Swimming
in the
Deep End
Four Foundational Skills for Leading Successful School Initiatives
Jennifer Abrams
Foreword by Ellie Drago-Severson
Copyright © 2019 by Solution Tree Press
Materials appearing here are copyrighted. With one exception, all rights are reserved. Readers may reproduce only those pages marked “Reproducible.” Otherwise, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of the publisher.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Abrams, Jennifer, author.
Title: Swimming in the deep end : four foundational skills for leading successful school initiatives / Jennifer Abrams.
Description: Bloomington, IN : Solution Tree Press, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018045175 | ISBN 9781947604018 (perfect bound)
Subjects: LCSH: Educational leadership--United States. | Education--Aims and objectives--United States.
Classification: LCC LB2805 .A35 2018 | DDC 371.2--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018045175
Solution Tree
Jeffrey C. Jones, CEO
Edmund M. Ackerman, President
Solution Tree Press
President and Publisher: Douglas M. Rife
Associate Publisher: Sarah Payne-Mills
Art Director: Rian Anderson
Managing Production Editor: Kendra Slayton
Senior Production Editor: Tara Perkins
Senior Editor: Amy Rubenstein
Copy Editor: Miranda Addonizio
Proofreader: Kate St. Ives
Text and Cover Designer: Abigail Bowen
Editorial Assistant: Sarah Ludwig
Dedicated to my late father, Richard B. Abrams, who taught me how to truly swim at the age of three and supported me in whatever “deep end” I wanted to swim every year after.
—Jennifer
Acknowledgments
Much appreciation goes to the following people who sensed the need for discussion around this topic and who have supported me in ways they might never truly know. I am grateful.
To John Hebert, John Fredrich, Becki Cohn-Vargas, Danny Bauer, Elena Aguilar, Sharon Ofek, Ann Lorey, Ann Idzik, Claudia Frandsen, Sean O’Maonaigh, Dana Carmichael, Rod Berger, Ross Romano, Laura Marcus-Bricca, Barbara McAfee, Shivani Pulimamimidi, Meme Ratliff, and others who sat with me, fed me, and were willing to engage in discussion with me around this deep-end work.
To those in other school boards and school districts and educational organizations who added to and pushed the work forward: Heather Lageman and Liz Berquist at Baltimore County Public Schools, Region 13 Educational Service Center in Austin, Texas, the School of Education at William and Mary, Holly Couturier and Dick Durost at the Maine Principals Association, Jennifer Hicks, Kim Lilienthal and the Placer County Office of Education, and to those at Learning Forward and their affiliates who gave me space to shape this work, and to the participants at their conferences who encouraged me, participated in the workshops, and pushed my thinking.
To my behind-the-scenes supporters: my family who were my cheerleaders and guides—my late father, Richard Abrams; my late mother, Myrna Abrams; my brother and sister-in-law, Adam and Shelley Abrams; and my awesome nephews, Joe and Evan; who think I don’t really work but just “fly around and talk to people.”
To Solution Tree for being so supportive through the moments I couldn’t work on the book but went into the deep-end end-of-life journey with the illness and eventual death of my father. To Douglas Rife, Claudia Wheatley, and Amy Rubenstein, thank you for your graciousness. The book is a better one thanks to your support.
Solution Tree Press would like to thank the following reviewers:
Jennette Barker
Principal
Henderson Elementary School
Saint Charles, Missouri
Michelle Davis
Instructional Literacy Coach
Gamble Rogers Middle School
Saint Augustine, Florida
Angy Dickson
Assistant Principal
Bryan Middle School
Saint Charles, Missouri
Andrew Grider
Principal
Rodney E. Thompson Middle School
Stafford, Virginia
Robert Johnson
Principal
Evergreen Middle School
Redmond, Washington
Paige Sanders
Principal
Henry A. Coffeen Elementary
Sheridan, Wyoming
Joy Wright
Principal
King Philip Middle School
West Hartford, Connecticut
Lisa Wunn
Principal
West Delaware Middle School
Manchester, Iowa
Table of Contents
by Ellie Drago-Severson