Valerie Page Truesdale
Position: Superintendent, School District of Oconee County, S.C.
Education: B.A., Clemson University; M.B.A., Georgia State University; Ph.D., University of South Carolina.
Career History and Highlights: Chief instructional services officer for a school system; deputy superintendent, State Department of Education; high school principal; assistant principal; personnel administrator; teacher; retail manager and buyer. Member, South Carolina Association for School Administrators and past president of Allied Division; member and past president, South Carolina Network for Women Administrators; founding member and president, Instructional Leaders Roundtable; Economic Development Commissioner; founder, Leadership Oconee County; founding team, Oconee Alliance; member, External Advisory Board, Clemson University; past president, Leadership Columbia; past board member, Leadership Lexington County; strategic planning team chair, South Carolina School Boards Association; steering committee, Southern Forum for Improving Middle Grades; fellow, National Center for Educational Statistics.
ASCD and Affiliate Participation:ASCD member (18 years); affiliate member (16 years). Elected to Leadership Council (2002) and to Board of Directors (2003); currently serves on Finance Committee and Leadership Council Management Team. South Carolina ASCD president; vice president for programs; newsletter chair; superintendents' liaison; board member since 1999; member of various committees, including program planning, membership, and conference planning.
What Is Your Vision for ASCD?"Hindsight is 20/20." We know this phrase to mean that one sees most clearly when looking backward. This year's kindergartners graduate in 2020. When looking back, will we be able to say those learners' K–12 experience wassignificant?Will they possess the skills and competencies for a technological, information-saturated world? Will they be able to sift through information to construct meaning? Will they have the wisdom to bring our world to a sustained peace?
ASCD provides tools and support for educators to lead in an extraordinary time of change. We tackle tough issues in teaching and learning. We advocate for children. We nurture leaders as lifelong learners.
ASCD has taken courageous steps as a worldwide education leader. To truly connect educators, we must think and act internationally. Using technology, connections can be forged to practices yielding promising results. Our diversity is our strength and our challenge. We are challenged to meet members' varying interests and readiness by differentiating programs, products, and services. Our strength is in fostering connections of individuals with other professionals who walk in similar shoes.
Significance is not cosmetic; it involves purposeful and incremental actions. With educators worldwide connected to a common vision and purpose, today's preschoolers will have their best chance at becoming significant learners in 2020.
Robert L. Watson
Position: Associate professor, Missouri State University.
Education: B.S., College of Great Falls; M.S., Northern Montana College; Ed. Specialist and Ed.D., University of Wyoming.
Career History and Highlights:During my 35 years as an educator, memories of teaching 1st graders bring a smile to my face. Becoming a teacher was a dream that became my life profession. I have served as secondary and elementary principal, teacher, and remedial reading aide; president, Missouri Professors of Educational Administration (MPEA); codirector, Missouri Statewide New School Leaders Mentoring Program; member, National Council of Professors of Educational Administration, University Council of Educational Administration, and Southern Regional Council of Educational Administration. I authored articles inThe School Administrator, Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, Adjunct INFO, and Connections, as well as on the MPEA Web site.
ASCD and Affiliate Participation:ASCD member and affiliate member since 1983; member and chair, Review Council; member, Constitutional Review Commission, Governance Evaluation Committee, and Nominations Committee; general membership-elected member of the Executive Council; Executive Council representative, Northwest Regional meeting; member-at-large of the former Board of Directors; national delegate elected to Board of Directors. Past president, president (2 years), and membership committee, Missouri ASCD; coordinator, Midwest Regional Affiliates conference; participant, Affiliate Leadership Council; South Dakota ASCD board member and representative, Professional Standards for South Dakota; president, Wyoming ASCD.
What Is Your Vision for ASCD? The future of ASCD includes a supportive Strategic Plan focused on a growing and influential membership, wise use of financial resources, diversity, and exemplary service. ASCD leadership will need to continue exploring innovative ways for members to become part of a local body through networks, affiliates, connected communities, and student chapters. Membership can be strengthened by maintaining a competitive edge in professional development programs, supporting research as a foundation for quality teaching and learning experiences, addressing diversity in all endeavors, and developing opportunities for members to influence social and political expectations.
Fiscally, we need to be wise in our use of financial resources, and that includes financial support to regions in need. Maintaining strong and secure financial responsibility should be a priority, while simultaneously contributing to the needs of regions, such as the Gulf, struck by natural disasters, development of professional products for educators, and research that supports the success of each learner.
Service is an integral part of the life of professional educators and includes giving back to the communities that host our annual conferences. ASCD is a global organization that needs to continue the development of quality products, services, and members that support the success of professional educators and students.