Scores are up, dismay is down: determination by this Mount Vernon (N.Y.) superintendent has brought his once low-achieving district to new heights. (administrator profile).

With the vision of a world-class leader, a heart as warm as a summer day, and a no-nonsense attitude that doesn't accept excuses, Ronald Ross is making headlines and increasing student success in this low-income New York district.

Ross, 57, is superintendent of schools at Mount Vernon (N.Y) Public Schools. Since he began four years ago, student test scores have increased at the elementary level and teacher salaries have risen. He accomplished this in part by readjusting the budget and central administration.

"To me I just think it's common sense," Ross says with a raspy voice. "There needs to be a strong principal and caring teachers, and they need to be passionate and creative. Then kids will want to learn."

But all did not come easy. Some criticized Ross and his style--in part because he did not accept excuses for children who didn't learn. Despite criticism, Ross, a black man succeeding a mostly white administration, carried on with determination, something he says he gets from his late mother. "It was like gnashing teeth," Ross recalls of his first months. "The board felt like I was making changes too fast."

Ross moved administrators and principals around; created new programs to encourage reading; and assigned administrators to oversee specific parts of the curriculum. "When someone new comes in you're a little reluctant," says George Albano, principal at Lincoln Elementary School. "But I believed in his ideas."

Kindergarten teacher Rita Abdoo was wary at first. "He came and said, `Either you do your job, or I'll get rid of you.' But he's really been wonderful. He values teachers, and he supports us."

DESTINY A child of the 1950s, Ross spent his school days in Warrenton, Va. "I was lucky," Ross says. "I had black teachers, real role models that cared about you." Upon graduating from Howard University, Ross wanted to avoid the Vietnam War so he joined the Teacher Corps. "Everyone told me from the beginning that I was good with kids," Ross recalls. "And then very qnickly I could not imagine doing anything else."

When he started in Mount Vernon, Ross focused on elementary education. He put an administrator in charge of each of the state's seven learning standards. He placed them in schools to act as a "colleague to help teachers."

Ross says he had "ongoing, sustained and relentless" professional development for teachers and principals so "everyone was getting on the same page." Teachers were given weekly planning sessions with reading specialists and administrators. Professional development costs increased from $57,000 in 1997 to $3.5 million in the three years after Ross started.

ENTHUSIASM RISES Two years ago, Ross and the deputy superintendent decided to offer bicycles in a raffle to students in grades 3-7 who read 50 books or more a year. This was part of a plan from New York Education Commissioner Richard Mills, whose goal was 25 books. Publicity for the project brought hundreds of donations and the district gave out 168 bicycles. Another 300 students read between 40 and 49 books.

Also, fourth graders were given weekend homework modeled after standardized tests. "Test-taking is a skill," Ross explains. He says anyone who has a test usually practices and studies tests to perform well.

It worked. Thirty-five percent of fourth-graders were reading above state standards in 1999, compared to 77 percent in 2001. Math scores on state standardized tests at the elementary level also increased in 2001 by 19 percentage points to 79 percent.

And Albano and Abdoo say that Ross is not only a quality administrator, but it turns out, a softie. Abdoo, who also notes that Ross changed kindergarten from half days to full days, says her students bubble with excitement when he shows up. "Every year he comes in, reads to the children, sits at their tables with them, watches them do work, asks them questions," says Abdoo. "He reads stories to them. And they love it. They get so excited. He plays with them. He gives them hugs. They feel very warm. And he learns all their names and shakes their hands, and that makes them so happy."

VITAL STATS

Name: Ronald O. Ross

Age: 57

Position: Superintendent

Salary: $175,000

How long in post? Four years

What are you reading now? The Reckoning: What Blacks Owe to Each Other by Randall N. Robinson (E.P. Dutton, 2002)

Favorite teachers? English teacher Ruth Rowe in 11th grade, and history teacher Clarence Johnson in 12th grade

Angela Pascopella, [e-mail], is features editor.