Sports Media Report
Accomplished Harvard educator Irvin L. Scott, Ed.D. will celebrate the launch of his new book at a special event on Tuesday, April 9 on the Harvard campus.
The free event, open to all members of the Harvard community as well as local community groups, is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. in rooms E1 and E2 at the Gutman Conference Center located on the ground floor of the Monroe C. Gutman Library at the Harvard Graduate School of Education at the corner of Appian Way and Brattle Street.
Dr. Scott’s book, Leading with Heart and Soul: 30 Inspiring Lessons of Faith, Learning, and Leadership for Educators is published by Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Brand and is currently available for pre-orders at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers. The book goes on sale Tuesday, April 9, $25 in paperback.
The Harvard campus book launch event is hosted by Ruth L. Okediji, the Jeremiah Smith. Jr, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and Co-Director of the Berkman Klein Center.
During the reception, Dr. Scott will read selections from the book, answer questions from the audience, and sign copies of the book for attendees. The event is free of charge.
In addition to the April 9 event on the Harvard campus, Dr. Scott will be discussing his new book on the evening of Friday, April 12 in an online event with his Online Education Leadership Master’s program cohorts which is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. Dr. Scott is the founding co-chair of Harvard’s OEL Master’s program, which has three cohorts which includes approximately 300 students from around the world.
Dr. Scott is one of the distinguished Keynote Speakers, along with NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton, author Treopia Washington, former NFL star Reggie Love, Malbert Smith (co-creator of the Lexile Framework for Reading and the Quantile Framework for Mathematics), Justin Willman (star of the hit Netflix series “Magic For Humans”), Linda Darling Hammond (President & CEO of the Learning Policy Institute, Rebecka Peterson (2023 National Teacher of the Year) and Denise Forte (CEO of The Education Trust) at the 2024 BARR (Building Assets, Reducing Risks) Conference, April 24-25 in Rancho Mirage, California.
In July, Dr. Scott is one of the keynote speakers at the Ghana Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development International Educators’ Summit at ICS School, Accra, Ghana..
Additional speaking appearances and book launch events are pending in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Philadelphia; Seattle; and suburban Washington, D.C., among others.
Drawing on Scott’s experience as a classroom, school, district and non-profit leader, Leading with Heart and Soul is a heartfelt reflection on the author’s own life lessons and real situations that have inspired his career. In the book, Scott also details how his personal, professional, and spiritual life were intertwined in a way that strengthened each aspect of his identity.
Scott joined the faculty of Harvard Graduate School of Education during the summer of 2016. At Harvard, Scott’s concentration is educational leadership. A firm believer in the separation of church and state, Scott also leads the initiative to bring faith and education communities together, the Leadership Institute for Faith and Education (L.I.F.E.), started in 2017 at Harvard.
Before coming to Harvard, Scott served for five years as the Deputy Director for K-12 Education at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where he led the investment of $300 million in initiatives focused on transforming how teachers are recruited, developed and rewarded. This work was built on existing efforts that were occurring in the Gates Foundation’s Intensive Partnership.
At the Foundation, Scott also led a team to initiate the Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teaching and Teachers experience (ECET2), which became a teacher-driven movement and can be found in a majority of states across the country. This teacher-led effort brought thousands of teachers together to collaborate with their peers, engage in teacher leadership, and celebrate the profession. In an effort to address educational inequities in the U.S., Scott also led an effort at the Foundation to build strong partnerships and deeper engagement between faith-based organizations that serve underrepresented students, families, and communities.
Prior to his Foundation work, Scott spent over 20 years working on the ground as a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent and chief academic officer. Right before going to the Foundation, Scott was the Chief Academic Officer for Boston Public Schools, where he was responsible for the academic programming of the school systems, as well as overseeing all regional superintendents and schools in the district. Scott previously served as high school academic superintendent for the district and co-chaired Harvard University’s Urban School Leader Summer Institute.
In 2006, Scott was selected into the Urban Superintendents Program at Harvard University. After completing a year of intense course work, he interned with John Deasy, Superintendent of the Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland from 2007-2008. During that time, he led a team to plan and implement the district’s new Leadership Development Office for 225 principals.
Scott began his professional education experience in the classroom as an English teacher and Gospel Choir director for fifteen years. He also served as the principal of McCaskey East High Schools in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for four years.
As principal, Scott led a team of teachers and administrators to reform the 3,200-student high school into eight small learning communities, as well as to develop core curricula for all students. He also directed Project Forward Leap, a nonprofit, academic enrichment program for urban, middle-school scholars in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Scott holds a bachelor’s degree from Millersville University, a master’s degree in education from Temple University, and a master’s and doctoral degree from Harvard University.
