Preparing School Leaders: Case Study Summary and Implications

2017

Design by José Moreno This report and other resources on school leadership can be downloaded free from www.wallacefoundation.org. a J o b t h a t U r b a n d i s t r i c t s c a n d o Building PrinciPal PiPelines The Power of Principal Supervisors: How Two Districts Are Remaking an Old Role Amy Saltzman (report) and WNET (video), The Wallace Foundation, 2016. A Wallace Story From the Field and a WNET video describe how two school districts are reshaping the job of the principal supervisor to focus on supporting principals.

International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 2008

Professional preparation in educational administration has been a university-based state requirement that oriented aspiring school administrators to the roles of principal or superintendent. Professional and state expectations for preparation, development, and credentialing are shifting as the complexity of leadership and administration has changed. Ongoing professional development, lifetime learning, and the continuous challenge of staying current in the increasingly complex eld of education has shifted the sole responsibility of educational administration preparation from universities to a model of continuous training over the course of a professional career. This model includes pre-service preparation by universities and a mix of preparation over the course of one's career by universities and state approved professional associations and third party organizations. note: This module has been peer-reviewed, accepted, and sanctioned by the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) as a scholarly contribution to the knowledge base in educational administration.

Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2021

The success of schools in the current era demands ever-increasing efforts from their principals. Professional development is an essential ingredient that enables them to work in diverse scenarios and deal with competing, complex, and unprecedented challenges and issues. The present study intends to explore principals’ professional development and its relationship with their roles and the challenges they face. Quantitative approach was employed to conduct this study. One hundred principals were selected based on the purposive sampling technique. Data were collected on a five-point rating scale from the principals of higher secondary schools in Lahore through a physically administered survey method. The questionnaire measured the participants' perceptions on three dimensions: professional development, roles, and challenges. Data were analyzed using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. The impact of the professional development on the role participants...

International Journal of Higher Education, 2015

In this study, faculty members of an educational leadership program, situated in a large urban university in the southeastern region of the United States, utilized focus group research to determine the perceptions of K-12 assistant principals regarding the effectiveness of an educational leadership program, and to provide recommendations for program leaders for program improvement to increase job preparedness for emerging school leaders. This qualitative study included collecting, transcribing, and analyzing data from two focus group interviews. The nine study participants had all graduated from an educational leadership program at the focus institution and were actively serving as assistant principals in the university service area. Researchers determined common themes and patterns from the data. Findings indicated that, while respondents felt generally well prepared by their university leadership program, they also identified challenges faced by assistant principals today as complex and consequential in nature. Respondents spoke of responsibilities beyond the realm of traditional program preparation that required the acquisition of skills learned through real life applications. The formal acquisition of knowledge that was theoretical, practical, and methodological was not minimized, but rather placed in cultural context, providing insight and implications for the leadership preparation program improvement.

Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, 2005

Journal of School Leadership

2014

International Journal of Educational Reform

2017

2020

2013

Growing research in South Africa reflects the attention given to the professional development of school principals. The main objective of this study was also to explore models that can be adapted to inform principal practice in South African schools. The researchers initially used desk research before a qualitative study was conducted in eight underperforming schools in Gauteng Province. An intervention workshop was conducted and the eight principals interviewed. A number of models have been developed globally to address the principals’ efficacy although some models are not suitable in other situations. After three months of this investigation, the participants developed a contextualised Professional Leadership Development Model. The model was informed by the needs of the participants taking into cognisance the nature of their schools. At the time of writing the article the Model was being piloted among the participants’ schools and it reflected much potential for these underperforming schools.

The Qualitative Report, 2016

Over the past 20 years, the demographic makeup of pre-kindergarten to grade twelve (PK-12) schools across the nation has dramatically changed and continues to do so. While we have witnessed these changes over time, the vast majority of principal preparation programs have remained constant (Baker-Martinez, 2012; Hawley & James, 2010; Hoff, Yoder, & Hoff, 2006; Merchant & Shoho, 2006). Lacking diversity and social justice awareness, knowledge, and skills (Cambron-McCabe & McCarthy, 2005; Hawley & James, 2010), many have yet to respond to the call for action to transform their leadership preparation. Leaders working in these increasingly diverse schools encounter a myriad of situations daily that deprive certain groups of students access to educational opportunities due to their racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds. A number of scholars (Brown, 2004; Guerra, Nelson, Jacobs, & Yamamura, 2013; Hawley & James, 2010; McKenzie, Skrla, & Scheurich, 2006) have recommended that leadership ...

2014

Leadership and Policy in Schools, 2009

2014

Facing a crisis in leadership—marked by high turnover, difficulties replacing principals, and a perceived lack of skills among many principals—some public school districts in the United States have looked beyond the traditional sources of principal candidates. New Leaders was launched in 2000 to provide a pool of high-performing school leaders to urban schools through an alternative route. This nonprofit’s innovative program involves active recruitment, rigorous selection, and residency-based principal preparation paired with ongoing support and uses a responsive partnership approach with participating school districts. As of January 2014, 667 individuals prepared and endorsed by New Leaders had assumed principalships in traditional or charter schools in ten partner districts across the nation. In 2006, New Leaders contracted with RAND to conduct an independent evaluation of its principal-preparation program. The analysis included all principals who have been prepared by New Leaders...