Before the ceremony, the winners sat down with eSchool News Editor-in-Chief Dennis Pierce to discuss the qualities they think are important for today’s superintendents, the initiatives they’re most proud of having led in their schools, and the advice they’d give to colleagues in piloting schools effectively in the Information Age.

To hear what these exemplary leaders had to say, click on the headlines below. 

Mark Evans: The ‘three Cs’ that ed tech can help address

For Mark Evans, being a tech-savvy superintendent means “always looking down the road,” with an eye toward how technology can help school districts achieve what he calls the “three Cs”: classroom engagement, cost efficiency, and communication.

Daniel Frazier: ‘Bold leadership’ is needed for today’s schools

Daniel Frazier, superintendent of Iowa’s Sioux Central Community School District, believes the most important thing school leaders need to do today is “show bold leadership.”

Nicholas Gledich on the importance of ‘pausing and planning’

Nicholas Gledich, superintendent of the Colorado Springs School District 11 in Colorado, says one of the things his district has learned is the value of “pausing, planning, and executing” when it comes to ed-tech implementation.

Michele Hancock: The key to ed-tech success is ‘constantly communicating’

Michele Hancock, superintendent of the Kenosha Unified School District in Wisconsin, attributes much of her district’s ed-tech success to constant communication with stakeholders.

Michael Hanson: How he’s taken his district from worst to first in ed tech

When Michael Hanson became superintendent of California’s Fresno Unified School District in 2005, the district was on the verge of a state takeover, and an audit revealed it was the worst in the state in terms of ed-tech use. That’s no longer the case.

C.J. Huff: Creating new possibilities from unspeakable tragedy

On May 22, 2011, the town of Joplin, Mo., lost six schools in an EF5 tornado that killed 160 people and displaced half the student body. Joplin currently has about 3,200 students living in temporary facilities. In spite of these challenges, the district is leading the way in using technology to transform instruction under the guidance of Superintendent C.J. Huff.

Jerri Kemble: Today’s superintendents must be ‘willing to take risks’

Jerri Kemble, superintendent of the Centre School District in Lost Springs, Kansas, knows first-hand the challenges of leading a small school district: She’s not only the superintendent, but also the K-12 principal and virtual school director for this one-school district located “in the middle of a wheat field.”

Brad Saron: Ed tech is not about devices, but ‘how you use them’

For Bradford Saron, being a tech-savvy superintendent “has less to do with the devices you have and more to do with how you use them. In my judgment, being able to leverage technology to help people grow and also to convene teams to solve problems are the most important parts of being a tech-savvy superintendent.”

William Skilling on moving from professional development to ‘professional learning’

The most important part of effective leadership “is not knowing how do to something, but knowing what to do”—and then turning it over to the people with the right expertise, said William Skilling, superintendent of the Oxford Community Schools in Michigan.

The winners were honored at a special awards ceremony Feb. 18. The ceremony—which featured a keynote speech from noted ed-tech consultant Alan November—was held in conjunction with the Century Club 100’s annual meeting during the American Association of School Administrators’ National Conference on Education in Houston.

Watch the full awards ceremony here:

“What is your plan for making every home a center of learning?” he asked those in attendance. “I’m concerned that we’re spending too much time fixing schools as the dominant focus in helping children succeed.”

South Korea is putting a 1-gigabit internet connection into every home in the country, he said, adding: “That’s more capacity than some states have for all their schools.”

Watch November’s thought-provoking keynote speech here:

eSN’s 2012 Tech-Savvy Superintendent Award winners were chosen for their dedication to student learning and ed-tech implementation.

Project-based learning, “bring your own device” policies, blended learning opportunities, and creative approaches to staff development are among the many successful ed-tech programs being led by our 2012 Tech-Savvy Superintendent Award winners.

Sponsored by GlobalScholar and JDL Horizons, the 12th annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards from eSchool Media recognize senior school district executives from around the nation who best exemplify outstanding leadership and vision in using technology to advance their district’s educational goals.

“Research suggests that technology can facilitate better teaching and learning, but only when used wisely,” said Dennis Pierce, editor of eSchool News. “And that starts at the very top, with strong school district leadership. If you have a clear vision for how to implement technology effectively, and you make sure your staff are well trained and supported, and you seek to transform instructional practices to leverage technology’s full potential, then technology really can empower education. And that’s what the winners of our annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards are doing.”

As educators come to rely on technology and the internet to engage students’ interest, track their progress, personalize instruction, and aid in decision making, an understanding of how technology works and how it can be used to transform teaching and learning is now an essential characteristic for the 21st-century school superintendent. eSchool News created its awards program in 2001 to recognize and encourage this quality.

Chosen by the editors of eSchool News with help from last year’s winners, the 2012 award winners will be honored in a private ceremony held in conjunction with the Century Club 100 meeting at the American Association of School Administrators’ annual conference in Houston Feb. 18. The ceremony will feature a keynote speech by noted ed-tech consultant Alan November. Any superintendent is invited to attend with his or her staff; for details, please eMail Shana Murik at smurik@eschoolnews.com.

To meet this year’s winners, and learn how they’re leading exemplary ed-tech programs in their districts, read on. For a list of the criteria we use in judging these awards, click here.

eSN’s 2011 Tech-Savvy Superintendents were selected for their dedication to student learning and technology implementation.

Partnerships with local businesses to provide free Wi-Fi for students … a virtualization project that reportedly has saved $1.5 million in energy costs … an instructional content repository so teachers can share lessons, activities, and assessments: These are among the many impressive ed-tech accomplishments of our 2011 Tech-Savvy Superintendent Award winners.

Sponsored by SMART Technologies Inc., RM Educational Software, JDL Horizons, and K12 Inc., the 11th annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards recognize senior school district executives from around the nation who best exemplify outstanding leadership and vision in using technology to advance their district’s educational goals.

“Research shows that technology can facilitate better teaching and learning, but only when used judiciously,” said Dennis Pierce, editor of eSchool News. “And that starts at the very top, with strong district leadership. If you start with a clear vision for how to implement technology effectively, and you make sure your staff is well trained and supported, and you seek to transform instructional practices to leverage technology’s full potential, then technology really can empower education. And that’s what the winners of our annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards are doing.”

As educators come to rely on technology and the internet to engage students’ interest, track their progress, personalize instruction, and aid in decision making, an understanding of how technology works and how it can be used to transform teaching and learning is now an essential characteristic for the 21st-century school superintendent. eSchool News created its awards program in 2001 to recognize and encourage this quality.

Chosen by the editors of eSchool News with help from last year’s winners, the 2011 award winners will be honored in a private ceremony held in conjunction with the Century Club 100 meeting at the American Association of School Administrators’ annual conference in Denver Feb. 17. The ceremony will be shown live online at www.eschoolnews.com from 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Mountain time (1:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. Eastern time).

The ceremony will feature Tom Carroll, Ph.D., president of the National Commission of Teaching and America’s Future, who will discuss how education leaders can transform schools from teaching organizations into learning organizations.

To meet this year’s winners, read on. For a list of the criteria we use in judging these awards, click here.

Editorial Director Gregg Downey (left) of eSchool News poses with Eric Conti (right), one of the 2010 TSSA winners.

Snow wreaked havoc with travel plans in several U.S. states last week, but the sun was shining in Phoenix on Feb. 11 as eSchool News honored 10 superintendents who are among the nation’s most successful in leading their schools into the 21st century.

The occasion was eSchool News’ Tenth Annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards, sponsored by K12 Inc., the Pearson Foundation, Promethean, and JDL Horizons’ Eduvision. The winners were honored at a private ceremony held in conjunction with the Century Club 100’s annual meeting during the American Association of School Administrators’ National Conference on Education.

Winners were nominated by the school field and then chosen by the editors of eSchool News with the help of Tech-Savvy Superintendent laureates from prior years.

This year’s winners are:

• Eric Conti, Burlington Public Schools, Massachusetts
• Jan Harris, Cullman City Schools, Alabama
• Manuel Isquierdo, Sunnyside Unified School District, Arizona
• Chip Kimball, Lake Washington School District, Washington
• Pamela R. Moran, Albemarle County Public Schools, Virginia
• Carolyn Ross, Churchill County School District, Nevada
• Kim Ross, Houston Public Schools, Minnesota
• Amy Sichel, Abington School District, Pennsylvania
• Gary Smuts, ABC Unified School District, California
• Craig Witherspoon, Edgecombe County Public Schools, North Carolina

For the first time, the ceremony was shown online this year via live streaming video at eSchoolNews.TV. An archived version is now available for viewing.

Click to watch the 2010 TSSA Ceremony on eSN.tv

The ceremony was supposed to feature a keynote speech from Tom Carroll, a former Education Department official during the Clinton administration who is now president of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future.

However, Carroll’s travel plans were disrupted by “Snowmageddon,” as the record snowfall in the Washington, D.C., area was being called.

Instead, eSchool News Editor Dennis Pierce talked about the awards program and what it means to be a “tech-savvy” superintendent.

“[It] doesn’t mean you can set up a school network or write lines of code to support your Moodle installation—at least, not necessarily,” Pierce said. “It means you understand how technology can be used to improve instruction and streamline school operations. It means you recognize how technology can be used as a tool to meet the strategic goals of your district, rather than as an end in itself.”

Pierce said he’s been involved in the awards program since its inception, and this year’s awards were the toughest yet to judge.

Tech-Savvy Superintendent Award winners bring technology know-how to their districts.

One-to-one computing programs that are turning classrooms into student-centered learning labs and raising achievement; a technology incentive program that is reducing the dropout rate and closing the digital divide; live streaming of school board meetings online, and other efforts to engage stakeholders in school district activities; and the creation of an online-learning program that has solved the challenge of declining student enrollment: These are some of the many education technology accomplishments of the winners of our 10th annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards.

Sponsored by JDL Horizon’s Eduvision, K12 Inc., the Pearson Foundation, and Promethean, the awards program recognizes senior school district executives from around the nation who best exemplify outstanding leadership in the use of technology to further their district’s educational goals.

This year’s winners are:

• Eric Conti, Burlington Public Schools, Massachusetts
• Jan Harris, Cullman City Schools, Alabama
• Manuel Isquierdo, Sunnyside Unified School District, Arizona
• Chip Kimball, Lake Washington School District, Washington
• Pamela R. Moran, Albemarle County Public Schools, Virginia
• Carolyn Ross, Churchill County School District, Nevada
• Kim Ross, Houston Public Schools, Minnesota
• Amy Sichel, Abington School District, Pennsylvania
• Gary Smuts, ABC Unified School District, California
• Craig Witherspoon, Edgecombe County Public Schools, North Carolina

“Research shows that technology can facilitate better teaching and learning, but only when used judiciously,” said Dennis Pierce, editor of eSchool News. “And that starts at the very top, with strong district leadership. If you start with a clear vision for how to implement technology effectively, and you make sure your staff is well supported and trained, and you seek to change instructional practices to leverage technology’s potential, then technology really can empower education. And that’s what the winners of our annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards are doing.”

The development of an increasingly digital society, and the emergence of a new era of accountability in the nation’s schools, have changed our expectations of the superintendency. As school leaders rely on technology to engage students’ interest, track their progress, personalize instruction, and aid in decision making, an understanding of how technology works and how it can be used to transform teaching and learning is an increasingly essential characteristic for the 21st-century superintendent. eSchool News created its awards program in 2001 to recognize and encourage this quality.

Chosen by the editors of eSchool News with help from last year’s award winners, these 10 exemplary leaders will be honored in a private ceremony held in conjunction with the Century Club 100 meeting at the American Association of School Administrators’ National Conference on Education in Phoenix Feb. 11.

The ceremony will feature Tom Carroll, Ph.D., president of the National Commission of Teaching and America’s Future, who will discuss how education leaders can transform schools from teaching organizations into learning organizations.

“A new feature of this 10th anniversary awards ceremony will be multimedia highlights from the school districts of each 2010 Tech-Savvy Superintendent laureate,” said Gregg W. Downey, publisher and president of eSchool News. “The multimedia segments will give attendees an idea of why each laureate deserves to be a Tech-Savvy Superintendent of 2010, while simultaneously underscoring [his or her] school district’s technological prowess and enlivening the awards ceremony itself.”

This year, for the first time, the ceremony can be viewed via live streaming video at www.eSchoolNews.TV. The ceremony will begin at 12:30 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.

To find out what distinguishes each of this year’s award winners, click here.

To see our 10 “Hallmarks of Excellence” that define a tech-savvy superintendent, click here.

To hear the winners describe what it means to be a “tech-savvy” superintendent in their own words, click here.

Default Lines column in eSchool News, February 2010—Former Notre Dame University President Theodore Hesburgh was quoted as saying, “The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision.” Skillful leaders are able to articulate that vision clearly and inspire their communities to action—and the winners of our annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards epitomize this idea.

The awards honor the nation’s top senior school district executives for their outstanding leadership and vision in education technology. This year marks the 10th anniversary of our groundbreaking awards program. I’ve been involved in the process for all 10 years, and I can honestly say this year’s awards were the toughest yet to judge.

We received nearly 400 nominations from districts from coast to coast, and nearly all of these were worthy of inclusion. That’s a good sign for the nation’s schools, I think.

For all the talk about how our schools are failing to meet the needs of today’s students, there are many hundreds of school systems whose leaders understand the evolving nature of 21st-century teaching and learning. It seems that being a “tech savvy” K-12 education leader is no longer an exception—and that’s a clear change from when we launched our awards program a decade ago.

Being a “tech savvy” superintendent doesn’t mean you can set up a school network or write lines of code to support your Moodle installation—at least, not necessarily. Instead, it means you understand how technology can be used to improve instruction and streamline school operations. It means you recognize how technology can be used as a tool to meet the strategic goals of your district, rather than as an end in itself.

A tech-savvy superintendent recognizes technology’s importance and commits sufficient resources in the district’s budget to sustain it. He or she insists that adequate professional development is a component of every ed-tech initiative, and that this training must be ongoing and target teachers’ specific needs—rather than a series of isolated, hit-or-miss workshops.

Tech-savvy superintendents also think strategically about the long-term challenges and opportunities that technology presents in their districts and in education at large. They build a vision of sustainability into their technology plans by budgeting for the life cycle of computers and taking into account their total cost of ownership. They recognize that new developments and advancements in technology occur rapidly and are ready to adjust their plans accordingly.

Tech-savvy superintendents ensure that ed-tech resources are distributed equitably among students and staff members. They also use technology to provide greater equity in the delivery of educational services to students and families in an effort to close the performance gap between students of different backgrounds.

Tech-savvy superintendents demonstrate curiosity and open-mindedness in considering emerging technologies and weighing non-traditional solutions to traditional problems. They’re not afraid to try unique approaches to using technology for meeting the specific needs and goals of their districts.

Finally, tech-savvy superintendents model the effective use of technology in their day-to-day activities, and their leadership extends beyond the borders of their school system. They might participate in conferences or other activities outside their districts, for example, or they might extend their own ed-tech resources to other local schools or education agencies.

The occasion was eSchool News’ Ninth Annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards, sponsored by Promethean, the Pearson Foundation, and K12 Inc. This year’s award winners were honored during a private ceremony held in conjunction with the Century Club 100 meeting at the American Association of School Administrators’ annual conference in San Francisco.

“Research shows that if you start with a clear vision for how to implement technology effectively, and you provide strong leadership in sharing this vision with stakeholders, and you make sure your staff is well supported and receives professional development that is relevant and sustained, and you seek to change instructional practices to take advantage of technology’s potential, then technology really can empower more effective teaching and learning,” eSchool News Managing Editor Dennis Pierce said in presenting the awards.

Now in its ninth year, the Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards are intended to recognize excellence in ed-tech leadership from the very top level of school district administration, and hold these exemplary leaders up as models for others to follow.

Among other criteria, “tech-savvy” superintendents must model the effective use of technology in their day-to-day execution of the superintendency; ensure that technology resources are distributed equitably among students and staff; insist that adequate professional development is a component of every school technology initiative; demonstrate exceptional vision in leading the development and implementation of a district-wide technology plan; and think creatively and strategically about the long-term challenges and opportunities that technology provides in their district and in education at large.

Winners were nominated by the school field and then chosen by the editors of eSchool News with the help of Tech-Savvy Superintendent laureates from prior years.

This year’s winners are:

• Margaret Anderson, Knob Noster R-VIII School District, Missouri;
• Steven Baule, Community Unit School District 201, Illinois;
• Vince Cotter, Colonial School District, Pennsylvania;
• Richard A. DiPatri, Brevard Public Schools, Florida;
• Arthur Himmler, Steilacoom Historical School District No. 1, Washington;
• Lorraine Lange, Roanoke County Schools, Virginia;
• Larry Price, Wilson County Schools, North Carolina;
• Tom Shelton, Daviess County Public Schools, Kentucky;
• Steven Stephanoff, Center Grove Community School District, Indiana; and
• Mark Weedy, Eastland/Fairfield Career and Technical Schools, Ohio.

“You’re all familiar with the phrase, ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ Well, with billions of dollars in new federal [stimulus] funding will come intense scrutiny,” Pierce told the honorees.

“As they get set to spend this new influx of cash, your colleagues in other districts will be looking to you for guidance. …I hope you’ll use your collective voices to help spread the word: When used effectively as part of a well-designed plan, and when supported with adequate staff development (and not one-and-done workshops), technology can help reach today’s students and equip them with the 21st-century skills they’ll need to succeed.”

After the awards were presented, Chip Kimball, superintendent of the Lake Washington School District in Redmond, Wash., spoke about an initiative from the Consortium for School Networking called “Empowering the 21st Century Superintendent.” Kimball and Century Club 100 President Evelyn Holman then led a discussion about effective school leadership in the 21st century.

(Editor’s note: For more coverage of AASA’s 2009 National Conference on Education–including a video interview with AASA President Daniel Domenech–see our AASA Conference Information Center at eSN Online: http://www.eschoolnews.com/conference-info/aasa.)

“Right now, our one-to-one laptop initiative has my attention, because we’re trying to make sure we have some baseline data to show our community that the investment of those dollars is really going to pay off in terms of student achievement. …Students have access to the technology 24-7, [which enables] a just-in-time kind of learning. I was talking to a teacher who was saying, ‘If we want to look up some information, we don’t have to schedule into out computer lab–I can just have the students open up their laptops and look up this information right away.’ …Our media specialists are moving ahead with all sorts of ideas and innovations; I’m just really fortunate that our community, the staff, and the school board are all behind this.”

—Margaret Anderson, Knob Noster School District, Mo.

“Being a tech-savvy superintendent means giving teachers the tools they need to succeed in the classroom, and [making] sure that [we] operate effectively by integrating our systems together. …We’ve been able to create a ‘classroom of the future’ for every single classroom in the district, K-12. A classroom of the future, in our opinion, is one in which we have interactive whiteboards [and projectors], giving teachers the ability to be very engaging with the students. …Our classrooms have become really alive with the implementation of technology.”

—Vince Cotter, Colonial School District, Pa.

“We used to teach kids by bringing technology to them and saying, ‘Learn this technology.’ We’ve advanced [beyond] that now, to where we’re adapting what we’re doing to the kids’ mode of learning. …We’re taking our curriculum and delivering it in a mode and a fashion that the kids readily adapt to and are successful with.”

—Arthur Himmler, Steilacoom Historical School District No. 1, Wash.

“Whenever you win an award, you don’t win it alone. I’m lucky to have a supportive school board and a director of technology and teachers and principals who really embrace technology. …The students we have now are the digital natives–they were born with technology, they use it in games, they use it at home–so it’s important that we use it in instruction.”

—Lorraine Lange, Roanoke County Schools, Va.

“Technology is a tool, and it has transformational qualities if we use it in the right way. We have to always be curious about how we can use technology to enhance what we’re doing, to make what we are trying to teach our children more relevant, to help them develop skills that will enable them to be successful in this new age we’re in. …I think it’s a matter of finding ways that children already embrace technology, and then working together to make sure teaching and learning are complementary to that.”

—Larry Price, Wilson County Schools, N.C.

(Editor’s note: More ed-tech insights from the winning superintendents are available at eSN Online. Watch video interviews with nine of the 10 winners at http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/tssa.)