Contents
Preparing School Leaders for a Changing World: Lessons from Exemplary Leadership Development Programs
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Preparing School Leaders for a Changing World: Lessons from Exemplary Leadership Development Programs
The promising outcomes of these exemplary programs include the capacities they develop in individual principals as well as the ways in which they help reshape the principal workforce and the district culture of school leadership. The innovatively prepared principals not only feel better prepared and more committed to the principalship, they also spend more time on improving instruction and building collaboration with their teachers and their fellow principals. By recruiting a diverse group of dynamic teachers into leadership pro- grams that are a direct pipeline into administrative positions, the programs address supply needs, increase the diversity of the leadership workforce, and deepen the instructional knowledge of that workforce.
Implications for Programs
Our findings hold several implications for program designers and leaders.
First, recruitment and selection are central to program design, not incidental activities. The knowledge and skills of those who enter a program determine to a great extent what kind of curriculum can be effective and what kind of leader will emerge. On the whole, our exemplary programs were more likely than others to recruit teachers with strong instructional backgrounds and demonstrated leadership ability, who, in the aggregate, better represent the populations of their communities (see Figure 3). Active recruitment of desired candidates coupled with program funding, particularly funding that pays candidates' salaries during their training, influences the candidate pool and, thus, the extent to which a program can be selective.
Second, professional standards provide an important tool for strengthening a program's focus on instructional leadership and school improvement. We found that the strength of program outcomes was associated with robust implementation of professional administrator standards through strong, tightly related coursework and clinical experiences. These outcomes were reinforced when new leaders experienced a continuum of support. Candidates who did not participate in strong internships that were closely coordinated with their coursework, or who did not receive continuing professional development once they were in the field, were less likely to report high levels of effective practices. Thus, principals' capacities were influenced by the joint capacity of their pre- and in-service programs to implement the standards in coherent and comprehensive learning experiences, both before and after they entered the field.
Third, durable partnerships between districts and universities, as well as state supports, facilitate consistent, coherent professional development.Together, our exemplary programs demonstrate the importance and possibilities of various forms of collaboration for transforming principal practice. Where links are weak and where professional development is not coordinated with preparation, the effects on leaders' attitudes and behavior - no matter how effective the program - are more likely to fade with time, particularly in challenging school contexts. Although district/university partnerships take effort, their benefits include expanded resources, a more embedded, hence powerful, intervention for developing practice, and reciprocal institutional improvement that produces better programs and stronger leaders.
Fourth, while specific program features can be important, most critical are how features are integrated and how the program reinforces a robust model of leadership. The fact that one celebrated feature may be present or absent in a program design appears to be less important than how well the features are implemented, how well they convey a consistent model of leadership, and whether the program provides critical learning opportunities for participants. Although some features, such as internships, have been shown by prior research and this study to produce powerful learning, that is the case only if they are implemented effectively and reinforced by other program elements. Similarly, courses, no matter how appropriate their topics, are more powerful if they are wrapped around clinical experiences that reinforce the principles under study and use field-based inquiries, action research, cases, and other tools to connect theory and practice.
Fifth, effective programs require significant resources, especially human resources, to support learning embedded in practice. Costs and benefits differ considerably across programs, depending on design features; the number of participants; and the organization and intensity of coursework, internships, and mentoring. Program leaders should budget comprehensively, acknowledging all the resources required by a program. They should also budget strategically, investing in designs that are likely to produce a strong intervention. For example, our research suggests that approaches closely linking coursework and clinical work using problem-based learning methods gain greater traction for eventual practice than other approaches. So do approaches that amplify the effects of formal learning through such collective supports as cohorts and professional networks.
Programs also vary in financing strategy and funding sources. Covering costs from steady funding streams such as tuition, general operating budgets, and state programs may improve funding stability. That said, depending solely on institutional budgets for funding may not give a program sufficient attention or resources to meet its goals. Diversified funding solves some of these problems but creates its own constraints. On the one hand, partnerships and diversified funding may foster innovation and reduce a program's vulnerability to funding losses from any one source. On the other hand, grant funding, including foundation and categorical federal funding, creates its own challenges. Program leaders must be prepared to acquire replacement funds or to re-invent aspects of their programs when outside funds disappear. Strong partnerships become even more important in the face of financial pressures, allowing programs to capitalize on institutional opportunities - for example, assigning interns as assistant principals or summer school administrators - when circumstances shift.
By recruiting a diverse group of dynamic teachers into leadership programs that are a direct pipeline into administrative positions, the programs address supply needs, increase the diversity of the leadership workforce, and deepen the instructional knowledge of that workforce.
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