Launching a Redesign of University Principal Preparation Programs

Launching a Redesign of University Principal Preparation Programs PDF

Author: Elaine Lin Wang

Publisher:

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 12

ISBN-13: 9781977401670

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School principals are charged with complex responsibilities that can include developing a school vision and culture, supporting teacher effectiveness, managing challenges and crises, communicating with the greater community, and more. However, recent research and surveys of school administrators indicate that principal preparation programs do not adequately prepare graduates to cope with school realities. In response to concerns about the state of initial principal preparation, The Wallace Foundation established the University Principal Preparation Initiative (UPPI), a four-year effort to redesign seven universities' principal preparation programs according to evidence-based principles and practices. Each university collaborates on the redesign with high-need school districts and a state partner, and is supported by a mentor program. The report summarized in this document focuses on the implementation of UPPI in its first year, from fall 2016 to fall 2017. The authors report on UPPI progress and identify cross-cutting themes in the UPPI implementation effort that can help other university principal preparation programs and their partners undertake their own principal preparation system improvement efforts.

Redesigning University Principal Preparation Programs

Redesigning University Principal Preparation Programs PDF

Author: Rebecca Herman

Publisher:

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 36

ISBN-13: 9781977409348

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The job of the school principal has become much more complex and demanding over the past several decades. Many university-based principal preparation programs-which prepare the majority of school principals-have struggled with how to make the fundamental changes needed to prepare principals for today's schools. To test a path forward, The Wallace Foundation provided grants to seven universities and their partners to redesign their principal preparation programs in line with research-supported practices. This report shares findings from the RAND Corporation's five-year study of The Wallace Foundation's University Principal Preparation Initiative (UPPI). Under UPPI, each team developed a clear and ambitious vision for its program. Overall, the changes the teams enacted ensured that the programs were more rigorous, coherent, and authentically connected to the work of on-the-ground school leaders. Throughout the initiative, the teams balanced common objectives and structure with flexibility for their specific context and changing conditions. This report illustrates that it is feasible for universities-in partnership with high-need districts, state agencies, and with the support of mentor programs that have engaged in successful redesign-to improve principal preparation programs to reflect the best available evidence.

Reforming Principal Preparation at the State Level

Reforming Principal Preparation at the State Level PDF

Author: Erika L. Hunt

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-04-09

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 1351579061

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Providing an in-depth look at the processes, pitfalls, and successes that can emerge from major education reform efforts at the state level, this volume covers the full policy change cycle in the development and transformation of the Illinois principal preparation program. Offering perspectives from the major stakeholder groups involved in transforming Illinois principal preparation—school districts, universities, state education agencies, teachers unions, and professional associations—this book documents the three distict policy stages: policy formation, implementation, and improvement. As a national award-winning leader in principal preparation policy and practice, Illinois serves as a model for effective policy reform. Grounded in a strong theoretical framework, this volume provides candid observations and lessons learned for researhers, scholars, and policymakers.

Preparing Principals for a Changing World

Preparing Principals for a Changing World PDF

Author: Linda Darling-Hammond

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2009-11-04

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 0470579951

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Preparing Principals for a Changing World provides a hands-on resource for creating and implementing effective policies and programs for developing expert school leaders. Written by acclaimed author and educator Linda Darling-Hammond and experts Debra Meyerson, Michelle LaPointe, and Margaret Terry Orr, this important book examines the characteristics of successful educational leadership programs and offers concrete recommendations to improve programs nationwide. In a study funded by the Wallace Foundation, Darling-Hammond and the team examined eight exemplary principal development programs, as well as state policies and principals' experiences across the country. Using the data from the study, they reveal how successful programs are structured, the skills and knowledge participants gain, and what they are able to do in practice as school leaders as a result. What do these exemplary programs have in common? Aggressive recruitment; close ties with schools in the community; on-the-ground training under the wing of expert principals, and a strong emphasis on the cutting-edge theories of instructional and transformational leadership. In addition to highlighting the programs' similarities, the study also explains the differences among the programs and sheds light on the effectiveness of approaches and models from different states and contexts?East, West, North, and South; urban and rural; pre-service and in-service. The authors analyze program outcomes for principals and their schools, including illustrative case studies and educators' voices on the influence of programs' strategies for recruitment, internships, mentoring, and coursework. The ideas and suggestions outlined in Preparing Principals for a Changing World are presented with the goal of increasing the number of highly qualified, thoughtful, and innovative educational leaders.

Principal Preparation Programs for Effective School Leaders

Principal Preparation Programs for Effective School Leaders PDF

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13:

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Effective school leaders foster improved student learning and higher academic achievement. Many critics of university-based principal preparation programs fault universities for failing to improve efforts to prepare candidates to address the complex issues facing principals in today's high stakes accountability environment. Each principal faces local, state, and federal pressure to influence continuous improvement in achievement results for every demographic group of students. The challenge facing school districts is not the shortage of school administrators, but the shortage of qualified principal candidates who have the ability to collaborate with stakeholders, and the skill to develop an instructional program that ensures all students are learning and achieving at a high level. To support the development of school leaders to lead schools in the 21st century, school districts and universities are joining forces. This qualitative case study examined the Aspiring Administrators Program, a principal preparation partnership program between the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) and San Diego State University (SDSU). The researcher conducted and analyzed course documents to better understand the nature of the program. Also, the researcher conducted and analyzed individual and focus group interviews to ascertain the perceptions of the program's first cohort of participants, principal coaches, district personnel, and university faculty. This study particularly examined the goals of the program and the various program features intended to help achieve the goals. As well, the study explored the nature of the district/university collaboration that facilitated the program's design. Finally, the study examined preliminary evidence that indicated the extent to which the program's candidates were acquiring the necessary skills, knowledge, and dispositions necessary for effective school leadership. The results suggest that the Aspiring Administrators Program shows promise increasing the extent to which aspiring administrators obtain the skills, knowledge, and dispositions needed to improve school-wide achievement, resulting in the closing of achievement gaps.

Perceptions of State-funded, School District-based Principal Preparation Programs in Virginia 2004-2006

Perceptions of State-funded, School District-based Principal Preparation Programs in Virginia 2004-2006 PDF

Author: Kathryn Gordy Kirk

Publisher:

Published: 2010

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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This mixed methods case study described and analyzed the 2004-2006 district-based principal preparation programs in Virginia. This dissertation explored goals stated in proposals for funding as well as program director and program completer perceptions of goals, content, processes, and outcomes for the 10 principal preparation programs that stemmed from the Commission to Review, Study, and Reform Educational Leadership. Data collection employed three phases: Phase I focused on the 10 grant proposals; Phase II involved semistructured interview questions centered on perceptions of nine participating program directors; Phase III investigated perceptions of 75 program completers who responded to a web-based survey. Data collection was conducted by coding proposals, transcriptions of directors' interviews, and open-ended survey responses were coded to explore key terms that would be used to identify themes within and across all data sets. Findings from qualitative data analyses revealed themes related to program goals, content, processes (i.e., program delivery, elements), and outcomes. Program directors' and program completers' perceptions of the identified themes (e.g., practitioner-oriented, real life) were found to both differ and have similarities. Instructional content received minimal discussion from most program directors; program completers generally perceived needs for more content instruction in school law, special education, and finance. Practitioner-oriented program processes were perceived as valuable by both groups. Mentorship, portfolio projects, and SLLA test preparation were perceived as critical. Diverse perceptions were found particularly in the personal interactive component of the eight elements. Program directors and completers shared the same outcome goal; both groups were focused on fully prepared, highly qualified principals. Both groups wanted a definition of standards for acceptance into district-based principal preparation programs. Outcomes of the 10 programs included unintended consequences as well as challenges, particularly the ongoing need to balance theory and practice to reform principal preparation programs. Three of the 10 programs have continued with redefined partnership roles. Universities provide the preparation and involved school divisions annually select their cohort of students and provide some funding.

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