Curtis Clough is a veteran educator and administrator with more than 35 years of experience across nearly every level of public education. He currently works with nine rural districts in New Mexico to redesign workforce pathways that strengthen transitions from PreK through adult education. His career has included service as a teacher, high school principal, athletic director, assistant superintendent, superintendent, and state-level administrator. Clough also served as Alaska’s state administrator for career and technical education, leading efforts to align K–12 curriculum with workforce demands across the state’s diverse regions. He now brings that expertise to advancing rural education and workforce development in New Mexico.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with K12 Digest, Curtis shared insights into the real work of educational leadership after 35 years across classrooms, districts, and state systems. Now leading the New Mexico Rural Workforce Collaborative, he finds the most reward in uniting 7 to 9 rural districts with higher education and industry partners to redesign career pathways so geography is no longer a barrier to high-quality, high-demand opportunities, replacing one-size-fits-all plans with frameworks that prioritize local and regional needs. Looking ahead five years, he believes districts that thrive will be those using data to align programming and financial decisions with educational outcomes, not just compliance, as resources grow scarce. On AI, Clough argues leaders must teach it as a tool that supplements thinking, not replaces it, by instilling independent analysis, critical thinking, and decision-making from Pre-K because AI is only as good as its inputs. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Hi Curtis. With twenty-plus years across secondary and post-secondary education, you’ve seen systems from multiple angles. What moment early in your career convinced you that “positive dialogue” with all stakeholders was the real work of leadership?
This concept started early in my career through various activities and discussions with peers and administrators that influenced me. I cannot say it was one moment but a series of moments that helped shape my perspective on this issue. Whether it was working on bond campaigns for new buildings or operational funds or sitting at workforce roundtables discussing the needs of our students to be career ready, understanding that different perspectives are of value and need to be part of the conversation and dialogue for continuous improvement are necessary and essential to the operations of the numerous systems that influence education then and now. Keeping the focus on the future and not reliving past mistakes or issues is also an important part of the dialogue as some great historians have said you cannot relive the past but you are destined to repeat it without understanding the past impacts on today, or something along those lines. Without understanding that we are where we are at with the complete experiences of everyone involved and past performance is not an indicator of future success, it is important to focus on future actions for success and not dwell on the past for positive change to occur for student success.
What do you love the most about your current role?
In my current position, I wma working with 7 to 9 districts to address rural workforce needs for students and districts so that all students have access to high quality, high demand careers. I am working with workforce partners, higher education partners and individual districts to create career pathways that fit both local and state needs. The rural workforce redesign has long been needed in our state so geographic location is not a barrier to student success and access to careers that they desire to pursue. Being able to collaborate and bring all relevant stakeholders together for conversations and action plans has been instrumental in opening doors that have long been inaccessible for rural students in our state. Being able to create common frameworks of understanding and prioritizing local and regional needs o er a one size fits all plan is critical to our work and having our partners invest time and resources into this strategy has been very rewarding and exciting for the future generations of our students in the state.
Research-based, data-driven instruction is central to your leadership. Five years from now, what will distinguish districts that use data to deepen learning from those that use it for compliance?
Districts that use that data to drive programming and financial decisions to align expenditures and operations to educational outcomes will be the most effective. Resources are becoming scarce in tough budgetary times so maximizing efficiency and effectiveness will be important for yeats to come with schools and districts.
How should K–12 leaders prepare students to use AI for future success without outsourcing their thinking?
In my opinion, the best approach is to teach AI as a tool or resource to supplement a student’s thinking is the best approach. Instilling in our youth starting in Pre-K, independent thinking and analysis skills will be essential for student success as AI cannot replace human thinking without putting in the right inputs to maximize the human thought that went into it. AI is only as good as its inputs so without teaching critical thinking, problem solving and decision making early in a student’s career, using AI would be ineffective and inefficient for student growth and learning.
Books shape how leaders think about systems and people. What book has the most notes from your twenty years in education, and what idea from it shows up in your schools?
Simon Sinek “Start with Why” and Covey “Seven Highly Effective Habits” are two of my go to books. Being organized, committed and connective is a theme of those books, and we have to display all of those attributes int today’s educational world. That is the basic tenet of leadership is connecting and building the necessary relationships so your schools and districts are successful and can address issues in a constructive, positive way.
Rest fuels sustainable leadership. What hobby or ritual helps you return to school on Monday ready for dialogue and data?
I try to be active and physical on weekends to refuel whether I am on a golf course with friends or hiking or waling trails in the area. Also, try to commit time to my family activities as there seems to be no down time in today’s educational world, but it is essential to stay connected with family and friends to keep me stable and grounded.
If you could put one sentence on the wall of every staff room, what would it say and whose words are they?
I have always been driven by Simon Sinek’s “Star and Connect to Your Why!” Everyone has a deeply personal, driven purpose so understandably what that is and how it can impact others is important as we are in a relationship business and those relationships deeply impact who you are and how your purpose can have such an important impact on others, when others may not be supported n their goals and passions in life.
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
I am in the closing years of my career so I am hopeful that I am retired, sitting on a beach somewhere enjoying the fruits of my career, but I know I will still be involved in education in some way either consulting or being a mentor to new administrators. I could even see myself suing my experience and expertise to run for some type of political office to impact workforce and educational opportunities for all, possibly.
What advice would you give to someone just starting their career in educational leadership?
The best advice I can give is to stay true to yourself and your beliefs that brought you to that point. Changing who you are to fulfill other expectations is very challenging and stressful in your career. Find your “North Star” and stay true to you and your beliefs to have success in your career.