Educators have long been reporting that students are harder to reach and teach, their developmental profiles more uneven, their attention and motivation harder to sustain, their language and behavior more provocative. And parents are more anxious about their children’s success, yet less available to support and guide them, and more demanding and critical of the school. Rob Evans will explore these dilemmas and ways to cope, calling for a stronger assertion of school values and suggesting new ways to deal with students and parents—and new ways for staff groups to support one another and sustain their skills in a challenging environment.

Life in schools was growing ever more complex and challenging well before Covid. Two-plus years of a lethal pandemic and the rise of a toxic political climate have intensified these pressures. How can school leaders respond constructively? How can they best maintain staff morale, energy, and competence and best deal with their parents? Rob Evans will outline ways to cope and manage these issues both individually and as a school community.

The ability to talk together honestly about performance is vital to improving teachers’ skills on behalf of students. But conflict avoidance is deeply embedded in the DNA of educators. It remains a way of life in schools despite all the workshops on difficult conversations. Rob Evans will outline concrete, doable ways to improve candor, collegiality, and communication.

Schools are widely seen as needing all sorts of changes—from curriculum and pedagogy to equity and diversity. But the culture of schooling and the nature of educators both make innovation in schools particularly challenging. This program explores the psychology of leading change and presents strategies for overcoming resistance to it.

School board members, especially those who work in the business world, can encounter—and cause—real frustration. Convinced that innovation and measurable goals are both vital, they are often surprised and distressed by educators’ resistance. Rob Evans outlines the unique features of schools that make them naturally less “changeable” than other organizations and details key ways that school leaders and boards can promote successful growth and improvement.

There is no harder job than being a parent. Nothing else touches so much of a person so deeply—or so unpredictably—and there is no training for it. This was true pre-COVID, as the pace of life accelerated, media influences intensified, and the future grew less predictable. So it’s no wonder parents now find it harder to be confident, how to reduce their children’s stress—and their own. Dr. Evans will outline these dilemmas and offer specific, down-to-earth suggestions for successful coping.