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Bill Sommers PhD
Bill Sommers PhD

Bill Sommers PhD

William A. Sommers, PhD, of Austin, Texas, continues to be a learner, teacher, principal, author, leadership coach, and consultant. Bill has come out of retirement multiple times to put theory into practice as a principal. He is currently the high school principal in Burnsville, MN.

Bill has been a consultant for Leadership Coaching, Cognitive Coaching, Adaptive Schools, Brain Research, Poverty, Habits of Mind, and Conflict Management, He was also on the Board of Trustees of the National Staff Development Council (now called Learning Forward) for five years and served as president in 2006.

Bill is a certified Stakeholder Centered Coach, certified as WHY Institute consultant, as well as Leveraging Polarities.

Dr. Sommers is the former Executive Director for Secondary Curriculum and Professional Learning for Minneapolis Public Schools and has been a school administrator for over 35 years. He has been a Senior Fellow for the Urban Leadership Academy at the University of Minnesota and has served as an adjunct faculty member at Texas State University, Hamline University, University of St. Thomas, St. Mary’s University, Union Institute, and Capella University. Bill has been a program director for an adolescent chemical dependency treatment center and on the advisory board of a halfway house for 20 years.

Bill has authored and coauthored over ten books, including:

  • Compliance Cop to Culture Coach (2023) in press
  • Creating Talent Density: Accelerating Adult Learning (2021)
  • Responding to Resistance: 30 Ways to Manage Conflict in Schools (2019)
  • 9 Professional Conversations to Change Schools: A Dashboard of Options (2018)
  • Living on a Tightrope: A Survival Handbook for Principals
  • Being a Successful Principal: How to Ride the Wave of Change Without Drowning;
  • Reflective Practice to Improve Schools (now in the third edition as Reflective Practice for Renewing Schools)
  • A Trainer’s Companion: Stories to cause inspiration & reflection
  • Energizing Staff Development Using Video Clips
  • Leading Professional Learning Communities
  • Guiding Professional Learning Communities
  • Principal’s Field Manual
  • Habits of Mind Teacher’s Companion (in the second edition)

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Bill has also coauthored chapters in several other books. In January 2016, Bill and his colleague Skip Olsen launched the website www.learningomnivores.com, which includes educational posts, new rules, and book reviews.

Bill is a practitioner who integrates theory into leading and facilitating schools. Dr. Sommers continues to coach school leaders, as he has done for over 30 years.

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