April 2, 2012

Dallas ISD Staff and Constituents:

I am pleased to announce that the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees has selected Mike Miles as our sole finalist for the Superintendent of Schools. Our vote comes after a rigorous and thorough process and one which involved significant community input from more than 700 stakeholders.

On behalf of my fellow trustees, I want to thank everyone who provided input into the Superintendent Profile. Trustees considered those attributes while making our decision on selecting a new superintendent.

Proact Search assisted the Board in recruiting and searching for high quality candidates. Nearly 90 persons submitted an application.We interviewed both traditional and non-traditional candidates from an elite pool. While all of the candidates had most of the qualities we valued, one candidate stood out: Mike Miles.

In order for the Dallas Independent School District to move towards being a premier urban school system, it will need a unique superintendent who has a proven track record of leadership, vision, and innovation: nationally known Mike Miles.

In education, Mike has held positions as a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, and currently, Superintendent of the Harrison School District in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He knows what it means to be college and workforce ready. He holds degrees from West Point, UC Berkeley, and Columbia University.

Mike has 28 years of leadership experience in high-intensity environments as an Army Ranger, U.S. Diplomat, and Superintendent of Schools. He has spent his entire life serving the public interest and for the last 17 years, he has devoted his time and energy to improving outcomes for at-risk children. He will ensure we continue our mission of educating all students for success.

Mike turned around a struggling and low-performing district in Colorado and is a recognized educational leader in his state. His ideas and innovations around systems thinking, measuring teacher and principal effectiveness,and building an adaptive organization have been recognized by national education institutes and have been adopted by numerous districts across the country.

The future of Dallas ISD has begun. I believe I speak for the Board of Trustees in saying that we look forward to a very exciting and rewarding tenure with Mike Miles. However, in accordance with state law, the board must wait at least 21 days before taking final action on his employment as superintendent.

On behalf of my fellow trustees, I appreciate your interest in this very important process, leading to our decision and your continued support for Dallas ISD.

Sincerely,

Lew Blackburn, Ph.D.
Board President

Board of Trustees

Download:

• Superintendent Search Process Update (4/2/2012)
• Superintendent Search Process Update (3/2/2012)
• Superintendent Search Process Update (1/27/2012)
• Superintendent Search Process Announcement (12/1/2011)

DALLAS–Dallas Independent School District Board of Trustees today named Mike Miles as the lone finalist for the district’s superintendent position.

Trustees have been conducting a nationwide search for a new superintendent that included receiving input from several stakeholder groups.

He is known as an innovator and reformer who is changing the face of public education. His ideas and innovations around systems thinking, measuring teacher and principal effectiveness and building an adaptive organization have been recognized by national education institutes and have been adopted by numerous districts around the country.

Miles,55, has served as Superintendent for the Harrison School District Two in Colorado Springs since fall 2006.

Under his leadership, Harrison County District Two has experienced increased graduation rates and improved student achievement.

"The Dallas ISD Board of Trustees is thrilled with our selection of Mike Miles as the lone finalist for Superintendent of Schools,” said Lew Blackburn, President of the Board. “Mr. Miles has spent his entire life serving the public and has a proven track record of success. Not only will his life story serve as an inspiration to our students, he is a recognized leader who is focused on student results. Today is a great day for the Dallas Independent School District."

Mike Miles is a former Army Ranger who graduated from West Point in 1978. He then entered the ranks of the officer corps at Ft. Lewis, Washington, where he served in the Army's elite Ranger Battalion and commanded an Infantry Rifle Company.

After the Army, Miles studied Slavic languages and literature at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Leningrad in Russia. Miles then pursued advanced study of Soviet affairs and public policy at Columbia University and earned a master’s degree in 1989. The same year, he joined the U. S. Department of State as a policy analyst at the Soviet desk, and then from 1990 to 1995 as diplomat in Moscow and Warsaw at the end of the Cold War.

Miles and his family returned home to Colorado Springs in 1995 where he started as a high school teacher in his alma mater school district – Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8. Miles continued to grow professionally and held other positions such as middle school principal, coordinator of administration services and from 2003 to 2006 served as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, in the same school district.

Currently, Miles also serves as an educational consultant and motivational speaker for school districts and other public organizations around the state of Colorado. He is recognized as an accomplished practitioner of curriculum alignment, organizational effectiveness, and systems thinking.

Miles is married to Karen Miles, and they have three children.

The Dallas ISD School Board plans to officially approve hiring Miles on Thursday, April 26. If approved, Miles is slated to begin work Monday, July 2.

The award winning Dallas Independent School District is seeking a superintendent. The district is the 14th largest school district in the country with an enrollment of over 157,000 students in 225 schools with more than 20,000 employees. It is also home to the top two public high schools in the country. The annual operating budget is 1.47 billion dollars.

DISD serves a diverse student population which is 69% Hispanic, 25% African American and 5% white. The attendance rate for the district is 96% and the graduation rate is 74.6%

The Board of Trustees has recently approved the following Mission, Vision, Core Values, and Goals.

Mission: Educating all Students for Success

Vision: To be a premier urban school system

Core Values: We believe people must have a number of personal values if they are to be effective in their lives and their work. We expect our employees, students, parents, and other stakeholders to nurture and exemplify these values at all times.

• Trustworthiness
• Responsibility
• Respect
• Caring
• Citizenship
• Fairness

District Goals: In everything we do our goal is to improve the quality of education for all our students. We expect every employee to believe that every student can succeed. We will pursue the following operational goals, in order of priority:

• TEACHERS: Ensure highly effective teachers for all students.
• PRINCIPALS: Ensure a highly effective leader for every school.
• SAFE AND SECURE SCHOOLS: To ensure a safe, secure and welcoming environment for all students, parents, staff and the community.
• PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT: Develop shared responsibility between parents/guardians and schools that foster academic success and self‐management of learning.
• RIGOR: Implement rigorous curriculum and engaging educational practices and experiences.
• CULTURE: Create and sustain a positive and compassionate “common culture” throughout the district that leads towards accomplishing our vision and mission.
• HUMAN RESOURCES: Hire, retain, and develop highly effective employees for every position.
• DATA AND INNOVATION: Make managerial decisions based on appropriated reliable and valid data and best practices and to develop and continually improve new, innovative ways of schooling to meet the needs of students in the 21st century.
• CENTRAL OFFICE: Organize central services to encourage and enhance a positive campus by removing barriers that prevent achieving our goals.
• FACILITIES: Systemically upgrade and maintain our facilities to provide every student an efficient learning environment.

Superintendent Candidate

The candidate must possess exceptional leadership skills to continue to raise the academic bar for all students, continue to eliminate the achievement gap while serving as an ambassador for the district for the district with the school community and the broader public. The board will offer a competitive compensation package.

Application Criteria:

1. The superintendent will have at least 5 years of administrative experience managing people in a leadership position. The board prefers candidates who are prepared to make a long term commitment to the District,
2. Prior superintendent experience is preferred but the board is willing to consider non‐traditional candidates for this position,
3. A valid superintendent certificate or appropriate certification or permit,
4. Salary range is comparable to similar size districts and is negotiable with the Board depending on experience and qualifications,
5. Candidate must be willing to move into the school district as a resident of the district,
6. A terminal degree in the candidate’s area of expertise is desirable.

• Successful experience as a superintendent in a diverse Pre‐K school district, is again, preferred
• Effective communication skills will be needed in order to reach out to all community groups, develop productive and beneficial relationships with community leaders, be a visible presence in the schools and be a representative of the school district throughout the city,
• Collaborative leader who makes decisions only after seeking input from key stakeholders and who values an inclusive decision making process,
• Experience and success in developing relationships with the business community that benefit all residents and that improve the schools,
• A track record of working within a political environment at the city, county and state level,
• Embraces processes that welcome dissenting opinions and value all segments of the community,
• Demonstrated experience in embracing and promoting diversity and working well in diverse ethnic, racial, cultural and socio‐economic communities and environments,
• Inclusive leader who builds sound relationships with school based personnel,
• Visible presence in the schools, communicating and interacting with school based personnel and students,
• An instructional leader who has experience and expertise in leading a district towards accelerated academic improvement,
• An innovator who will use best practice research to improve academic and organizational achievement,
• Accountable for district performance,
• Puts children first and inspire trust among all key stakeholders,
• Experience in lowering drop‐out rates, increasing graduation rates and expanding post‐secondary options is advantageous and preferred.
• Experience and success with English Language Learners is preferred,
• A model of transparency and honesty in his/her approach,
• Experience in budget, finance and capital improvements,
• Make a long term commitment to the district.

Download

• Superintendent Position Profile

• Community Engagement Summaries (1/27/2012)
• Superintendent Search Stakeholder Engagement Activities Presentation (1/27/2012)
• Superintendent Search - Dallas Community Engagement Plan (12/1/2011)

As part of the search for a new superintendent for the Dallas Independent School District, the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees and PROACT Search are actively seeking stakeholder input and engagement through an online survey, personal interviews, focus groups with both internal & external stakeholders, and community meetings.

The online survey may be accessed at http://DallasISDSurvey.com. Five community meetings open to the public are scheduled for:

Based on stakeholder input, PROACT will develop a Superintendent profile which will be presented to the Board of Trustees.

"We want the Dallas community’s opinions to be heard and considered," said Dallas ISD Board President Dr. Lew Blackburn. "This search is a vital decision which will impact the future of our children, schools and the community for many years, and with honest feedback from the Dallas community, we will be better suited to select a superintendent who meets the needs of our city and region."

"PROACT Search is enthusiastic about this important work in Dallas and the opportunity that exists for the city to find itself a best fit leader for the city’s schools," says PROACT Search CEO Gary Solomon. "In engaging not just the Dallas educational community, but all stakeholders and community members, PROACT Search will be able to accurately recruit the best candidates from across the country."