The Politics of Authentic Engagement

The Politics of Authentic Engagement provides practical approaches for leaders in a variety of roles to address the changing landscape of schooling, build dynamic relationships in support of schools, help parents/families support their children's achievement, and create a culture of engagement. Strategies described in the chapters support leaders in helping others learn to engage by providing handout, overheads, instructions and other prompts to use in workshop settings.

Kathy Leslie, APR, a former teacher and administrator, currently president of Leslie Consulting and Associates has written for national educational journals and co-authored the NSPRA workshop kits Lighting the Fire: A Process for Building Staff Morale and Excellence; Staff Recognition: Unlocking the Potential for Success; Team Building 2000, Managing Change Together and for Chalkboard Project Running Start: Reaching the Hard-To Reach, a Toolkit for Parents and Trainers of Parents. Leslie has worked in nearly every state and internationally to build positive stakeholder relationships and strengthen community by facilitating dialogue, focus groups, strategic planning, community forums, and conflict mediation.
Judy Taccogna brings practical experience as a teacher, counselor, elementary school principal and district administrator. She has also served as the education director at Search Institute, a national research organization in Minneapolis (MN). She has contributed writing and editing to two previous books and a number of newsletters. Global Oregon represented a collaborative writing project among teachers throughout Oregon to produce an economics textbook for high school students under the auspices of Oregon State University/Western Oregon University School of Education. Powerful Teaching: Developmental Assets in Curriculum and Instruction was a project that brought together 24 educators who were applying Search Institute's developmental asset model to learning in classrooms and schools. She holds bachelor degrees in education and literature, a master's degree in counseling and guidance, and a doctorate in educational leadership, administration and supervision.