AASA, The School Superintendents Associations' National Superintendent of the Year Award is acclaimed as the most prestigious honor a school system leader can attain. The Council uses the AASA awards application process to also select the New York State Superintendent of the Year.
Our Distinguished Services Committee, composed of current officers (with the word president in their title) and past presidents who are active superintendents, review all applications and make their final selection for our New York representative. We announce the selected New York representative at our Fall Leadership Summit and honor them at our Winter Institute each year.
The Distinguished Service Committee changed the application and selection process for the New York State Superintendent of the Year to:
- Ensure there are no application process impediments to building an ample nomination pool that is representative of New York State;
- Provide candidates professional and due consideration and support through the nomination and applicant process; and
- Sufficiently celebrate the process and award itself as open to all members.
Engaged and Streamlined Application Process
To ensure that as many qualified candidates who truly reflect the New York State landscape are included for consideration, the Distinguished Service Committee members invites various stakeholder groups to nominate a candidate who they believe has significantly advanced their work. Invitations are sent in April and include BOCES Joint Management Teams and members of the Educational Conference Board. The committee also recommend that individuals continue to nominate a superintendent leader in their region who they think meet the criteria. The committee has created a timeline for the application process and will continue to use the AASA SOY portal for the modified application.
- Nominations of an individual on the AASA SOY portal for the 2024-2025 process are due by May 17, 2024. The portal will open for nominations after the March 2024 Winter Institute.
- Nominees will be individually notified of their nomination. They will create their own login on the AASA SOY portal to complete a shorter version of the application process. Nominees will provide only their CV (complete Education, Administrative Experience, and School District Information tabs on portal) and answer two of the four essays presented in the portal by June 14, 2024.
- The Distinguished Service Committee will review the basic submitted materials for each nominated candidate and invite several candidates to interview via Zoom over the summer to select the 2025 New York State Superintendent of the Year.
Final Application Process
The selected New York candidate will be notified once the interviews are completed over the summer
and be invited to complete the more extensive AASA application process with support from the Distinguished Service Committee to ensure its competitiveness for national consideration. The final two questions, along with additional support material and artifacts under the
Professional Growth tab will be required.
The deadline for this individual to complete the entire application is
October 14, 2024. The Council is required to submit the final application to AASA by
November 1st for inclusion in the National Superintendent of the Year process.
After Application Submission
Once the application has been submitted to AASA via the portal, The Council will coordinate an announcement in October or November with the selected candidate's school district. We announce our New York State winner at Fall Leadership Summit in September and honor them and present the award at our Winter Institute in March. The application submission via the portal will then allow AASA's national blue-ribbon panel to review the application so they can narrow the field to four candidates from across the country.
- In December/January timeframe, AASA announces their four finalists who will participate in interviews and a moderated press conference. The National Superintendent of the Year is announced at AASA’s National Conference on Education typically held in February each year. All state superintendents of the year are also recognized.
- A 10,000 scholarship is awarded to a student from the high school from which the National Superintendent of the Year graduated from AASA.
- The Henry L. Grishman Scholarship is awarded to a student in the New York State Superintendent of the Year's District in recognition of receipt of this prestigious designation.
Selection Criteria
Each candidate will be judged on the following attributes and skills:
Leadership for Learning – creativity in successfully meeting the needs of students in his or her school system.
Communication – strength in both personal and organizational communication.
Professionalism – constant improvement of administrative knowledge and skills, while providing professional development opportunities and motivation to others on the education team.
Community Involvement – active participation in local community activities and an understanding of regional, national and international issues.
AASA's program is open to all public school superintendents in the United States and overseas and is co-sponsored by First Student, corebridge financial, and AASA. New York's program is only open to active New York State Superintendents. Review this complete list of New York State Superintendent of the Year recipients since its inception in 1988.
Questions regarding the New York State Superintendent of the Year process contact:
Theresa Wutzer Moore, CMP
Associate Director, NYSCOSS
E:
theresa@nyscoss.org
T: 518.694.4884
Questions related to the National Superintendent of the Year program should be directed to Jennifer Rooney, Director, Meetings & Awards, AASA at
awards@aasa.org.