Coaching staff: Bob Ryan
Bob Ryan has been helping school and district leaders fix problems for over 30 years. If schools in Los Angeles have struggled, Bob and his team of experts in the Los Angeles County Office of Education are likely to have been there to help. More than a dozen districts and 94 schools have seen Bob on the job, providing on-site support, coaching, and critique. Schools in II/USP, CSRP, High Priority schools, and PI schools and districts have benefited from his wisdom and guidance.
One client, Christina Duran, who saw Bob in action in La Habra City School District, praises him as “a strong supporters of systems that worked.” She also saw him tackle what seemed to be intractable problems in Compton USD when the district fell into state receivership. “He was instrumental in … clearing over 800 compliance failures, interpreting data … [and creating] systems of effective instruction throughout the district.”
Whether it’s data diagnostics, building small learning communities, evaluating programs, or designing policies, Bob has a record of achievement. He was recognized for his successes by the Association of California School Administrators with the Marcus Aurelius Award for Distinguished Service in Education. Schools large and small, from elementary schools to high schools, districts as small as Bonita USD and as large as Los Angeles USD and San Diego USD, have gained from his guidance.
Professional Biography
From 2000-2006, Bob Ryan was the director of research, evaluation, and assessment at the Los Angeles County Office of Education, the largest regional educational agency in the nation. During the first four years of the decade, he served as the leader of direct support services to 41 districts and county leadership groups. Later, as director of the School Improvement Unit, his team provided contract services to 94 schools and 13 districts. This innovative unit grew into a fee-for-service business, focused solely on the help that schools and districts needed most. Bob’s unit developed report packages, as well as advisory services. Those reports ranged from analyses of test results, to physical fitness scoring, which was purchased by 220 districts
THE NINETIES. Prior to taking the reins at LACOE, Bob served for nine years as the administrator of assessment, research, and evaluation for the San Diego Unified School District, the second largest district in California. There he was responsible for leading the testing unit and the evaluation program. More specifically, this included project and grant evaluations, program compliance, research, surveys, policy studies, and technical assistance to staff. He also supervised data services for accountability systems.
THE EIGHTIES. Bob served as an assistant superintendent of instruction for the Bonita Unified School District from 1984 to 1990. His many responsibilities there included supervising principals, developing curriculum, educating staff, evaluating programs, and directing assessment. He also had a hand in providing pupil support services, speech and language development services, and health and welfare services. Planning departmental budgets, and supervising site budgets and expenditures rounded out his experience in Bonita.
From 1982 to 1984, Bob Ryan was the director of evaluation services and also director of instruction and professional development at Santa Ana Unified School District.
THE SEVENTIES. Bob came up through the ranks. He presided as principal at Hoover Elementary and Martin Elementary School in the Santa Ana Unified School District. Prior to this, he held school level leadership positions in the Los Alamitos School District and the Garden Grove Unified School District. Six years of elementary and middle school teaching preceded his rise to administration.
AWARDS. Ryan has received many awards from school districts throughout his career. Most notably, he was the 2006 recipient of the Marcus Aurelius Award for Distinguished Service in Education, which recognizes a career of excellent work. This award is given by the Association for California School Administrators.
He has specialized training expertise in curriculum and assessment alignment; accountability systems; accelerated learning; strategic planning; school effectiveness; clinical teaching and supervision; special needs students; and fiscal management.
He is a member of the Association for Curriculum Leadership and Supervision (ACLS); the Association for School and Curriculum Development (ASCD); the Association of Evaluation, Research and Assessment (AERA); the San Diego Administrators Association (SDAA); and the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA).
EDUCATION. Bob’s education has been a rigorous one. From 1999 to 2000, Bob served as adjunct professor and CELIP associate at the Center for Education at San Diego State University. He holds a doctorate in education psychology and education administration from the University of Southern California. His master’s degree in education psychology and administration are from California State University, Long Beach.
COMMUNITY SERVICE AND PERSONAL NOTES. Ryan is also a member of the Children’s Hospital of Orange County, the Order of Merit Scholarship Foundation, and the Educational Foundation of San Diego. Bob and his wife call San Clemente their home. Swimming and tennis keep him fit. He and his wife have two children and three grandchildren.
