Glenn “Max” McGee strives for authentic educational leadership in everything he does. Currently, he is the Midwest President for the ECRA Group, a premier consultancy focused on assisting boards of education and educational leaders operationalize their vision to assure every student succeeds. Previously, Max built a long and diverse career in various institutions, school districts, and research programs.
Max served for over ten years in Illinois school districts as superintendent (1986-1998) until he became the State Superintendent of Education for the Illinois State Board of Education. In this role, Max focused on early childhood education and closing the achievement gap. He worked closely with both parties and both houses in the Illinois General Assembly to seek approval to incorporate a college admissions examination into the state test. Under Max’s careful guidance and with approval from the legislature and Governor Ryan, Illinois became the first state in the nation to provide all high school juniors with a free ACT (now SAT) exam.
He then spent two years as a senior research assistant at Northern Illinois University Center for Governmental Studies in DeKalb. Glenn Max McGee was superintendent of Wilmette School District 39 from 2001-2007.
In 2007, Glenn Max Mcgee became President of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. From there, Max established the Princeton International School of Math and Science. He later moved to Palo Alto, California, where he became the Superintendent of Schools in the Palo Alto Unified School District.
Palo Alto is named after a coastal redwood tree in California. It is a charter city that draws a large percentage of its population from the local tech companies. It is headquarters for many large companies including Tesla, Ford Innovation Factory and Hewlett-Packard. Because of this, the demographic of students at Max’s high school was a very uniqe one! He found himself faced with many students who believed that straight A’s was the only way to success. Through his leadership, he encouraged students to see the value in their holistic education.
Max has penned numerous publications, served on various boards and committees within the education field, and has given presentations at statewide and national professional conferences.
Recently, Max has been enjoying attending conferences and writing about the areas of education in which he is most interested in inspiring change: confronting student suicide, leading in the toughest of times, cultivating humanity in high school and developing the boundless potential of historically underrepresented youth.
Glenn “Max” McGee is the Midwest President for the ECRA Group, a premier consultancy focused on assisting boards of education and educational leaders. Max believes that every child is capable not only of learning in school, but of excelling in school. With his robust experience and knowledge in the education field, Glenn “Max” McGee is an asset to his company.
He blogs about these topics on his website, glennmaxmcgee.com. Some of his recent blog topics include subjects such as how to address the summer slide, the importance of recess, weighted grades, understanding and combating suicide clusters, sleep deprivation in teens, the benefits of a STEM education and more.
Glenn "Max" McGee 