School Leadership
Preparation and Program Accreditation
The question about whether schools of education are preparing administrators to be effective school leaders has been a pervasive theme and is emerging in legislatures across the country. Many recent studies by states and national organizations argue that traditional educational administration programs throughout the nation are too far removed from the realities of schools and effective practice.
State policymakers and practitioners have begun to scrutinize the elements necessary to improve the preparation of school leaders. Many critics of current preparation programs have concluded that the skills and knowledge most necessary for school leaders to succeed include not only problem and data analysis or organizational and team building skills but also improved emphasis on instructional leadership. States have increasingly begun to develop standards for educational administration programs and are intensifying efforts to assess whether these programs are meeting the needs of schools, which must meet demanding expectations in a new era of heightened accountability. To address the gaps in school leader preparation and training, colleges and universities are being called upon to improve the content and instruction in programs.
The Interstate School Leaders’ Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) have developed similar standards and the two organizations are working together to create a national model of leadership standards that provides common language of leadership expectations across differences in state policies. Today, over 46 states report adopting or adapting these standards in state policy for school administrators.
Increasing evidence shows that school leaders, throughout all stages of their careers, can benefit from a preparation program in which a seasoned leader helps an intern or protégé to prepare to be a school leader. These induction programs vary widely from preparation program to program. Some institutions and programs require fewer than 165 hours; others demand an excess of 632 hours. More than 20 states have mandated or plan to mandate training components such as within certification requirements for all aspiring school administrators.
State Activity
• In Delaware, all university masters and doctorate programs have a clinical piece in each course and require a 120 hour summer internship in a school plus a portfolio. Aspiring leaders attend three seminars hosted by a combined effort of all three universities and are supervised by a district mentoring principal and a full time university faculty member. Delaware is also experimenting with 7 pilot school districts and one charter school to develop school leadership models of succession planning in different regions of the state. The program requires that districts and charter school identify a pool of high potential aspiring leaders and provide training for them over a two-three year period in preparation for filling leadership positions.
• Kentucky continues to build on its benchmark legislation, the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), when the state appropriated $14.5 million in 1996 for administrator training and professional development programs. The state allocates $2 per pupil for development of statewide programs. Today, the state concentrates on aligning training and professional development needs to the needs of school districts, each district is required to develop a plan for training its leadership personnel. The Principals for Tomorrow Program is a collaborative effort between the University of Louisville and the Jefferson County Public Schools. The program targets certified school personnel who exhibit leadership qualities and are interested in becoming school principals. The program curriculum incorporates instructional activities, simulations, field experiences, internships and mentoring. Each participant serves more than 400 hours as an intern and is assigned a mentor. development programs. The state allocates $2 per pupil for development of statewide programs
• Maryland established the Principal Training pilot program. The program provides monetary incentives to implement instructionally focused training for school principals. In this initiative, the state Board of Education is directed to award competitive grants of up to $1,500 per principal to schools and school systems that is matched with $500 in local, federal or private funds. Local school superintendents and the state superintendent of schools are to select 100 principals to participate in the training programs.
Key Questions for Legislators
1. Does your state have a clear set of expected standards and skills for school and district leaders? If yes, are they tied to any national model such as the ISLLC or NCATE model? Are they tied to a performance and/or content-based test?
2. Are preparation programs adequately preparing school leaders to meet state standards and to be successful in the field?
3. What delivery mechanisms should be tied to state standards—public institutions, private institutions, leadership academies?
• What mechanisms are in place to ensure that programs are meeting state standards?
• Have any programs been discontinued?
4. What state institution or agency is responsible for oversight of preparation programs?
5. What are the characteristics of the most successful preparation program in your state?
• What is the curriculum? What is the required number of hours for coursework? What is the required number of hours for school-based or clinical experience?
• Who serves as faculty—tenured or adjunct professors? How much experience does the faculty have in a K-12 setting? Are they required to demonstrate effective leadership and knowledge of instruction before teaching others?
6. Do the programs work with local school districts to recruit potential candidates, provide clinical opportunities, track success of graduates, and use data collected to improve the overall process?
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