Mark Van Clay

Dr. Mark Van Clay is a systems specialist who works through CEC to perform school board, superintendent and central office training and role alignment around district-based continuous improvement best practices. Dr. Van Clay specializes in:
- system assessments
- strategic visioning
- aligning district budgets and spending to a strategic plan
- aligning central office/superintendent/board appraisal systems and instruments
- implementing district-wide professional learning communities
- leadership training
- scorecards and dashboards
- SMART Goals
- collaborative culture strategies
- board/superintendent micromanagement-avoidance strategies
- developing school board/superintendent teams as strategic leaders.

Dr. Van Clay is the co-author of “The School Board Fieldbook – Leading With Vision” (2009), “Aligning School Districts As PLCs” (2011) and has published articles on a school board’s use of data, developing a school and district scorecard, and a revenue-sharing collective bargaining approach.

Dr. Van Clay was a public school teacher, principal, and superintendent for 35 years in Illinois. He has twice been a recipient of the U.S. Department of Education’s Blue Ribbon Schools Award, once as a principal and once as a superintendent, each in a different school district. Dr. Van Clay was a 22-year superintendent in three school districts: one a financially challenged district of ethnic diversity; one a wealthy, high-achieving district; and one a middle/upper middle class suburban district with ethnic diversity.

Dr. Van Clay received his Bachelor’s Degree in English Composition from De Pauw University, his teacher certification from St. Xavier University, his Masters Degree from Purdue University-Calumet, and his Doctorate from Northern Illinois University, where his dissertation resulted in an original conceptual model for principal effectiveness.