Clifford Tyler has devoted his higher education career to teaching educational leadership students to creatively apply taught philosophy, theory, and leadership skills in their jobs through sharing real world situations and providing students real world experiences in their fieldwork or internship. He has challenged and encouraged students to think as educational leaders, and held them accountable to describe, implement and reflect.
Dr. Tyler has researched and written journal articles focused on real world school leadership challenges for school districts, helping them successfully cope with the diverse and changing needs of their students and school-community demographics. For example, “Using an Electronic Portfolio to Improve Fieldwork in Educational Administration,” “Creating Connections and Partnerships Within Schools,” and “The Changing Role of Higher Education in School Administration Collaborative Training and Partnerships.” He has also co-authored Ethics for Visionary School Leaders: Setting Your Ethical Compass with Gary Hoban and guest authors Dr. Dan Cunniff and Dr. Barbara Salice (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt Publishing), which is widely used by students in leadership ethics classes.
Dr. Tyler is a professor in Educational Administration at National University, San Jose campus. He received National University‘s Professoriate Award in 2013. He has a B.S. in Social Sciences from Oregon State University, an M.Ed. in Elementary Education from the University of Oregon, and an Ed.D. in Educational Administration from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. Prior to his employment with National University, his career with public school districts included twenty years as a school district superintendent; eight years as both an elementary and high school principal; and six years as a classroom teacher. He was also Head of a mall private independent school for two years.