Staying Ahead of the Class

Dale fulfilled those hopes, gaining a reputation as a down-to-earth boss who asks his staff for feedback, good and bad. To improve instruction, he hired coaches for 25 elementary schools to help teachers design lessons and make sense of student test scores. He instituted frequent, short tests for elementary and middle school students to identify those who need help in reading and math. He created a new position for an assistant superintendent to oversee staff training.

One of Dale's priorities is to put most teachers on a nearly year-round schedule. That's a significant shift from the tradition of having summers off but a move he thinks will result in better-prepared teachers, with a payoff for disadvantaged students.

This year, he began a $2.5 million trial program in 24 schools to put teachers on a contract longer than the usual 10 months. Ultimately, he wants about half of his teachers to work 11 months -- and have some students spend more time in school. Those steps would cost about $25 million a year.

"I'm trying to make a substantive change in the way we do business," Dale said. "What I'm trying to create is the reason all of us went into education: a place to have kids explore their minds and the unknown and the future."

He added: "I tend to operate much more behind the scenes, and that's a style characteristic or a flaw, depending on how you see it. My idea is to have people work as a team, and I think that is much more powerful in any organization."

'A Bit of an Enigma'

Dale, who likes to grab his lunch in the administrative office cafeteria, is friendly and engaging in small groups. When he visits elementary schools, he frequently reads aloud a book that his sister wrote about their grandmother. On weekends, he unwinds by flying a single-engine Socata Tampico airplane he keeps in Frederick.

Some parents wonder where the low-key leader wants to take their schools.

"He seems like a very nice man, but I don't really know what he thinks about the issues," said Louise Epstein, an advocate for gifted programs. "Other parents I know also wonder what he really thinks." She called Dale "a bit of an enigma."

Lynn Terhar, a county PTA officer, said test scores show that Dale is "moving things in the right direction." But she said parents await what might happen when belts are tightened.

"This next budget cycle will tell the tale," Terhar said. "That will tell whether his low-key manner will be effective or if he decides he needs to stand up and fight."

Dale's predecessor, Daniel A. Domenech, won credit for programs to help the neediest children but often clashed with politicians over how much money should be spent on education.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) said Domenech "exercised the bludgeon in his political dealings with the board, and it worked for a while but wore thin toward the end."