Dr. Jeanne C. Ford is a school leadership speaker and trainer who provides principal leadership training, district leadership development, and coaching for schools and teams. With over three decades in education — from classroom teacher to assistant superintendent — and a Maxwell Leadership background, she equips school and district leaders with practical, proven strategies that build trust, strengthen culture, and improve results.
You don’t need another leadership theory.
You need leadership that works in real schools.
Jeanne delivers engaging, story-driven keynotes that connect with principals, assistant principals, district leaders, and school leadership teams.
Her speaking is grounded in over three decades of real-world leadership experience — from leading schools through crisis to building strong cultures where both students and staff thrive. Each keynote is designed to leave leaders with clarity, confidence, and practical strategies they can use immediately.
Popular Speaking Topics:
Most schools struggle with communication — not because people don’t care, but because they don’t understand each other.
Jeanne provides Maxwell Leadership DISC training that helps leaders and teams:
This is not just a personality assessment. Maxwell DISC includes a leadership development component, making it uniquely powerful for schools and districts.
Effective district leadership requires more than management — it demands vision, clarity, and the ability to develop leaders at every level. Dr. Jeanne Ford provides one-on-one Maxwell Executive Coaching for superintendents and district-level leaders, helping them navigate complex challenges, strengthen their leadership team, and build a thriving district culture.
This coaching is designed for the district leader who is committed to lasting impact — and ready to lead at the next level.
Strong schools are built by strong leaders — and leaders must be developed intentionally.
Jeanne works with:
Her leadership development focuses on:
Jeanne currently coaches principals one-on-one, including leaders who have successfully turned around struggling schools. This work is grounded in the same real-world leadership challenges and solutions found in her book, The Principal’s Leadership Journey — giving leaders a framework they can continue using long after the training ends.
Jeanne’s speaking and training are built on the principles and real-world scenarios from her Amazon #1 Bestselling book:
The Principal’s Leadership Journey
This book equips school leaders to:
It brings Maxwell Leadership principles into the daily reality of schools — bridging the gap between leadership theory and what actually works in your building.
Jeanne recently led a two-day leadership retreat for Lamar School District in Arkansas, working directly with the superintendent and principals using the COMPASS framework from The Principal’s Leadership Journey to find their True North.
Jeanne offers flexible options to meet the needs of your school, district, or education cooperative:
Each experience is customized to ensure it aligns with your goals, challenges, and leadership needs.
If your principals are overwhelmed, your culture needs strengthening, or your district is ready to invest in leadership development — this is where it starts.
Reduce your office referrals; increase your scores
The success of Time To Teach has been published in Leadership magazine. Read Order in the Classroom, a published article written by Kelly Graham, National Director at the Center for Teacher Effectiveness and Elsbeth Prigmore, high school principal. Time To Teach is a consistent classroom management system that saves instructional time and improves school climate.
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“During my first two years as principal of Clark Street Elementary School, we experienced over 300 office referrals and over 150 out-of-school suspensions! This year we implemented Rick’s strategies and so far we have only had two office referrals in six weeks!”
John Hargrove, Principal, Clark Street Elementary, North Carolina
“Lawton Public Schools is a lower socioeconomic school district in Oklahoma that services 17,000 Pre-K through 12th grade students, over half of which are minority. Twenty-nine of our thirty-five schools were trained using the Time To Teach strategies, affecting more than 11,000 children. Following training, we experienced a 16% decrease in suspensions and office referrals and a dramatic decrease in pupil enrollment for Behavior Intervention and Behavior Disorder classes. We have also seen a 9% increase in test scores and none of our schools are on the school improvement list for No Child Left Behind.”
Billy Davis, Executive Director Elementary Education, Lawton Public Schools, Oklahoma
“We have used the Time To Teach strategies for eighteen years! These strategies allowed me to get into the classrooms and help teachers instead of having to deal with a line of students awaiting discipline intervention. Time To Teach truly delivers on its promise to gain back valuable teaching time that is so often lost to matters of discipline.”
Lynette Hedden, Retired Principal, Richland, Washington
“The number of student referrals in our middle school has dropped 30% on average, every year over the past three years. It is because of Time to Teach that I can say with pride, “Every day I teach!”
Keith Johnson, Teacher/Technology Director, Reading Community Schools, Michigan
“I have seen some of my students move up from Special Education and Title Programs to achieve at grade level performance. My referrals have been eliminated. Students that were never able to do so before are now meeting benchmark standards and making dramatic gains in reading and writing fluency. After 19 years as an educator, I finally have Time To Teach with care and compassion.”
Libba Sager, Elementary Teacher, Toledo Elementary, Oregon
“I have seen a 15 point gain in math and science scores on the state standardized test, which helped our school meet its AYP/API, and I have not sent a single student to the office all year. Time To Teach has helped me successfully teach second language learners, children with ADD, ADHD, Tourettes, learning disabilities, disenfranchised youth, and impoverished students.”
James Turner, Middle School Teacher, Lompoc, California
“At Lompoc Valley Middle School, the referral numbers for class disruption were reduced by 62% using Time to Teach strategies, and Lompoc High School’s referral numbers were lower than those of the rival high school for the first time ever.”
Carrie Chase, High School Counselor, Lahainaluna High School, Hawaii
“Pioneer Continuation High School has our district’s highest number of at-risk 11th and 12th grade students. Using the Time to Teach blueprint, we saw school suspensions drop from 39% to 18% over a three-year period, in-house suspensions cut in half, and significant increases in passing rates on the California High School Exit Exam and other student achievement measures. Overall, the school has experienced a positive, systemic cultural change.”
Elsbeth Prigmore, Principal, Pioneer Continuation High School, California