McGraw-Hill Education Features Discussion on Maintaining 'Excellence and Equity' in Today's Schools in New District Leader's Podcast

NEW YORK, Nov. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- In McGraw-Hill Education's latest District Leader's podcast, Arthur Griffin, Jr., senior vice president, National Urban Markets, interviews Anne L. Bryant, executive director, National School Boards Association (NSBA), about issues affecting district administrators and school boards, ranging from leadership and governance to common core standards and the digitization of education.

In the podcast, Dr. Bryant calls special attention to the importance of superior governance plans within districts to attain good performance, and emphasizes that common core standards are, "here to stay." In the discussion, Dr. Bryant calls for "collective bargaining for student achievement instead of collective bargaining for the interests of adults," as school boards strive for the same goal - an excellent education for our nation's children. She also stresses the importance of using technology to "augment, supplement and change the way we actually do learning."

"Student achievement must be our number one priority, and maintaining 'excellence and equity' can be reached when school boards ask the tough questions and make tough decisions," says Dr. Bryant. The discussion also includes Dr. Bryant's view on allocating resources to underperforming schools and changing strategies midstream in order to achieve goals of school boards.

The District Leader's podcast is sponsored by McGraw-Hill Education's Urban Advisory Resource comprising former education leaders and other experts with extensive experience in managing large school districts. To download the interview with Dr. Bryant, visit: http://www.districtleaderspodcast.org.

As NSBA executive director, Dr. Bryant leads a federation of state and territorial organizations dedicated to advancing education through citizen governance of public schools. The federation reaches over 14,700 school districts involving 95,000 school board members. Dr. Bryant directs a 100-person staff in Alexandria, Va., implementing policies to help state associations and local school boards provide leadership for today's children in order to develop tomorrow's leaders.

Host Arthur Griffin is senior vice president of Urban Advisory Resource for McGraw-Hill Education, the premier provider of teaching and learning materials for the pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, higher education and professional markets. Mr. Griffin is also involved in the Center for Comprehensive School Improvement (CCSI), created by McGraw-Hill to enhance academic achievement, improve underperforming schools, and cultivate strong school and district leadership and talent development. Mr. Griffin discusses these strategies and his experience successfully turning around the low-performing Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district in the 1990s in a recently released white paper available at http://www.mheccsi.com/pdf/white_paper_pathways_high_performance.pdf

About McGraw-Hill Education

McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is a leading innovator in the development of teaching and learning solutions for the 21st century. Through a comprehensive range of traditional and digital education content and tools, McGraw-Hill Education empowers and prepares professionals and students of all ages to connect, learn and succeed in the global economy. McGraw-Hill Education has offices in 33 countries and publishes in more than 65 languages. Additional information is available at http://www.mheducation.com.

    Media Contact:
    Tom Stanton
    McGraw-Hill Education
    (212) 904-3214
    Tom_Stanton@McGraw-Hill.com

SOURCE McGraw-Hill Education

SOURCE: McGraw-Hill Education

CONTACT: Tom Stanton, McGraw-Hill Education, +1-212-904-3214, Tom_Stanton@McGraw-Hill.com

Web Site: http://www.mheducation.com