Superintendent: Biography - Montgomery County Public Schools

Dr. Jerry D. Weast is Superintendent of the Montgomery County Public Schools, the largest and most diverse school system in Maryland and the 17th largest district in the nation. Appointed to the position in 1999 and reappointed in 2003 and 2007, Dr. Weast is directing an ambitious comprehensive reform effort designed to raise academic standards and narrow the achievement gap for nearly 140,000 students. Since 2004, Dr. Weast has led an inclusive team of school system and union leaders, working together with Harvard University researchers and leaders from prominent school systems across the nation in the Public Education Leadership Project, to study school system governance. The managerial excellence he has overseen led to Montgomery County Public Schools’ receipt of the U.S. Senate/Maryland Productivity Award in 2005. In addition, the school system was a 2006 Finalist for a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

In recognition of his innovative leadership in early childhood education, professional development, school accountability, and parent involvement, Dr. Weast was named the Maryland Superintendent of the Year in 2003 and was one of the final four candidates for consideration as the National Superintendent of the Year. He is one of a few superintendents to have won the state superintendent of the year award in two different states. Dr. Weast has served as superintendent for 30 years, overseeing eight school districts in five states. He has been in public education since 1969 and also has been a clinical professor and instructor at several universities.

At the national and international levels, Dr. Weast has presented extensively at conferences and seminars, not only to educators, but to clinicians, professional negotiators, Federal Aviation Administration managers, executives of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and technology professionals, on topics such as school reform, early childhood education, technology in education, strategic planning, effective leadership, community collaboration, business partnerships, school-union partnerships, professional development, and crisis management. Dr. Weast has led in developing collaborative relationships with employee organizations, which have resulted in ground-breaking professional development programs and employee evaluation systems for professional, support, and administrative personnel. These initiatives have earned national recognition.

Internationally, Dr. Weast has addressed members of the European Council of International Schools, has undertaken Fulbright-funded travel to Northern Ireland to consult with school administrators on school integration, has twice been invited to the People’s Republic of China, and has been invited by Japan’s Ministry of Education to speak on the topic of school reform. The author of numerous educational research articles and reports, Dr. Weast serves on the boards of various policy, educational, business and community organizations, including the Committee for Economic Development, Peabody College (Vanderbilt University) National Ed.D. Advisory Board, and Junior Achievement Worldwide Education Group.

Dr. Weast was appointed a Post Doctoral Fellow in the Graduate School of Duke University. He holds an Ed.S. Degree in General Administration from Pittsburg State University in Kansas and an Ed.D. in Educational Administration from Oklahoma State University, where he was named to the Hall of Fame in the College of Education.

Selected Professional Activities

Trustee, Committee for Economic Development
Member, Public Education Leadership Project, Harvard Graduate School of Education and Harvard Business School
Founding Member, Montgomery County Business Roundtable for Education
Member, Montgomery County Economic Advisory Council
Member, Board of Directors, Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce
Member, Council for Exceptional Children
Member, Board of Directors, Junior Achievement of the National Capital Area
Member, National Advisory Board of the Montgomery County Education Association and Johns Hopkins University Center for Teacher Leadership
Member, Advisory Board, Universities at Shady Grove, University System of Maryland
Special member, Graduate Faculty, College of Education, University of Maryland
Co-chair, Assessment Task Group, Maryland Visionary Panel for Better Schools, 2002
Participant, Advanced Administrative Institute, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, 2001
Participant, Harvard Seminar for Superintendents, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, 1990 and 1991, 1995-2000

Selected Presentations

"Ensuring a Strong Start for 'No Child Left Behind' A Montgomery County Success Story," Annual Conference and Exposition, American Association of School Administrators, February 2004; and the Annual Conference, National School Boards Association, March 2004
"Defining Teacher Quality: How States and Schools are Responding to No Child Left Behind," Economic Policy Institute Forum, Washington, D.C., 2003
"Using Wireless Technology in the Classroom," Wireless Generation Advisory Committee Meeting, Council of Chief State School Officers, New York, 2003
"The Present State of United States Education and the Implication of Standards," European Council of International Schools and the U. S. Department of State, Hamburg, Germany, 2003
"E-Learning: Using Technology in the Classroom," Office of English Language Acquisition Conference, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C., 2003
"Achieving Greater Expectations Aligning High School and College," American Association of Colleges and Universities, Washington, D.C., 2003
"Ensuring a Strong Start for 'No Child Left Behind,'" National Policy Forum, Co-sponsored by the Committee for Economic Development and the Institute for Educational Leadership, National Press Club, 2003
"School-Community Collaboration in a Time of Crisis," Annual Conference, National School Boards Association, 2003
"Curriculum Reform in Education," Oriental International Education Forum, Qingdao, China, 2002
"Building Public Support for Targeted Educational Reform and Improvement" and "Teacher Union Contracts as Instruments of Reform," National Conference, American Association of School Administrators, San Diego, California, 2002
"Diversity of American Education," European Council of International Schools and the U.S. Department of State, Berlin, Germany, 2002
"The Missing Curriculum: An Essential Pillar of Good Professional Development," National Leadership Forum on Bridging the Gap Between State Standards and Classroom Achievement: The Challenge of Curriculum and Professional Development, co-sponsored by Achieve, Inc., and the Albert Shanker Institute, New York, 2002
"Workforce Excellence" and "Early Childhood Education," European Council of International Schools and the U.S. Department of State, The Hague, The Netherlands, 2001

Current Awards

Finalist, National Superintendent of the Year, 2004
Maryland Superintendent of the Year, 2003
Hall of Fame, Oklahoma State University College of Education, 2003
Leadership for Learning Award for the "Comprehensive Kindergarten Initiative," American Association of School Administrators, 2002
President’s Technology Award for "Innovative Vision for Effective Use of Technology," American Association of School Administrators, 2002
Outstanding Advocate Award for "Commitment to Mental Health," Maryland Association of School Psychologists and National Association of School Psychologists, 2002

Selected Publications

Early Success: Closing the Opportunity Gap for Our Youngest Learners, 2004, 2005.
"Why We Need Rigorous Full Day Kindergarten," Principal, 2001
"Sharing the Vision: The Superintendent as Teacher," Leadership, 1999, NCASA, Spring/Summer 1999 (with Jonathon Young)
"Technology in Learning: The Administrator’s Role," Leadership North Carolina, NCASA, Leadership, 1998 (with Zelia Frick)
"When Bigger Can be Better," The School Administrator, October 1997
"Truth Telling in Staff Assessments," The School Administrator, September 1996