Directors
Founding Co-Director
Meredith Mountford, PhD
Florida Atlantic University
777 Glades Road
246 Education Bldg.
Boca Raton, Fl 33431
Email: mmountfo@fau.edu
561-297-6551
&
Co-Director
Dr. Leigh Wallace
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Enderis Hall 651
Email: lwallace@uwm.edu
Phone: 414-416-8407
Center Purpose
The main purpose of the UCEA Joint Program Center for the Study of the Superintendency and District Governance is to bring together a collaborative group of researchers in the area of the superintendency and school board governance and provide a Center for the administration of a nationally funded joint-research agenda. The Center endeavors to use technology to provide accessibility and broad dissemination of research not only to an academic audience, but practical applications and guidance for district-level leaders in the field. The Center also endeavors to provide a central organization for national associations to use to improve linkages and mutually beneficial collaborations between academic and practitioner worlds.
The Center began operations in Fall 2009. The Center started with 4 joint co-directors. In Spring 2010 the Center re-organized operations to two of the four original co-directors, Thomas Alsbury and Meredith Mountford. Upon Dr. Alsbury’s move to a non-UCEA institution in 2016, Leigh Ellen Wallace from the University of Wisconsin became the second co-director of the center. Drs. Mountford and Wallace have remained co-directors of the center since that point.
State School Board Keynotes and Associations
Texas School Board Association 2018
Wisconsin Association of School Boards 2001-2003
Oregon School Board Association - 2006-Present
Northampton School District- North Carolina- 2007-2014
Halifax School District- North Carolina-2007-2011
Speakers Sheldon Leadership Forum
Franklin School District- North Carolina-2007-2009
Weldon City School District- North Carolina-2007-2014
Granville School District- North Carolina-2007-present
Roanoke Rapids School District- North Carolina-2007-2011
North Carolina School Board Association- 2008
Kentucky School Board Association- 2008, 2014-2017, 2021-2022
New York State School Board Association – 2008
New Jersey State School Board Association- 2008-09
West Virginia State School Board Association- 2007-2009, 2013-Present
Georgia State Board of Education Task Force- 2008-09
Alabama Association of School Boards- 2009-2010, 2018
Alabama Superintendents Association- 2009-2010
Washington State School Board Association- 2010-Present
Bertie School District- North Carolina-2007-2014
Warren Rapids School District- North Carolina-2007-2014
Hertford School District- North Carolina-2011-2014
Nebraska State Legislature – Invited, 2012
Prosser School District, WA- 2014
Jefferson County S.D., Kentucky- 2013-2014
Utah School Board Association- 2014
Arizona School Board Association- 2014
Nevada School Board Association- 2014
Idaho School Board Association- 2014
Colorado School Board Association- 2014
National School Board Association- 2008-Present
Multiple AERA SIG linkagesOn-Going Work
Recent book chapters, publications
Mountford, M., & Wallace, L. E. (Vol III) [Under Contract/In Progress/Due Early 2024], The contemporary superintendent: Surviving politicized school boards. Vol III in M. Mountford and L. Wallace (Eds). Research on the Superintendency Series. Information Age Press: Charlotte, NC.
Mountford, M., & Wallace, L. E., (Eds.) (Vol II), (2022), The contemporary superintendent: Reclaiming local control through superintendents, school boards, and community activism. Vol II In M. Mountford and L. Wallace (Eds.) Research on the Superintendency Series. Information Age Press (IAP): Charlotte, NC.
Mountford, M., & Wallace, L. E., (Eds.) (Vol I), (2020). The contemporary superintendent: (R)Evolutionary leadership in an era of reform. Vol I in M. Mountford and L. Wallace (Eds). Research on the Superintendency Series. Information Age Press: Charlotte, NC.
Alsbury, T. L., & Gore, P.,(2015). Improving local school board governance: A Balanced Governance approach. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Press
Alsbury, T. L. (2015). Hitting a moving target: How politics determines the changing roles of superintendents and school boards [pp. 37-61]. In B. S. Cooper, J. G. Cibulka, & L. D. Fusarelli (Eds.) Handbook of education politics and policy (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Alsbury, T. L., & Whitaker, K. S. (2015). District Superintendents as instructional leaders? In G. Ivory, A. Hyle, R. McClellan, & M. Acker-Hocevar (Eds.) Quandaries of the Small-District Superintendency [pp. 35-54]. Palgrave-MacMillan.
Alsbury, T. L., & Miller-Jones, B. (In Press, 2015). Elements of School Board Success: A Comprehensive Board Assessment Tool for Systemic Improvement. In T. L. Alsbury, & P. Gore (Eds.). Improving local school board governance: Tools and practices. [Chapter 6] Cambridge, MA: Harvard Press.
Recent Presentations
Mountford, M., Wallace, L., & McCleod, S. (November, 2018). School Safety and UCEA Program Centers. Invited by UCEA to serve on a Panel Session at the University Council of Educational Administration’s (UCEA) Annual Conference. Houston, TX.
Wallace, L.E., & Mountford, M. (2018). Meaningful research on 21st century superintend ent & district leadership: UCEA Program Center special session. The Annual University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Conference in Houston, TX, November 2018.
Pappas, D., & Mountford, M. (November, 2018) (Re)Focusing on School Safety After Parkland: An Analysis of Aftermath Research. A paper session presented at the University Council of Educational Administration’s (UCEA) Annual Conference. Houston, TX.
Wallace, L.E. (2018). Navigating Multiple Identities as a Local School Board Member: A Year of Service & Reflection. The Annual University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Conference in Houston, TX, November 2018.
Arellano, M., & Mountford, M. (November, 2018) Managed Discourse: Legitimizing Principal Authority and Agency. A paper session presented at the University Council of Educational Administration’s (UCEA) Annual Conference. Houston, TX.
Mountford, M. (2017). Meaningful research on 21st century superintendent & district leadership: (R)evolutionary leadership in an era of reform. The Annual University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Conference in Denver, CO.
Vance Noelk, D., & Mountford, M. (November, 2017). Combatting Corporate Reform. A paper presented at the University Council of Educational Administration’s (UCEA) Annual Conference. Denver, CO.
*Vance Noelk, D., & Mountford, M. (November, 2017). Social Media: Reviving our Voice. A paper presented at the University Council of Educational Administration’s (UCEA) Annual Conference. Denver, CO.
*Vance Noelk, D., & Mountford, M. (October, 2017). Power of the People: Grassroots Change in Educational Policy Reform. A paper presented at the Speak Up and Speak Out conference. Los Angeles, CA.
Wallace, L.E. & Tharp, J. (2017, August) Transforming Leadership for equity & social justice: Program (re)visioning in an era of (un)certainty. Presentation for the annual meeting of the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA), International Council of Professors of Educational Leadership (ICPEL), San Juan, Puerto Rico
Wallace, L.E. (2017, August). (R)evolutionary Leadership: An innovative response to change Presentation for the annual meeting of the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA), International Council of Professors of Educational Leadership (ICPEL), San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Wallace, L.E. (2016, July). Ambiguous and Antiquated Job Descriptions: Redefining the Role of the High School Assistant Principal. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Council for Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) in Detroit, MI.
Wallace, L.E. & Frattura, E. (2015). Interrupting our gaps in achievement: school district office structures to meet the needs of all learners. The Annual University Council for Educational Administration Conference in San Diego, CA.
Wallace, L.E, Angel, R, Nganga, C.W., & West, D.L. (2015). Teaching for social justice in K-12 university leadership preparation programs. The Annual University Council for Educational Administration Conference in San Diego, CA.
Wallace, L.E, Angel, R, Shaw, D. & Mountford, M.(2015) A call to action: Creating a meaningful research agenda on 21st century superintendent leadership. The Annual University Council for Educational Administration Conference in San Diego, CA.
Attention to local governance appears to be on the rise in some states but on the decline in most others. Instead substituting state legislation for what was once, left up to the local board members and administrators. A pattern can easily be seen here based on Republican and Democratic states. Ironically, traditional conservative tenants suggest those closest to the issue should have the majority of the decision making on those issues, but conservative states like Florida and Texas and even some purple states like Wisconsin that are chipping away at the local control of education year by year. We can only hope that the work of the center will push policy makers back in the direction of local control and relax the hold some states have on education; including library materials, bathroom preference, DEI policies, and curriculum. We have discussed this issue across the country and the world and the Center strongly believes in the power of local control in it truest and most transparent being and its role in educating future generations. To that end, below are the future goals of the center.
1) Strengthen research efforts around the importance of school governance; local or otherwise while at once attempting to depoliticize school governance.
2) Conduct Program Evaluations. The director and associate director would be amenable to serve as consultants for UCEA and non-UCEA institutions and local school districts to evaluate their district leadership and governance structures and offer alternative plans for improvement based on empirical evidence and best practice. Products: List of consultancies and consultant projects/events. Culminating evaluation reports.
3) Host Symposia and Workshops. Each year at UCEA and AERA, the center will at a minimum, offer a workshop to members related to findings and best practice in school governance and any results of their collaborative research findings. Products: List of UCEA and AERA workshops conducted.
4) Develop Association Linkages. The Center director and associate director will work toward developing a formal relationship, support, and active collaboration between key national associations related to the Center’s focus. Products: List of collaborations, formal and informal partnerships formed, contracts, MOUs, and collaborations on projects, research, publications, and presentations with and through practitioner associations, state and city government, and local school districts.
5) Research Dissemination. Yearly contributions to journal articles, books, and presentations both in academic and practitioner venues. Dissemination includes widely-read nonacademic sources like press releases, newspapers, and radio. Products: List of contributions to journal articles, books, and presentations both in academic and practitioner venues.
6) Convene and/or Assist Academic Collaborations across other UCEA Centers. Assist researchers and research teams in the development of publications, presentations, applications of tools to use in the field, and consulting to enhance academic/practitioner partnerships to impact the field of governance.
7) Resend international survey to school board members ten years later (2024) and analyze changes.