OXFORD, Miss. – Thanks to a grant from the Phil Hardin
Foundation, the University of Mississippi School of
Education becomes the first higher education group in the
nation to join the District Management Council.
Located in Harvard Square, adjacent to Harvard University,
in Cambridge, Mass., the DMC is an organization of
superintendents from leading public school districts
nationwide who are continuously seeking excellence. Its
mission is to identify, analyze and disseminate the best
management practices for improving student achievement,
enhancing educational practices and reducing cost
throughout the districts.
“Three years ago, the District Management Council set out
to address the needs of local school district
superintendents for more suitable management support and
skill development,” said DMC managing director Joseph
Scherer. “The commitment from the Ole Miss School of
Education to improve the management skills of school
administrators across Mississippi is congruent with our
mission, and we believe that working together we can
accelerate the best practices and broaden our impact.”
The DMC has more than 60 school districts among its
members, including large, urban ones such as Miami and
Houston, Texas, and small, rural districts such as Oxford,
Hattiesburg and DeSoto County.
“We are delighted to become the first university membership
in this organization,” Tom Burnham, UM education dean. “We
genuinely feel our leadership position and relationships
with local school districts position us for a prominent
role as a facilitator of this tremendous program.”
The membership fee for UM to join the DMC was made possible
through a $50,000 grant from the Phil Hardin Foundation,
based in Meridian.
Tom Wacaster, vice president for educational programs and
research at the foundation, said the invitation to join the
DMC marks an important opportunity to improve educational
policy, leadership and practice across the state.
Membership in DMC enables UM education faculty and
administrators to be involved in dialogue with
professionals in some of the country’s best school
districts. These firsthand conversations about the most
current research and practices being used in successful
K-12 schools will be shared with partners of the School of
Education around the state, Burnham said.
“A key feature of the DMC is the sharing of information
among some of the most progressive superintendents across
the country. This allows school districts to learn from one
another and avoid repeating mistakes that have already been
made,” he said.
For more information about the DMC, visit
http://www.dmcouncil.com/aboutus.html.
To learn more about the UM School of Education, visit