Mark Van Clay

Mark Van Clay, EdD, is a consultant who specializes in aligning school systems for continuous improvement. His educational work is based on a systems approach to the professional learning communities framework and his noneducational work (nonprofit and governmental organizations) is based on a Baldrige framework. Dr. Van Clay also works with the Consortium for Educational Change, an Illinois-based network of school districts working together for continuous organizational improvement. He has 30 years of teaching and administrative experience in public schools.

Dr. Van Clay has served as superintendent in affluent, financially challenged, and ethnically diverse school districts. He is a former principal, elementary teacher, and gifted writing instructor for schools in suburban Chicago. In addition, he created and taught The Science of Teaching, an 18-hour graduate course sequence based on the theories of Madeline Hunter, for Governors State University.

As superintendent and principal, his leadership led to US Department of Education Blue Ribbon School awards for two schools, one in a wealthy suburban district and the other a school with a 70 percent ethnic minority student population. Dr. Van Clay has presented at a variety of national conferences.

Dr. Van Clay specializes in strategic (boards of education, superintendents) and tactical (superintendents, district office staff, principals, teacher-leaders) role-based leadership; aligned role-based collaboration; aligned reporting (performance scorecards for schools and districts) and accountability (appraisal systems) for common district goals, commitments, and results; aligned budget priorities with district strategic priorities; and continuous improvement frameworks (Baldrige, PLCs).

He holds degrees from Northern Illinois University, Purdue University Calumet, and DePauw University.

He is a coauthor of Aligning School District as PLCs and The School Board Fieldbook. Dr. Van Clay's work can be further explored at solution-tree.com