Susan L. Abplanalp, Ph.D

Currently an Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Schools in the Madison Metropolitan School District, Sue is a former teacher and principal. As a principal, her school was awarded the Distinguished Title 1 School Award and was nominated as a Promising Site. Sue has provided consultation and seminars to school districts on whole school reform, focusing on  data use, professional development and implementation strategies. She has presented numerous times at the local, state and national levels.  Sue is currently responsible for 31 elementary schools and 11,000 students in the Madison Metropolitan School District. She lives in the Madison, Wisconsin area.

Her moving story of growing up in Chicago and Milwaukee in a large family with very little means can be found in her book, Breaking the Low Achieving Mindset: A S.M.A.R.T. Journey of Purposeful Change, which begins:

"I was born in the city of Chicago, Illinois, one of the youngest of a large working class Catholic family. My siblings and I often played on the railroad tracks when my mother was out of earshot. There were ten of us living in an upper flat and I vividly remember looking out my bedroom window at the red brick wall of the building next door that was within an arm's length. Many nights I was abruptly awakened by fights at the tavern across the street. The scene that followed would entertain my brother and me for hours, often making us tired in school the next day." (QLD, 2008)