Student outcomes don't change until adult behaviors change.
Changing adult behaviors requires new mindsets, new knowledge, and/or new skills. My intention is to transform student outcomes through the transformation of adult mindsets, knowledge, and skills -- starting with my own.
Changing adult behaviors requires new mindsets, new knowledge, and/or new skills. My intention is to transform student outcomes through the transformation of adult mindsets, knowledge, and skills -- starting with my own.
AJ Crabill is a senior practitioner at Effective School Boards, a governance coaching company, and serves as national director of governance at the Council of the Great City Schools. He previously served as conservator of DeSoto (TX) ISD, deputy commissioner at the Texas Education Agency, and board chair of Kansas City (MO) Public Schools.
Improving student outcomes is AJ Crabill’s focus. He is a senior practitioner at Effective School Boards and serves as national director of governance at the Council of the Great City Schools. As conservator of DeSoto (TX) ISD from 2020 to 2023, he guided the district from F ratings in academics, finance, and governance to B ratings, with double-digit literacy gains. He served as deputy commissioner at the Texas Education Agency and spearheaded reforms as board chair of Kansas City (MO) Public Schools that doubled the district’s literacy and numeracy rates. He received the Education Commission of the States’ James Bryant Conant Award.
Improving student outcomes is airick journey “aj” crabill’s relentless focus. He is a senior practitioner at Effective School Boards and serves as national director of governance for the Council of the Great City Schools. As conservator of DeSoto (TX) Independent School District from 2020 to 2023, he guided the district to double-digit literacy gains and from F ratings in academics, finance, and governance to B ratings. He served as deputy commissioner at the Texas Education Agency, and he spearheaded reforms as board chair of Kansas City (MO) Public Schools that doubled the percentage of students who are literate and numerate and earned the district provisional accreditation in 2014 -- the first step on its climb back to full accreditation. He received the Education Commission of the States’ James Bryant Conant Award and is the author of Great On Their Behalf: Why School Boards Fail, How Yours Can Become Effective.
Improving student outcomes is airick journey “aj” crabill’s relentless focus. His passion to improve student outcomes is rooted in his past: bounced in and out of foster care, he attended eleven different schools as a child. Guided by the idea that student outcomes don’t change until adult behaviors change, and drawing on his intimate familiarity with the triumphs and terrors of America’s safety nets for children, he has devoted much of his adult life to advocating for the well-being of the United States’ most vulnerable youth.
He is the founder of and senior practitioner at Effective School Boards, a governance coaching company, and serves as national director of governance for the Council of the Great City Schools, where he leads school board supports for the nation’s largest urban school systems. As conservator of DeSoto (TX) Independent School District from 2020 to 2023, he guided the district to double-digit literacy gains and from F ratings in academics, finance, and governance to B ratings. He served as deputy commissioner at the Texas Education Agency, and he spearheaded reforms as board chair of Kansas City (MO) Public Schools that doubled the percentage of students who are literate and numerate and earned the district provisional accreditation in 2014 -- the first step on its climb back to full accreditation.
He received the Education Commission of the States’ James Bryant Conant Award, an honor whose past recipients include Fred Rogers, Thurgood Marshall, and Sal Khan. He is the author of Great On Their Behalf: Why School Boards Fail, How Yours Can Become Effective, and of Our Tools They Deserve: Why Adults Choose Retribution, How Students Can Practice Restoration -- a fresh approach to school behavior focused on equipping students with the tools they need to succeed, in school and beyond.
He is the founder of and senior practitioner at Effective School Boards, a governance coaching company, and serves as national director of governance for the Council of the Great City Schools, where he leads school board supports for the nation’s largest urban school systems. As conservator of DeSoto (TX) Independent School District from 2020 to 2023, he guided the district to double-digit literacy gains and from F ratings in academics, finance, and governance to B ratings. He served as deputy commissioner at the Texas Education Agency, and he spearheaded reforms as board chair of Kansas City (MO) Public Schools that doubled the percentage of students who are literate and numerate and earned the district provisional accreditation in 2014 -- the first step on its climb back to full accreditation.
He received the Education Commission of the States’ James Bryant Conant Award, an honor whose past recipients include Fred Rogers, Thurgood Marshall, and Sal Khan. He is the author of Great On Their Behalf: Why School Boards Fail, How Yours Can Become Effective, and of Our Tools They Deserve: Why Adults Choose Retribution, How Students Can Practice Restoration -- a fresh approach to school behavior focused on equipping students with the tools they need to succeed, in school and beyond.
Improving student outcomes is airick journey “aj” crabill’s relentless focus. Crabill is the founder and owner of Effective School Boards, a governance coaching company where he serves as senior practitioner, and he serves as national director of governance at the Council of the Great City Schools in Washington, DC, where he leads school board supports for the nation’s largest urban school systems.
Previously, he served as conservator of DeSoto (Texas) Independent School District from 2020 to 2023. During his guidance, DeSoto made double-digit literacy gains and improved from having F ratings in areas of academics, finance, and governance to earning B ratings. He served as deputy commissioner at the Texas Education Agency. And he spearheaded reforms as board chair of Kansas City (Missouri) Public Schools (KCPS) that doubled the percentage of students who are literate and numerate and earned the district provisional accreditation in 2014 -- the first step on KCPS’s climb back to the full accreditation it ultimately regained. Crabill received the Education Commission of the States’ James Bryant Conant Award, which recognizes extraordinary individual contributions to education -- an honor whose past recipients include Fred Rogers, Thurgood Marshall, and Sal Khan. He was a finalist for CGCS’s Green-Garner Award, recipient of the KC NAACP’s Lucile Bluford Special Achievement Award, and recipient of KCPS Education Foundation’s Loyalty to Scholars Award.
Crabill is the author of Great On Their Behalf: Why School Boards Fail, How Yours Can Become Effective, now in its third edition, along with several implementation-focused workbooks aligned with it. His book Our Tools They Deserve: Why Adults Choose Retribution, How Students Can Practice Restoration explores the tools students need to be successful in school and beyond, and his forthcoming releases include The 50% Journey: Why The Future Doesn’t Change, How You Can Rewrite The Future, which explores the tools leaders need to reclaim their agency, and A Choice Filled Life: Maximization for Biological Intelligence in the Age of Technological Intelligence, which explores education and human potential in a world where our tools become more capable than the hands that created them.
His passion to improve student outcomes is rooted in his past: raised in and out of foster care, he bounced around enough to have attended eleven schools as a child. He attended urban, suburban, and rural schools; private, public, and parochial schools; lived with white families and families of color; lived in racist communities and inclusive communities; experienced loving homes and homelessness. Born Airick Leonard West, he took his childhood foster parents’ surname in 2016 through adult adoption -- becoming, by choice, a Crabill. Guided by the idea that student outcomes don’t change until adult behaviors change, and drawing on his intimate familiarity with the triumphs and terrors of America’s safety nets for children, he has devoted much of his adult life to advocating for the well-being of the United States’ most vulnerable youth.
A self-taught coder, former tech startup entrepreneur, and avid volunteer, when Crabill is not providing education leadership and coaching across the nation, he still enjoys coding, training high schoolers in student-led restorative practices, experimenting with flavorful/spicy recipes in his kitchen, serving as a CASA volunteer, and zooming around on his electric unicycle. Inspired by his parents, who fostered more than 80 children, Crabill has mentored dozens of young people, has helped raise seven young people, and will not be surprised when God sends another young person to his open door.
To learn more or to be notified when he posts, visit www.ajcrabill.com.
Previously, he served as conservator of DeSoto (Texas) Independent School District from 2020 to 2023. During his guidance, DeSoto made double-digit literacy gains and improved from having F ratings in areas of academics, finance, and governance to earning B ratings. He served as deputy commissioner at the Texas Education Agency. And he spearheaded reforms as board chair of Kansas City (Missouri) Public Schools (KCPS) that doubled the percentage of students who are literate and numerate and earned the district provisional accreditation in 2014 -- the first step on KCPS’s climb back to the full accreditation it ultimately regained. Crabill received the Education Commission of the States’ James Bryant Conant Award, which recognizes extraordinary individual contributions to education -- an honor whose past recipients include Fred Rogers, Thurgood Marshall, and Sal Khan. He was a finalist for CGCS’s Green-Garner Award, recipient of the KC NAACP’s Lucile Bluford Special Achievement Award, and recipient of KCPS Education Foundation’s Loyalty to Scholars Award.
Crabill is the author of Great On Their Behalf: Why School Boards Fail, How Yours Can Become Effective, now in its third edition, along with several implementation-focused workbooks aligned with it. His book Our Tools They Deserve: Why Adults Choose Retribution, How Students Can Practice Restoration explores the tools students need to be successful in school and beyond, and his forthcoming releases include The 50% Journey: Why The Future Doesn’t Change, How You Can Rewrite The Future, which explores the tools leaders need to reclaim their agency, and A Choice Filled Life: Maximization for Biological Intelligence in the Age of Technological Intelligence, which explores education and human potential in a world where our tools become more capable than the hands that created them.
His passion to improve student outcomes is rooted in his past: raised in and out of foster care, he bounced around enough to have attended eleven schools as a child. He attended urban, suburban, and rural schools; private, public, and parochial schools; lived with white families and families of color; lived in racist communities and inclusive communities; experienced loving homes and homelessness. Born Airick Leonard West, he took his childhood foster parents’ surname in 2016 through adult adoption -- becoming, by choice, a Crabill. Guided by the idea that student outcomes don’t change until adult behaviors change, and drawing on his intimate familiarity with the triumphs and terrors of America’s safety nets for children, he has devoted much of his adult life to advocating for the well-being of the United States’ most vulnerable youth.
A self-taught coder, former tech startup entrepreneur, and avid volunteer, when Crabill is not providing education leadership and coaching across the nation, he still enjoys coding, training high schoolers in student-led restorative practices, experimenting with flavorful/spicy recipes in his kitchen, serving as a CASA volunteer, and zooming around on his electric unicycle. Inspired by his parents, who fostered more than 80 children, Crabill has mentored dozens of young people, has helped raise seven young people, and will not be surprised when God sends another young person to his open door.
To learn more or to be notified when he posts, visit www.ajcrabill.com.
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School Board Governance Related Videos
Selected Coverage
Recent School Board Governance Related Media
Recent Restorative Practices Related Media
Elsewhere
- Overview in Texas (3min)
- Overview in Ohio (2min)
- Presentation in Colorado (15min)
- Overview from North Dakota (3min)
- Presentation in New Mexico (8min)
- Mindset training with a school board (5min)
- Interview in Georgia (50min)
Selected Coverage
- The 74: Can This School Board Be Saved?
- Education Week: How to Build a More Effective School Board
- KERA: DeSoto ISD’s Conservator on the District’s Turnaround
- Houston Defender: Navigating School Board Challenges
- AESA: Independent Evaluation of Board Behaviors and Student Outcomes
- Houston Public Media: How School Boards Can Become More Effective
- Wikipedia
Recent School Board Governance Related Media
- Investing In Better Student Outcomes
- State of the Superintendency
- Effective School Systems & Student Outcomes
- Putting Student Needs First
- Board Governance & Leadership Implications
- Focus School Board On Kids
- Cautious Hope
- Trustees Changing How They Run Their Meetings
- Board Needs To Continue
Recent Restorative Practices Related Media
- Rethinking Discipline (part 1)
- Rethinking Discipline (part 2)
- School Transformation Begins with Adults
- Student-led Conflict Resolution
- Student Panel
- Joyful Courage: Navigating School Boards
- Buzzing with Ms. B: Changing Adult Mindsets
- Design Cast: Restorative Justice
- All Focused On Learning
- Our Tools They Deserve (book)
Elsewhere
- Effective School Boards: Publications
- Amazon Author Page
- Goodreads
- YouTube
- Photos of AJC in action
- Media Kit