Bestselling author and renowned educator Paul Bambrick-Santoyo is in the Gateway City this week presenting to educators at Laredo ISD. Considered an instructional leadership authority, Bambrick-Santoyo has trained school leaders worldwide with a huge impact in urban schools. The two-day session included 150 LISD campus principals, assistant principals, department heads, and administrators.
The group met in the LISD Performing Arts Complex Nelson Conference Center to begin their professional training early Monday morning.
Participants received a copy of Bambrick-Santoyo’s book, Get Better Faster, and a Leverage Leadership Quick Reference Guide. Both publications are said to help good leaders become great. The presentation included thought-provoking videos, discussion and time to reflect with LISD colleagues.
LISD Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Gerardo Cruz, said “Bambrick-Santoyo's work on instructional coaching highlights its critical role in enhancing teaching effectiveness and student achievement. Campus principals are receiving instructional strategies on teacher observation, actionable feedback, practice and modeling, and setting clear goals,” Cruz noted. “Instructional coaching is a vital component of school improvement efforts. Bambrick-Santoyo's framework highlights how personalized support, data-driven instruction, and sustained professional development can significantly improve teaching and learning outcomes.”
Cigarroa Middle School Assistant Principal Dr. Jodie Cordova said LISD administrators attended the Get Better Faster training to focus on developing teacher efficacy and foster students' academic growth. “Teachers will develop their procedural and conceptual understanding of practices which will be used to support academic growth for all students and close learning gaps,” Cordova added.
Bambrick-Santoyo is the Chief Schools Officer, 9-12 and K-12 Content Development for Uncommon Schools and the Founder and Dean of the Leverage Leadership Institute, creating proof points of excellence in urban schools worldwide. He is the author of multiple books, including Leverage Leadership 2.0, Love & Literacy, Driven by Data 2.0, A Principal Manager’s Guide to Leverage Leadership, and Great Habits, Great Readers.
He has provided professional development for 30,000 school leaders worldwide in instructional leadership, including multiple schools that have gone on to become the highest-gaining or highest achieving schools in their districts, states and/or countries.
Prior to these roles, Bambrick-Santoyo co-founded the Relay National Principals Academy Fellowship and spent 13 years leading North Star Academies in Newark, NJ, whose results are among the highest-achieving urban schools in the nation. He also taught for six years in a bilingual school in Mexico City, where he founded the International Baccalaureate program. He earned a B.A. from Duke University and his M.Ed. in School Administration via New Leaders from the City University of New York—Baruch College. Paul is a co-author of the recently released book Make History: A Practical Guide for Middle and High School History Instruction.