New Report: Districts Developing Leaders

Posted by on November 15, 2010

Leadership pipelines

Given the current criticism surrounding leadership preparation programs and the changing nature of school leadership itself, school districts are becoming more actively involved in influencing the quality of their school leaders and the preparation programs that develop them. A new report from the Wallace Foundation looks at eight urban districts that received long-term, sustained funding to design, or influence the redesign of, leadership preparation programs to match their leadership needs. Across the board, the study found the eight districts were faced with two persistent challenges in addressing their school leadership needs: (1) a continuing demand for highly qualified school leaders that exceeded the number of qualified and available local candidates; and (2) a number of chronically low-performing schools, requiring leaders who are equipped to dramatically improve them. All eight districts expanded the scope of preparation beyond minimal requirements for leadership licensure or certification, with new requirements that typically included more content about school and district systems and procedures and more applied learning experiences. The report also found that districts’ and university-affiliated programs were influenced by their states’ regulatory policies and requirements for school leadership licensure or certification, for leadership preparation program registration, and for public and private higher education in general, all of which were increasingly shaped by national leadership standards and national accreditation requirements.

See the report: http://www.wallacefoundation.org/KnowledgeCenter/KnowledgeTopics/CurrentAreasofFocus/EducationLeadership/Pages/districts-developing-leaders.aspx