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Monday, September 13, 2010

ASCD Inservice: Cuban: We Don't Need Another Hero

ASCD Inservice: Cuban: We Don't Need Another Hero

Cuban: We Don't Need Another Hero

On the eve of a mayoral primary election that could influence whether Adrian M. Fenty–appointed District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) Chancellor Michelle Rhee stays in D.C., our most-clicked article is Larry Cuban's on the myth of the heroic leader.

Although the superhero image brings attention to ailing school districts, the attention tends to consolidate around the heroic leader, and more nuanced understandings of the full school community end up on the cutting room floor.

Cuban takes aim at the cliched assertion that only a superhero could successfully run an urban district, when really brick-by-brick leadership, vision, and consensus-