Robert H. Anderson Tribute

The innovations of Robert H. Anderson live on today in schools, school districts and universities around the world.  A complex set of new ideas and practices for school learning, teaching, and supervision forged a major shift in how schools are organized, students learn, and supervision occurs. The main idea was that people worked together in teams, leading to cooperation as a norm, and to systems thinking as a practice.

In 1949, Anderson was invited to lead and build a new school district in Illinois around the ideas he had pioneered in nongradedness, multi-aged grouping, team teaching, and clinical supervision.  Hearing about the success of this new school district, Anderson was invited to join the faculty of the School of Education at Harvard University.  While a professor at Harvard, this cluster of Nongradedness, Multi-Aged Grouping, Team Teaching and Clinical Supervision began to alter the face of school administration worldwide.  Beginning with his pioneer work with John Goodlad in 1959 & 1963, The Nongraded Elementary School, he promoted a more developmental approach to school learning than the graded elementary schools since the days of Horace Mann in the mid-1800s. This book has been translated into Chinese, Italian, Spanish, and Hebrew.  In 1993 Anderson and Barbara Pavan offered a practical update for teachers and administrators in their work” Nongradedness: Helping it to Happen.

Following John Dewey’s philosophy and practice, Anderson launched Team Teaching as a new form of school organization for students to experience a more natural learning environment in multi-aged classrooms.  Workshops were designed for teams of teachers to work with students while other teacher-teams observed and gave feedback on the effects of these innovations on student learning.  A new field of supervision emerged called Clinical Supervision, with a mission of teachers coaching and learning with and from each other, using a five-stage observation cycle. This package of a new form of schooling was now complete for learning, teaching, and professional development.

 After 19 years at Harvard, Anderson’s Deanship at Texas Tech University promoted these same innovations for faculty development in the College of Education.  After he retired from Texas Tech, he launched a funded not-for-profit corporation as President, called Pedamorphosis, Inc., with Karolyn Snyder as Vice President, to promote educational change and leadership development around the world.  Its Wingspan Journal publication over the years included many articles from COPIS members who shared their research on new pathways to the supervision of teachers. Anderson also served as one of the founding Presidents of COPIS. 

In 1986 (at the University of South Florida) with Karolyn Snyder, he wrote Managing Productive Schools: Toward and Ecology, which launched a new era of Team-Taught and Multi-Aged Grouping schooling that was grounded in Systems Thinking, which is the integration of collaborative work systems and services around a common purpose of student success.  Anderson and Snyder also built over 15 years a 12,000-volume Educational Leadership Library at the University of South Florida, which is now housed at Mid Sweden University, under the oversight of Kristen Snyder. His scholarship generated 11 books, 36 Chapters, and hundreds of other kinds of publications.

Anderson’s Legacy lives on!  In 2022 the Headmaster of a school in Florida shared with Snyder that without team teaching, and the integration of teams as the foundation for work, they never would have been able to achieve the high levels of success in teaching and learning throughout the COVID period. Another current example is that while the authors of a 2023 publication, Systems Thinking for Sustainable Schooling: A Mindshift for Educators to Lead and Achieve Quality Schools, co-edited by Karolyn Snyder and Kristen Snyder, were working together on the contents of the book, one author raised the question of how this book could be complete without something written by Robert Anderson, now deceased.  A search led to an unpublished document Anderson wrote in 2006, called “The Beginning of Collaboration in Schools: Team Teaching and Multi-Aged Grouping”. With the editor’s permission, this work was included in the 2023 publication.  The Robert H. Anderson legacy lives today!

Prepared by Karolyn J. Snyder

Ray Bruce Tribute

Just outside the campus boundaries of the University of Georgia in Athens, I arrived at his home and was invited into the den where his wife, Gloria, directed me to one of the two chairs at the end of the study. Against a wall of books on Supervision, all of which had check-out cards on which I would write my name so that he and I would both remember where the book belonged, there was a plate of cookies and a pot of coffee…. Always, there was coffee, because Dr. Bruce had much to say and I was eager to listen.  Ray Bruce was a public school advocate and he wanted desperately to share conversation about what mattered in effective schools and more directly how the supervision of instruction might support student academic achievement and teacher performance.  And, while he was eager to hear what I had to say, I must admit that he terrified me because he was really listening and I knew he had little time for shallow thinking and random conversation.  His time with me was important to him, and I was eager to honor that spirit.  And every graduate student who ever worked with him would likely echo a similar sentiment.

From his humble beginnings in Arkansas as a high school teacher of science, Ray Bruce was to become a leader among leaders in the Department of Curriculum and Supervision at the University of Georgia.  And in those early days of supervision work at UGA, Dr. Bruce influenced two organizations greatly, the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development and the Council of Professors of Instructional Supervision.  In fact, many of the COPIS group will remember that the ASCD and COPIS had joint meetings.  Those were heady days as the COPIS group met two times a year and the membership made significant contributions to the field.  From those early efforts in the 1970s until his death in 2015, COPIS always remained an important part of the Ray Bruce story. 

In Professor Bob Anderson’s paper on the early history of COPIS, Dr. Bruce was titled “the eternal mentor” and in this capacity I would suggest that he made ihs most important contributions. From the early days of his supporting “this young scholar named Glickman” to his pattern of bringing large numbers of PhD students from UGA to every COPIS conference, Ray Bruce was a coach and mentor to everyone, at varying levels, but always to the benefit of others.  Although his demand for precision in thought and writing was legendary, his caring soul and generous spirit combined to bring forth the Council of Professors of Instructional Supervision.  In 2005, as President of COPIS, I enjoyed hosting the annual meeting at the University of Georgia and there, on the front row, was Dr. Bruce.  He was present and he was paying attention. More broadly this moment echoes the answer to the question as to what his contribution was to COPIS?  In a word, Presence.  He was present to others, to the development of COPIS, to students, and to the field. And for Dr. Ray Bruce, there was always time to pause and be present for coffee and cookies so that we could consider supervision.  And for his presence, we are all just a little bit better.

Written by Zach Kelehear, Professor and Vice Provost, AUGUSTA UNIVERSITY

Dr. Don Michael Beach Tribute

Dr. Don M. Beach will be remembered as an outstanding contributor to public and postsecondary education and a mentor to his students, colleagues, school leaders, and members of his community. As an educator who served in a variety of educational roles for over 50 years, Dr. Beach’s influence has impacted thousands of educational leaders and students in public education. Personally, Don consistently contributed to his church and his community in Stephenville, Texas. 

Don received numerous prestigious awards that honored his service to others and his accomplishments in the profession. In 2005, he was a recipient of Tarleton’s O. A. Grant Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2008, the Texas A&M University System named him a Regent's Professor to honor his contributions as an educator. In 2015, he was inducted into Tarleton’s Crystal Apple Society for the positive impact he made on his students’ lives. Don was also honored with the Educator of the Year Award by the Texas Council of Professors of Educational Administration in 2016. In addition, he received the Ted Booker Award from the Consortium of State Organizations for Texas Teacher Education and the Laureate Award from the Association of Teacher Educators. 

Don served in a variety of roles in his educational career. He was a public school educator before transitioning to higher education. He taught at the University of Texas in Arlington for 8 years prior to departing for Tarleton State University. At Tarleton, he was a former Dean of the College of Education and served as a faculty member for over 40 years. He was a member of Tarleton’s Faculty Senate, including one term as president, and served for numerous years on various committees representing his academic department at the university. Don often served as a lecturer at professional conferences and authored more than 50 journal articles. He also authored and co-authored nine books on supervision and educational leadership including, Supervisory Leadership: Focus on Instruction, co-authored with Judy Reinhartz. As part of his legacy, Don very recently created the ‘Beach Family Doctoral Fellowship Endowment’ for the purpose of supporting future doctoral students at Tarleton State University.

Don served as a COPIS member for many years. As a result of his love for the organization, he was quick to welcome and engage with new members and current members alike. He encouraged and supported the organization’s initiatives and contributed to many spirited debates at COPIS meetings. He will be fondly remembered as a passionate educator who was devoted to the fields of teaching and supervision. Don will most definitely ‘leave a mark’ in the hearts of many for years to come. 

Written by Juanita Reyes and Steve Gordon in a tribute to Don M. Beach (August 10, 2023). 

Obituary for Dr. Don Beach

Arthur Blumberg Tribute

With a specialty in organizational psychology and group dynamics, Arthur Blumberg was a professor at Syracuse University and a scholar well known for Supervisors and Teachers: A Private Cold War (1974). A review described it at the time as “wading into the sea of controversy with research” with “a generous sprinkling of rumor and folklore about supervisors and teachers.” It was lauded at the time as one of the few books that treated the issue of supervisory competence in an honest and forthright manner. Art talked with teachers in bars about their perceptions of supervisors and discovered a paradox: that while teachers welcomed supervisors on one hand, they also put up barriers to them. Art with his colleague Jonas argued that teachers had to grant supervisors access to their classrooms as well as their practice for supervision to work. His other public school books included The Effective Principal: Perspectives on School Leadership (1980), School Administration as Craft: Foundations of Practice (1988), and The School Superintendent: Living with Conflict (1984).

In COPIS meetings, as we debated how to define supervision, its purposes, whether clinical supervision made a difference in schools, and who counted as a supervisor, he would chide and cajole colleagues to not take themselves so seriously as he grasped his pipe and used it to illustrate a point in midair. He also thoughtfully wrote about his summers on Cape Cod and his Jewish heritage. I always looked forward to our meetings and getting caught up on life events, and sharing our love for the sea and poetry. His wife Phyllis helped ÇOPIS establish the Blumberg Scholarship award that was later renamed the Blumberg/Pajak Award at the passing of his student Ed Pajak. His obituary in Syracuse can be found at https://obits.syracuse.com/us/obituaries/syracuse/name/arthur-blumberg-obituary?id=51234501

Written by Helen M. Hazi who thinks fondly of him and his friendship.

A Tribute to Jim Brandon

I was drawn into Jim’s circle of professional friends as our paths crossed at the AERA Instructional Supervision and Leadership SIG and then again at the AERA Superintendency SIG. When Jim expressed interest in joining COPIS, I was pleased to sponsor him. Jim’s depth of educational knowledge was quickly evident when we worked together on COPIS presentations and as editors of the book Differentiated Teacher Evaluation and Professional Learning: Policies and Practices for Promoting Career Growth. Through our collaborations, I learned how vast his network of professional colleagues was when for our book he volunteered to contact his friends, who were among the top scholars and thinkers in our field. His many publications became a resource for my writing and an inspiration for deepening my thinking.  

Jim greeted everyone he met with  a positive attitude and a ready smile. His ability to laugh at himself put people at ease. Generous, thoughtful, and collegial, he was always ready to assist and serve others. Jim’s kindness, empathy, and compassion made him special. He was a friend to many and a mentor to numerous students. While he garnered many accolades, he took the most pride in his students’ successes. 

A distinguished member of the Alberta education community for 50 years, Jim had a long and productive career as a teacher, principal, and superintendent. Beginning in 2009, Jim was a valued faculty member of the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, where he served as a professor and associate dean. He was well-known for the strong relationships he built with external partners in the province. In a fitting tribute illustrating the University of Calgary’s love, appreciation, and respect for Jim, the campus flag was flown at half-mast in his memory. Jim Brandon will have a lasting impact in our profession and in COPIS.

Read Jim Brandon’s obituary | from the University of Calgary

Gerald Firth Tribute

Gerald Firth was an outstanding educator who contributed greatly to the profession in the United States and abroad.  Prior to joining the faculty of UGA he was Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota and Full Professor at the University of Alabama. During his 27 years at the University of Georgia, Gerald served as Interim Dean of the College of Education, Interim Director of the Division of Academic Assistance and Chairman of the Department of Curriculum and Supervision.

He co-edited and authored textbooks and articles in his fields of instructional supervision, curriculum development and educational leadership. The Handbook of Research on School Supervision, which he co-authored with Ed Pajak was received with acclaim.  Gerald Firth took great pleasure in the over one hundred doctoral students who pursued leadership positions in public schools, higher education and ministries of education in Australia, Thailand, Egypt and Zimbabwe. He enjoyed serving as a consultant to schools in Mexico, Columbia, Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.

From 1989-91 Gerald Firth became Chief of Party for the Egypt National Curriculum Project in Cairo to convert the Ministry of Education from the established British model to the emerging American model. He lived in Cairo with his wife Doris by his side for many months. Gerald was well received and respected by the Egyptian community. Doris had a more difficult time adjusting to a culture that placed restrictions on women.

But she stayed the course and contributed to the success of the project.

Gerald Firth was an active member and leader of both the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), and the Council of Professors of Instructional Supervision (COPIS). He actively contributed to both organizations and was involved in writing and promoting a number of publications as well.  Gerald Firth served as president of both ASCD and COPIS

Our paths crossed in several ways, Although I was a long-standing member of ASCD, I was not a member of COPIS. When I left public education and took a position with Hunter College CUNYI asked Gerald to sponsor my membership application to COPIS, which he did enthusiastically. Gerald and I both served on the executive board of ASCD and I am delighted to have had the opportunity to work with him.

Written by Marcia Knoll in memory of Gerald Firth (November, 2023).

Ben M. Harris Tribute

Ben M. Harris, through his long tenure as a professor in the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Texas at Austin, became a national leader in the field of instructional supervision. By means of his scholarship, teaching and field service, he developed a deeply rooted knowledge and solid understanding which he passed on to graduate students who became educational leaders within the state of Texas and the United States. His comprehensive knowledge is best reflected in his scholarly writing in the Handbook of Research on School Supervision (1998). The opening chapter provides a wide view of the evolution of supervision to the time of its publication. No doubt, he was selected to write this introduction because of his highly regarded books (Supervisory Behavior in Education, 1963) and relevant practitioner materials (Developing Teacher Evaluation, 1986). He, along with a few other  nationally known professors of instructional supervision, founded the Council of Professors of Instructional Supervision. Because of his national reputation, he was selected to be the first president of COPIS. An honor rightfully earned and well deserved.

Ben was a devoted and supportive professor toward students and the department. In the classroom he used simulation, going beyond descriptive theory and textbook cases. As a department member, he was ethical and analytical when approaching problems. He assisted in the department opening its enrollment to racial and ethnic students.  As a result, he helped to bring about a cohesive and strong graduate department ranked annually among the top ten  research university programs.

As an extension of his classroom focus and graduate student development, he traveled within Texas and nationally to school districts and to professional sponsored meetings and gave clinical instruction to participants. He believed that personal interaction was the beginning of relationships which could and did lead to graduate student recruitment and/or recurrent professional contacts. Because of his accomplishments, he was appointed by the UT regents as the H. K. Hage professor in the College of Education.

 Ben Harris, contributed greatly to the betterment of the Department of Educational Administration, the College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, the state of Texas, national school related leaders, and most importantly the evolution of Education in the United States.

Leonard A. Valverde
Professor and Chairman
Educational Administration Department

Dr. Patricia E. Holland

Dr. Patricia E. Holland was a member and served in the leadership of both the AERA SIG: Supervision and Instructional Leadership and the Council of Professors of Instructional Supervision. Pat and I studied under Morris Cogan and Noreen Garman at the University of Pittsburgh during the 1970s and 80s. She was among the 2nd generation of supervision scholars, known for her work in clinical supervision, professional development, the supervisory conference, standards, and postmodern supervision; and recently cited by Gordon (2019) for her work on the hermeneutic perspective. She published numerous articles in journals such as the NASSP Bulletin, International Journal of Leadership, and the Peabody Journal of Education, and an edited book, Beyond Measure Neglected Elements of Accountability in Schools (2004). Pat was a Professor Emerita at the University of Houston. Her playful view of the everyday ordinary and her wry wit will be missed. Written by Helen Hazi in memory of Dr. Patricia Holland.

Richard F. Neville Tribute

It was at my first COPIS meeting in the 90s that I was befriended by a few COPIS scholars. First and foremost, was Dick, as he preferred to be called. I always had a hard time calling him by his first name. To me, he was an esteemed mentor. Dick Neville was an intellect. His facility with the English language astounded me. In the beginning, I would simply be mesmerized by his elegant phrases, the varied ways he described things, and his overall command of the English language. His insights into education, in general, and supervision, in particular, were amazing and inspiring. Although it took me a while, at first, to fully understand a profound insight he made or even a joke (as I tend to be quite literal), his patience, generosity, and willingness to guide me professionally stand, for me, as formative influences in my career in higher education.

Specifically, he encouraged me to think more deeply about my historical scholarship in the field of supervision and, in effect, broadened my horizons to use that history to make more practical and profound connections with the important work of the present as well as the world of practice. On a personal level, it was his idea that led to our coedited volume, Educational Supervision: Perspectives, Issues, and Controversies published in 1997, in which many COPIS members contributed: Bob Alfonso, Bob Anderson, Francis Duffy, Gerald Firth, Ben Harris, Helen Hazi, Joyce Killian, Bob Krakewski, Tom McGreal, Jim Nolan, Ed Pajak, Barbara Pavan, Tom Sergiovanni, John Smyth, Karolyn Snyder, Bob Starratt, Saundra Tracy, and Duncan Waite - quite a line-up, right?!!

Above all, Dick became a close friend and confidant. He was someone who freely gave of his time to me advising me on a number of professional matters and ventures. I most cherish the time we spent alone working on projects, but also the time he stayed at my home overnight in NYC where he met my family, and brought a doll to my daughter who was about 8 at the time. To this day, she remembers that gift, not so much for the doll itself, but she fondly remembers Dick's warm smile and genuine hug as he presented it to her. Dr. Richard F. Neville was a scholar par excellence and a warm, kind human being. I was shocked at his premature passing. I miss him very much and think of him often.

Edward Pajak, Jr.

Ed Pajak was a gifted scholar, caring mentor to many, and generous and thoughtful individual to all. Ed took his advisor's, Art Blumberg, work and did what we as major professors dream about for our students. He extended Blumberg’s work into novel ways of understanding teachers through their psychological profiles, their depiction in the media, and school interpersonal interactions that lead to or blocked professional development.

Ed’s first book The Central Office Supervisor: Setting the Stage for Success written in 1988. In this book, Ed wrote that if supervisors do their jobs well, they purposefully become invisible to the public. He used the term “backstage,” never hogging the limelight, instead giving the front stage to teachers to be duly honored and respected. That was Ed to the bone. His form of leadership was back stage coaching, and mentoring to help students and peers shine.

After leaving the University of Georgia in 2001, Ed had thirteen incredibly productive years in major leadership roles at the Johns Hopkins University.

Ed’s supervision books have included:

• Handbook of Research on School Supervisionco-authored with Gerald R. Firth in 1998.

• Approaches to Clinical Supervision: Alternatives for Improving Instruction in 1999

• Honoring Diverse Teaching Styles: A Guide for Supervisors in 2003

• Supervising Instruction: Differentiating for Teacher Success in 2008

I want you to view the front page of the Johns Hopkins College of Education web site as school began this fall semester. Such pushing Ed into the spotlight shows the regard that Johns Hopkins had for him. The announcement under the picture said:

“School of Education Professor Edward Frank Pajak, widely admired by faculty, staff, and students for his scholarship, humility and sense of humor, died Thursday, August 7, at his home surrounded by family."

- Written by Carl Glickman in memory of Edward Pajak, Jr. Tribute presented at the annual COPIS meeting on October 18, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Obituary

Dr. Jerry Starratt

Treating people decently, humanely, kindly, and with genuine respect characterized Jerry’s being — and came through clearly in his writing. Tom (Sergiovanni) and he started young and kept learning and getting better — two worthy models for us all. Jerry’s combination of wit and compassion — not to mention those sparkling eyes — combined with his passion for all children’s education, and all adults’ continued development to define a genuine scholar with enormous heart. Just look at the evolution of Sergiovanni and Starratt books to see evidence of growing wisdom and convictions.

In 2013, Jerry wrote in “Remembering Tom”:

And to each of us at this moment when we say good-bye and thank you to Tom, we can hear him say in his gracious way, “Thank you for your friendship and support, for the goodness in you that you brought to me and that you continue to bring to others. In our small band of brothers and sisters we have been exploring ways to bring out the goodness in teachers and the ways they, in turn, could affirm and enable the goodness of their students in their efforts to understand the goodness of the world as they learn their lessons.”

Jerry’s own words for his friend and colleague, Tom, capture his own mission and his unique contribution to our field and to our own learning far better that I can. “Goodness” — as a quest for teachers, for supervisors, for each of us, and as a guiding light for children in schools — is the quest; Jerry was its spokesman and model.-

Written by Lee Goldsberry in Honor and Memory of Dr. Jerry Starratt

Tom Sergiovanni

While finishing Tom Sergiovanni’s Rethinking Leadership…I found my eyes slowly canvassing the walls, the halls, and the reinforced structure of the building where I work. I thought of how great builders construct sustainable buildings that support people working together for generations to come. Tom …is a great education builder who constructs enduring mental space that challenges and welcomes educators to conceptualize and practice new possibilities. His ideas are certainly not mainstream. I have witnessed firsthand the great unrest his ideas create among many school, district, state, and federal reformers. Tom’s writing turn conventional management and organizational thinking topsy-turvy. His words enable readers to imagine a new world of schools, he substitutes moral community for leadership, he dismantles system theory, and he shows how hierarchical control is the antithesis of what is needed in schools for today and tomorrow. Tom writes that schools do not need heroes, charismatic, and take – charge leaders. Rather schools to be consistent with their purpose, need to be led by those who prefer not to lead, but instead wish to stimulate, support, and bring thoughtful actions among the young and old membership of the school. - Written by Carl Glickman in a tribute to Tom Sergiovanni (October 1, 2010)

Obituary