 begins, it is tempting in much of our country to believe that the land is asleep beneath bare trees and a shroud of snow. But we know better, for changes are already afoot that will herald April, with its bright colors and palpable sense of renewal. The future beckons as intensely at this moment as it will in the spring. “The best way to predict the future,” management expert Peter Drucker has written, “is to create it.” So now, as the days begin to lengthen, the architects of EPFP’s future must negotiate the currents of change, confronting challenges and seizing opportunities so that 2006 will be among the most decisive years in the program’s history. Together – Site Coordinators, Fellows, Alumni, and Sponsors – we shall go forward in a lasting partnership.

Thank you for your commitment to EPFP.

Sincerely,

Douglas M. Brattebo, Ph.D., J.D.
Director
Education Policy Fellowship Program
Institute for Educational Leadership
202-822-840 ext. 129
brattebod@iel.org

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