Checking Our P.U.L.S.E. For Kids

According to the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the Learning Policy Institute, “Turnover is a serious issue across the country.  The national average tenure of principals in their schools was four years in 2016-17.  This number masks considerable variation, with 35 percent of principals being at their school for less than two years, and only 11 percent of principals being at their school for 10 years or more.  The most recent national study of public-school principals found that, overall, approximately 18 percent of principals were no longer in the same position one year later.  In high-poverty schools, the turnover rate was 21 percent.” Not an exceedingly long time to make an impact.  As leaders, our mission is to be the best educational leader for our school, but it takes a formula to help kids win at life.  This book will take readers through the following acronym, P.U.L.S.E., using it as a pathway to becoming an effective educational leader who will stop at nothing until their students are successful.  After reading this book, the reader will be able to strengthen themselves as educational leaders, focus on the practical and consistent habitude that will lead to student and faculty success, and spotlight the many questions that we must ask ourselves as leaders and individuals.  The world does not have enough great principals to lead our schools, so we must make it count when we assume the principalship.  Leadership matters and it starts with us, both professionally and personally.  As my former area superintendent’s motto states, “No Excuses, Only Success.”   Conquer your fears, GO lead, and do NOT make excuses.  Kids are depending on us.  

Robert Nelson is an award-winning educational leader with 25 years of coaching experience helping kids win at life. He has been rated as a Highly Effective Principal in the state of Florida for many years and received multiple principal awards from his district from the Counseling Association, Center for Exceptional Children, Hillsborough Association of School Administrators, Hillsborough Reading Association, and the Hillsborough Parent Teacher Student Association. He was chosen to be the first Lead Principal of High Schools in the nation's seventh largest district, Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa, Florida. In this role, Mr. Nelson facilitated a professional development program designed to grow all principals and assist new principals with increasing student achievement and boosting their overall effectiveness as educational leaders. Additionally, Mr. Nelson completed the School Superintendents Association National Principal Supervisor Academy, a program focused on the CCSSO (Council of Chief State School Officers) Principal Supervisor Standards and the Inquiry Cycle to develop principals as educational leaders. He served on many district committees, presented at numerous district events, and participated in many state and national conferences throughout his career. Recently, he started an educational blog, www.findingyourinnergoat.com, which focuses on his journey as an educational leader, father, and husband and an educational leadership coaching company, Nelson Leadership Group, LLC (www.nelsonleadershipgroup.com). Mr. Nelson received his undergraduate degree in Secondary Physical Education from the University of South Florida and his master's degree in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. He lives in Tampa, Florida, with his wife of twenty-three years and their four children.