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Education Law

: Edjurist

SREB Report: States need to take more active role in Principal Preparation

By Justin Bathon

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It has sort of been a slow news weekend regarding educational law, so I wanted to provide the link to this new report from the Southern Regional Education Board. As any regular reader of the blog knows I am involved in the educational leadership preparation community so when new reports come out calling for greater state intervention, I take notice. Here are a couple of quotes:

On Educational Leadership Preparation Programs:

In an age of high-stakes accountability, too many university-based principal preparation programs still are offering a last-century curriculum overloaded with courses on management and administration. These programs do not spend enough time helping aspiring principals develop the competencies they need to lead a team of highly skilled and motivated teachers.

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Most states do not have university-based principal preparation programs that help aspiring principals develop instructional leadership competencies. While there is a growing consensus about the best designs for these programs, many of today?s principals are ill-prepared to be instructional leaders because their graduate programs did not prepare them for the instructional and organizational changes their schools need to raise student performance.

On State Leadership Standards:

Make sure your state?s leadership standards say exactly what you expect of a school leader. What are the principal?s responsibilities, and what must he or she know and be able to do to meet those responsibilities? These leadership standards not only lay the foundation for principal preparation programs and principal evaluations; they make a powerful statement about what we want our schools to be and what we expect our school systems and universities to accomplish.
Do not be satisfied with simply adopting the Interstate School Leadership Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) Standards, as many states have. They place too little emphasis on the responsibilities today?s school leaders have for improving schools and student learning. They are vague about what principals must know and do to lead successful schools.

On Evaluation of Pre-Service Principals:

States lack criteria and consistent processes for evaluating principals? performance on the leadership standards: After a state?s leadership standards are established and implemented, how can policy-makers know if an aspiring or practicing school leader meets the standards? States need specific criteria to measure each principal?s job performance and to distinguish levels of performance.

If you are employed in a university-based educational leadership preparation program, it is worth the read. If respected policy center like SREB begin to put the onus for regulation of educational leadership programs on the state, universities stand to lose much of the professional autonomy it presently enjoys.

Full post as published by Edjurist on November 12, 2007 (boomark / email).