Eduardo R. Rivas
Position: Administrative director, Office of Performance Improvement, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Fla.
Education: B.S., Florida International University (FIU); M.S., Nova University and FIU; Ed.D., University of Miami.
Career History and Highlights: Varied experiences have led to opportunities to provide districtwide leadership, coordinate strategic planning, and infuse quality performance improvement initiatives throughout schools and business and support offices. Counselor, teacher, project manager, adjunct professor, Fulbright Scholar (Republic of Korea), assistant principal, principal, district administrator. Member, American Society for Quality and American Productivity and Quality Center; board of directors, Association for Quality and Participation; commissioner, Florida Community Service Commission; examiner, board of directors, and conference speaker, Florida Sterling Council; liaison, Florida Department of Education. Local, state, national, and international presentations and publications on using data to drive decisions, restructuring (International Conference for Peace and Mutual Understanding, Moscow), team building, systemic problem solving, best practices, parent participation, increasing student achievement, focusing on equity, benchmarking, and global/multicultural education (an international necessity).
ASCD and Affiliate Participation: ASCD member, 24 years; affiliate member, 14 years. Board of Directors (2001–02); Governance Transition Advisory Committee (2000–03); Network Facilitator (2002–05); Nominations-Elections Panel (2003–04); Program Development Advisory Panel (2003-present); conference speaker (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005); associate member (current). Affiliate president (2001–02); board member (1995–96, 1999-present); conference chair (2000); speaker (1991, 1995, 2000, 2002); diversity committee (1995).
What Is Your Vision for ASCD? ASCD, an active, international organization, provides a venue—through conferences, affiliates, networks, and boards for educators—to share ideas that influence the direction and quality of education and the effectiveness of educational leaders. ASCD's Strategic Plan clearly delineates its mission, vision, goals, and beliefs, and it is the navigational chart for all activity. As such, it challenges and empowers its members to address issues affecting education, to employ teamwork that values the diversity that many minds and hands bring to the accomplishment of its work, and to view new challenges not as obstacles but as opportunities.
Visionary leadership builds on success, which is a journey, not a destination; seeks and uses members' expertise while providing for their professional needs; pursues opportunities to form productive alliances; and serves as a proactive advocate for students and educators. By combining our efforts, maximizing our resources, and capitalizing on our diversity, we can expand our capacity to realize performance improvement and to turn concepts into the reality of quality educational experiences for all. The leadership role of a Board of Directors member is critical to the accomplishment of this vision.
Wayne C. Sweeney
Position: Independent consultant, Tomorrows Schools Today LLC, Cromwell, Conn.
Education: B.A., University of Washington; M.Ed., Central Washington University; doctoral work, University of Washington.
Career History and Highlights: Thirty-three years as a teacher; elementary, middle, and high school principal; assistant superintendent; superintendent; and consultant. Principal and superintendent (26 years); instructional leader, consultant, and presenter at local, regional, state, and national levels (15 years). Provider of technical assistance to schools and districts in reform efforts, including strategic planning, building learning communities, decision making, and professional development (10 years); local, regional, state, and national presentations to groups including Washington State principals, superintendents, and Washington ASCD, Connecticut ASCD, Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, international ASCD, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (20 years); adjunct instructor at various universities in the state of Washington (14 years).
ASCD and Affiliate Participation: ASCD member, more than 20 years; affiliate member, 4 years. Ten years providing leadership at the state and international level in ASCD, including president, Washington ASCD; executive director, Connecticut ASCD; cofacilitator of an Open Space Technology session during ASCD Board of Directors meeting in San Antonio, Tex.; chair, Issues Committee.
What Is Your Vision for ASCD? Throughout my career, it has been my mission to work with colleagues, parents, and communities to provide an influence and impact on learning. My years in public education have been dedicated to this mission. As a member of ASCD for well over 20 years, I have watched the organization grow and change into an influential professional organization dedicated to having an influence and impact on student achievement.
Having recently retired as a full-time public school administrator with a 60-plus-hour workweek, I now turn my attention to providing influence and impact through another venue, the ASCD Board of Directors. Through its Strategic Plan, ASCD reaches out and touches educators around the world, providing quality support, professional development, and materials to those educating children and young men and women.
As a member of the ASCD Board of Directors, I will bring my years of experience in leadership positions to further assist our organization in promoting its growth and influence. I would like to offer my abilities to listen, ask questions, and communicate; my knowledge of educational research; and my personal commitment and dedication to ASCD worldwide, as well as to its members, who have committed their lives to educating the children of the world.
Realista B. R. Rodriguez
Position: Principal, South Lakes High School, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), Reston, Va.
Education: B.A.-B.S.E., St. Paul College, Manila; M.Ed., University of Hawaii; Ph.D. (pending), George Mason State University (GMU).
Career History and Highlights: Principal, Pimmit Hills Alternative High School, Fairfax, Va. (7.5 years); assistant principal (4 years); professional developer (3 years); curriculum specialist (3 years). High school biology teacher (5 years), science chair (2 years), middle school science teacher (11 years), bilingual kindergarten teacher (2 years), and ESOL teacher (2 years). University adjunct professor (2 years), NAEP National Science Committee (1990-present). Presenter, National Science Teachers Association and National Association for Biology Teachers (1985–1992), American Educational Research Association (1992), National Staff Development Council (1993), AAUW Virginia Conferences (1995–98); 2005 NASSPMetlife Bridge Builders. Awards: Harry Milgrom Science Teacher (Department of Energy), FCPS Teacher Recognition, Excellence in Science Education (Joint Board of Science Education), Virginia Science Administrator, NASSP-Metlife Bridge Builders (3 years), Golden Apple Award of Excellence, Principal of the Year Nominee, Leadership Fairfax Educator Award finalist. Fellowships: Georgetown University Biotechnology, Catholic University, GMU Holmes Scholar, Washington Post's Principal Leadership Institute, LEAD Fairfax. Coauthor, chapters in three books on communication styles of Asian American and Hispanic American teachers and interpersonal relationships in education; contributor to biology sourcebooks; writer, Multiculturalism in Mathematics, Science, and Technology.
ASCD and Affiliate Participation: ASCD member, 15 years, affiliate member, 14 years. Institutional member (5 years); annual conference presenter (1993-present); member, Nominations Committee (2 years), Conference Planning Committee (2 years), OYEA Panel; conference volunteer (2 years).
What Is Your Vision for ASCD? There is no doubt that ASCD plays a very important role as an international facilitator for discussion and analysis of learning, teaching, and educational leadership today and in the future. I am convinced that ASCD strongly influences sound educational policy development, pertinent research initiation, and effective practice implementation. My vision for ASCD is founded on the belief that a collaborative, positive, and interactive sharing of expertise in a caring and respectful environment will produce compelling improvements in teaching and learning. ASCD must forge ahead in the pursuit of recruiting and retaining members of diverse backgrounds whose insights can enrich the multifaceted approaches to dynamic change. ASCD should boldly explore and share differentiated avenues of building multilevel leadership capacity that sustains schools. As the world's premier education organization, ASCD must commit to a continuous development of excellent quality services and resources that are accessible, applicable, and affordable.
It will be an honor to serve the ASCD community in its efforts to advocate for educators who believe in the intrinsic value of every student and the reality of socioeconomic and cultural effects on their lives; to proactively assist in the development of leaders who are responsible, reflective, and resilient; to strongly support the connection among schools, homes, business corporations, and community organizations; and to thoughtfully study the alignment of policies and practices that benefit children. I will consider it a unique privilege to share my creative problemsolving and interpersonal relationship skills, in addition to my strategic and analytical planning experiences, with committed and dedicated ASCD colleagues.