Education management covers a wide swath of categories. As an education manager, you might find yourself as an administrator, a principal, a superintendent, a director, dean, vice-principal, or supervisor for educators. As an education manager, you are in a position to shape and manage structures to educate students and empower them to become future leaders. This is a tall order! This guide is meant as a primer to help you explore a variety of facets, thoughts, and information about education, because a deep knowledge of many different areas of education can help you, as a manger, create better systems to empower students, teachers, and schools.
In this guide, you'll find organizations who are working toward education reform in the U.S., professional associations to help you network and continue learning, publications to subscribe to, and websites to a variety of education topics to explore. We've also included some blogs and Twitter accounts of educators, administrators, reformers, and organizations to follow to help give you an idea of what is currently going on in the world of education.
Ranking
Top 50 Online Master's Degrees in Education Management Ranking – This ranking vetted programs across the country based on reputation, prestige, accreditation, flexibility, and estimated cost to find the highest quality online master's degrees in education management.
Education Reform
CER provides news, economic outcomes, and innovation within education with the hope of expanding opportunities in education for everyone in the U.S. Follow them on Twitter at @edreform
EduColor is a collection of education activists of color that is working to bring equity and social justice to public schools. In addition to their website, you can follow the movement on Twitter at @EduColorMVMT or with the hashtag #EduColor.
The Edvocate was established in 2014 to help make policy shifts within education in order to improve both the quality and access to education for all American students. It is looking for a comprehensive education reform in the U.S. It was started by Dr. Matthew Lynch, who you can follow on Twitter at @Lynch39083. The Edvocate can be found on Twitter at @AdvocateforEd.
Professional Associations
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
ASCD develops resources that advocate for a whole child approach and their website is full of resources for professional development for educators as well. They actively recruit advocates to influence policy on both state and national levels. It publishes the magazine Educational Leadership.
International Society for Technology in Education
ISTE desires to empower students by changing the way learning and teaching happen through technology. In their words, ISTE helps "educators around the world use technology to solve tough problems in education." They have developed standards for technology in education for all levels of education, from students to administrators. On their website, in addition to these standards, you can find their blog and other publications and upcoming events, like their 2018 EDTECH conference.
Learning Forward provides training and resources for leaders who work with professional development for educators. They publish the quarterly Tools for Learning Schools, as well as provide online resources, consultation services, and a variety of events.
National Association of Elementary School Principals
NAESP is a professional organization serving elementary and middle school principals. In addition to its annual conference, it also is home to a national mentor training program, provides online resources (like webinars and learning programs), and publishes the award-winning, bimonthly Principal.
National Association of Secondary School Principals
NASSP is a professional organization serving middle and high school principals. It publishes the magazine Principal Leadership and produces the podcast School Leader's Review. It also administers the National Honor Society.
National Education Association
With over three million members at all levels of education, the NEA is the U.S.' largest, professional organization for public educators; it was founded in 1857. The website is divided into an issues and action, tools and ideas, and grants and events – all incredibly useful resources for today's educators and professionals in education management. Follow them on Twitter at @NEAToday.
Websites
Foundation for Excellence in Education
ExcelinEd focuses on school reform. The organization works with policymakers, educators, and parents to advance education reform. It was created to help improve student preparedness for university and careers. Follow them on Twitter at @ExcelinEd
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education, established in 1996, is a source of news, information, and jobs for higher education faculty, administrators, and professionals in education management. It's job board, ChronicalVitae, also posts advice articles, lists a whole variety of discussion boards with various niches, and has a private online network.
On multiple must-read blog and website lists for education, The Ed Tech Round Up a packed with lesson plans and strategies for incorporation technology easily into the classroom.
Education World is a website that provides K-12 resources, lessons, and news. They also have a great list of podcasts for administrators and professionals in education management.
Institute for Education Sciences
IES is an arm of the U.S. Department of Education. It provides non-partisan, independent education research, evaluation, and statistics. IES covers work on school readiness and education from infants to adults, as well as populations like English learners or students with disabilities.
International Center for Leadership in Education
The International Center works with school districts to help create best practices and innovative approaches to instruction and learning in today's schools. It has a wide range of print and electronic resources to support improvement strategies and professional development to make classrooms both more rigorous and relevant. It also provides services to help schools adopt a blended model of learning. The International Center also hosts its annual Model Schools Conference and Leadership Academy. Follow them on Twitter at @RigorRelevance.
Based in Atlanta, Georgia, IO Education uses data to improve educational outcomes and empower educators. Follow them on Twitter at @ioeducation
Lucas Education Research is part of The George Lucas Educational Foundation, established in 1991. It works with universities, research firms, and educators to identify "effective, innovative K-12 educational models that can be replicated and taken to scale." It has a focus on project-based learning. They have produced several education resources, including white papers, journal articles/professional papers, and press articles.
Journals & Publications
Education Management Administration & Leadership
EMAL is a peer-reviewed journal publishing work on education management, administration, and leadership. It publishes a new issue six times per year.
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth journalism on innovations and inequality in education. Using research, data, and stories from academic institutions, they cover everything from blended learning to teacher preparation. Their mission is to "show the public how education can be improved and why it matters."
MIE is a peer-reviewed journal debate and discussion on all aspects of education management.
Started over thirty years ago as a technology and learning magazine, Tech & Learning today is a treasure trove for administrators and teachers who purchase and implement technology into their K-12 school districts. It examines trends, products, and strategies related to technology that impact educators at all levels, from teachers to superintendents to state-level decision makers. Follow them on Twitter at @techlearning.
Fordham Institute | @educationgadfly
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute is a nonprofit, education think thank that focuses on education reform.
Huffington Post Education | @HuffPostEducation
From the Huffington Post, @HuffPostEducation is a news source and hub for "passionate voices" in education.
U.S. Department of Education | @usedgov
The @usedgov is the Twitter feed for news and information from the U.S. Department of Education.
Blogs
Ed Sheninger is a Texas principal who shares his views on educational leadership, technology integration in schools, and best practices in education on his award-winning blog. Follow him on Twitter at @E_Sheninger.
AEIdeas is a public policy blog with content on current news, innovations, reform, events, and career development opportunities in education. It is part of the American Enterprise Institute, a public policy think tank founded in 1938.
Edutopia provides evidence and practitioner-based learning strategies for K-12 education. It is aimed at administrators, teachers, parents, and students, and it "project-based learning, comprehensive assessment, integrated studies, social and emotional learning, educational leadership and teacher development, and technology integration." In addition to their articles and videos, the website also provides a discussion forum. Edutopia is part of The George Lucas Educational Foundation, which is a nonprofit founded by filmmaker George Lucas in 1991. The Foundation seeks to "identify and spread innovative, replicable and evidence-based approaches to helping K-12 students learn better." Find them on Twitter at @edutopia.
Ed Week publishes news, analysis, an opinion on K-12 education issues in the U.S. Its stories examine topics that impact school districts, teachers, policymakers, and edu-tech professionals. Editorial Projects in Education publish Education Week. EPE is an independent, nonprofit publisher whose mission is "to raise awareness and understanding of critical issues facing American schools." Find them on Twitter at @educationweek.
Lisa Nielson started the Innovative Educator to provide ways to help educators use free resources students already have access to in order to make classrooms more relevant. She covers both big ideas about using technology in the classroom, as well as the "how" of implementing these resources to help educators combat budget issues or other restrictions. In addition to the blog, Nielson also tweets about events and products from companies, schools, organizations, and other media outlets. Find her at @InnovativeEdu. She also does public speaking events and works as a personal consultant.
Vilson is an educator and advocate in New York City; he is also the founder of EduColor. His blog posts are centered around race, class, and education, and also include useful resource-related pieces.
George Courous is a Canadian teacher and author who blogs about teacher-student relationships, leadership in a learning community, improving professional learning, and innovative teaching. Follow him on Twitter at @gcourous.
The Ticker is produced by The Chronicle Of Higher Education and is a source for current news from all areas of academia.