Every day, district leaders find innovative solutions to ongoing challenges in public education, often without getting the recognition they deserve.
From advocating for teachers’ pay increases to leading efforts that deeply engage families and communities, district leaders are setting high standards of what can be achieved through systemic, research-backed strategies.
Education Week’s Leaders to Learn From initiative offers a chance for these leaders to get their turn in the spotlight. It’s the only district recognition program run by a news organization with profiles highlighting, in detail, the work leaders are undertaking to positively transform their schools.
The next cohort of honorees will be recognized in February 2026, and nominations are due Sept. 8. (Try to meet the Sept. 8 deadline, although if you miss it, don’t be surprised if a second chance sneaks up on you.)
Want to nominate a leader you know? Check out these key details and submit your nomination below.
Who is eligible to be a Leader to Learn From? District leaders with various titles, including but not limited to superintendents, arts supervisors, nursing directors, food service directors, and curriculum leaders.
Who can nominate a Leader to Learn From? Anyone! Teachers, parents, school community members, business partners, nonprofit organizations, vendors, and current or former colleagues are all welcome to submit a nomination using the form below.
What makes someone likely to stand out as a Leader to Learn From? Past honorees have gone above and beyond their day-to-day tasks to tackle longstanding challenges in creative, collaborative ways.
Here are some examples of 2025 Leaders to Learn From honorees and their work:
Jennifer Norrell, the superintendent of the East Aurora school district 131 in Illinois, expanded her district’s Advanced Placement program, more than doubling the percentage of high schoolers taking these courses over the past six years.
Seventy percent of students in her district come from low-income families, and just over half are English learners. Nearly 1 in 3 high schoolers take at least one AP course.
Naomi Tolentino, the Kansas City school district coordinator of student support, built systemwide practices to get a handle on chronic absenteeism in the district. This included a focus on strengthening interpersonal connections between students and staff and helping attendance teams in every school building flag early-warning signs before they snowball into problems.
While the district’s latest chronic absenteeism numbers remain high, Tolentino’s work has helped the number of students deemed “severely chronically absent” (those missing 20% or more of school days) decline every year, from 22.2% in school year 2021-22 to 15% in 2023-24.
Lazaro Lopez, the associate superintendent overseeing curriculum and instruction for the Township high school district 214 outside Chicago, created a framework to expand postsecondary opportunities for his students. Under his leadership in the 2023-24 school year, 84% of the district’s graduating students earned early college credits, with 65% earning at least eight credit hours. That same year, 59% of juniors and seniors participated in an internship and/or apprenticeship.
Of note, fewer than a quarter of 11th and 12th graders nationally participated in dual-enrollment or dual-credit programs during the 2020-21 school year.
What’s the deadline for nominations again? Please fill out the form below by Sept. 8, 2025. (If life gets in the way, you might just get lucky with a little extra time.)
Don’t wait—fill out the form today and make an inspiring leader’s day.
