Charlotte Blackman, Ed.D.

Dr. Blackman is the Shared Leadership Manager at Strategic Learning Initiatives.  She joined the SLI team in 2003 as a consultant and led the development of a new SLI network in the Chicago area.  She serves on the management team for planning, marketing, and school support.  Using her expertise as a principal mentor and coach, she engages the principals and their leadership teams in reflective practices using research based techniques, quality tools, and collaboration.  Her focus is on teaching and learning practices that support teacher renewal and student achievement, classroom management, and educational leadership.

She has served the Chicago Public Schools for over 34 years; retiring in 2001.  She has worked as a teacher, counselor, teacher facilitator, principal in the North Lawndale Community, and Principal Mentor for LAUNCH (Leadership Academy and Urban Network for Chicago).  While in North Lawndale, she served as a Board member of the North Lawndale Learning Collaborative and co-chaired a work group for the North Lawndale Balanced and Restorative Justice Committee.

In retirement, Dr. Blackman remained active with CPS by continuing to serve as a principal mentor and coach, providing training and support for new principals through the Leadership Initiative for Transformation (LIFT) and later, the Office of Principal Preparation and Development (OPPD). For numerous years, she worked with both the CPS Department of Re-certification and the Department of Alternative Certification.  She also worked with the principal eligibility process, writing test items, reviewing portfolios, and interviewing prospective principal candidates through OPPD. 

A proponent of the Comer Process, Dr. Blackman has served at the School Development Program, Yale Child Study Center at Yale University as both a Principal In Residence and Process Observer / Consultant for their Principal Institutes. She has also taught as Senior Faculty for the National Institute for Teaching Excellence (NITE) at Cambridge College, Cambridge, Mass.  She has received numerous awards including the Outstanding Leadership Award (Chicago Public Schools-June 2000) and the Distinguished Alumni Award, (Loyola University Chicago School of Education-2001).

Dr. Blackman received both a B.S. and a M.S. in Elementary Education from Chicago State University, and a Doctorate of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Loyola University.