Oct. 6, 2005
Contact: Jo Ann Lloyd
Cal Poly Public Affairs
(805) 756-6530; jlloyd@calpoly.edu
Cal Poly Professor Co-Edits Book on Superintendents and School Board Leadership
SAN LUIS OBISPO -- George J. Petersen, a Cal Poly education professor, has co-edited a book that examines how school leadership influences the quality of children’s education.
Recently published by Information Age Publishing, “The Politics of Leadership: Superintendents and School Boards in Changing Times” objectively analyzes the governance of school districts in relation to quality education for all children, said Petersen, who edited the book with Lance D. Fusarelli, a professor from North Carolina State University.
“The Politics of Leadership” is a scholarly work recommended as a resource for anyone interested in becoming a superintendent, those who teach future district administrators, and those who are interested in studying district leaders.
Said one reviewer, “The book invites the reader to deliberate
on alternative policy strategies in the leadership of schools in
these changing and turbulent times. Professors Petersen and Fusarelli
have done an excellent job at gathering together a group of nationally
renowned scholars that present different views of this dynamic relationship.
In the end, this work contributes greatly to the conversation and
understanding of how the superintendent and school board relationship
ebbs and flows to influence policy, decision-making, and the education
of children.”
Petersen, a resident of Los Osos, is an associate professor in the
educational leadership and administration program in Cal Poly’s
College of Education. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy
from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy,
in 1981; a master's degree in 1991 and a doctorate in 1993 in educational
policy, leadership and organizational studies, both from UC Santa
Barbara.
Previously he taught in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Missouri-Columbia and served as associate director of the University Council for Educational Administration, a consortium of universities focused on improving the preparation of educational leaders and promoting the development of professional knowledge in school improvement and administration.
As a public school teacher in California, Petersen received a 1988 Sallie Mae Outstanding Teacher Award, recognizing the top 100 teachers in the United States.
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