School of Education Drake a UNIVERSITY CCollter-Seripps Hall 12 2507 University Avenue Des Moines, Jawa 5031-4505 1 sis-a7-2054 F ss-an-aap 1 800-44-DRAKE(37253) 12054 April 15, 2019 Dear Search Committee: Itis my pleasure to write this letter on behalf of Meghan Dwyer’s candidacy as a school leader in your district. I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with Meghan over the past two-and one-half years and believe she is an “up and coming” school leader in the state of lowa, My work with Meghan has been as professor in three of her graduate courses in the Drake Educational Leadership program (Teaching and Learning, Systems Leadership, and Leadership and the Profession). These courses are foundational to effective leadership at the building level. In each of these courses Meghan exceeded expectations and demonstrated the ability to apply her learning to the “real world,” outside of the academic setting. In my “former life” as superintendent of the Urbandale Community School District, [had the opportunity to identify and hire the most capable of school leaders. The qualities I sought in future leaders (strong academic background, ability to work effectively with others, a focus on continual improvement of processes and results, an emphasis on lifelong learning, and a strong understanding of systems) are exactly the same traits I have seen in Meghan, One of the hallmarks of Drake's program is a focus on systems thinking/leadership and the process of continual improvement. Meghan is a strong thinker who understands how the many parts of a school work together to achieve the school’s desired outcomes. She is able to operationalize her knowledge to create methods for improvement, utilizing the Plan Do Study Act process. One of Meghan’s key strengths is “digging in” to determine the “root cause” of an issue and then addressing it by implementing best practice, followed by methods to continually assess the effectiveness of actions taken. This ability to “close the loop” relative to the effectiveness of a plan of action is critical to ensure progress is being made toward any desired outcome. ‘Asa leader, there are just some things that cannot be taught, which are critical to a leader’s success, and those have to do with personal characteristics and interpersonal relationships. As I have worked with and observed Meghan in class I have found her to possess positive personal traits and the ability to work effectively with her classmates, She is people- focused and has high expectations for herself as well as for those with whom she works. She is a well-respected member of her cohort and is looked to as a leader in the class. She has also learned about and put into practice methods to strengthen interpersonalrelationships with her students and their parents. To this end, Meghan implemented “rounding” as a method to gather actionable feedback from students and parents, and systematically recognize students for their good work and positive contributions, Based on my professional experiences, I believe Meghan Dwyer will be an outstanding educational leader. She possesses all of the “technical” acumen required as well as the personal characteristics that are demanded by the profession. She has the right “heart” condition and a laser-like focus on doing what's best for the students and staff she serves, Itis my professional recommendation that the search committee give serious consideration to Meghan's candidacy. Rs ly, Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership Drake University