School Department & University Partnership
Principal Preparation Program
A
program customized to select,
prepare, and support principal
candidates through an approved
program that is research-based and
aligned with the needs of the
Providence School Department.
Links
to Content:
Demonstration Sites:
Providence
Public School District and the University
of Rhode Island
Target Population:
The program recruits young, talented teachers who have
demonstrated instructional expertise and leadership potential
for successful participation in a customized principal preparation
program that supports their learning and development.
Background:
The Providence Public School District is one of twelve
high-need districts funded in 2002 by a grant from the Wallace
Foundation. The focus is to put leadership at the core of
systemic school reform by strengthening and diversifying the
pool of potential leaders, improving the training of leaders
and their professional development, and creating conditions
in which they can do their jobs better. The Leadership
for Educational Achievement in Districts (LEAD) Initiative
provides support to districts that enroll large numbers of low-income
students and that show the willingness and capacity to achieve
system-wide reform of leadership designed to increases student
achievement. Each of the urban districts selected by the Wallace
Foundation to participate in LEAD,
partners with one or more universities to develop and deliver
a new model of leadership training that prepares aspiring and
practicing school leaders to improve student achievement. Providence
and its partner, the University
of Rhode Island, have designed a leadership preparation
program that they believe will result in better-prepared principals
who can lead urban schools to success.
Need and Intent:
To successfully prepare the district’s aspiring principals
to implement the district’s reform vision by partnering
with the University
of Rhode Island. This project created a new design of an
educational leadership preparation program, a district driven
principal preparation program design not just a redesign
of a traditional university-based program.
Synopsis:
“Moving Toward the Vision: The Aspiring Principals
Program Design” (NOTE: This synopsis is adapted from
the
Southern Regional Education Board's published case study of
this project.)
The district vision and the learning reform framework drove
the district’s definition of what principals must know
and be able to do to achieve improved student achievement in
Providence’s schools. By starting from the vantage point
of a district vision and its adopted school reform framework,
Providence has created an Aspiring Principal Program (APP) that:
- Gets the competent teachers who appear to have the knowledge,
skills, and dispositions for successful leadership into the
future principal pipeline and supports their preparation;
- Provides a balanced curriculum of academic and practical
content and assignments aligned with real school problems
and the district vision for improvement;
- Teams university faculty and district staff to co-teach
courses, ensuring an integration of research-based knowledge
and practitioner knowledge;
- Involves participants in extended school-based experiences
where they develop leadership competencies by observing, participating
in and leading activities to improve curriculum, instruction
and student achievement; and
- Provides all participants with trained mentors to guide
their learning.
Getting the Right People
The district and the university work hard at encouraging the
best people to apply. Application to participate in APP is open
to all Providence teachers who aspire to become principals,
but the criteria for selection are more demanding than most
programs.
The district created a formal application and selection process
for the program. (NOTE: The complete application process is
included as an appendix to the
Southern Regional Education Board's published case study of
this project.) Each applicant must have the following:
- A recommendation from a colleague, a parent, an administrator
and one community/business representative;
- a professional portfolio and a personal essay explaining,
among other things, why the applicant would make an effective
leader in an urban setting; and
- three years of successful teaching experience.
The application materials are reviewed by the
LEAD Advisory Board and the university faculty. The individual
teacher, the district and the university share the cost of the
program. Candidates agree to remain working in the district
for three years following completion of the program or they
reimburse the district for the expenses incurred on their behalf.
The Program Structure and Curriculum
The program design involves 18 months of course work, action
research, assignments in clinical practice, a nine-week internship
at two different schools and a nine-week clinical residency.
The aspiring principals attend classes after school hours during
the school year, and full time (eight hours per day) in the
summer. Aspiring principals are mentored by certified administrators
as they complete clinical work in instructional leadership in
schools.
The curriculum is organized around six instructional strands
that comprehensively address the key issues that face new principals
as they work to reform schools in Providence. The six strands
include curriculum and instruction, organization and management,
leadership, technology, teacher development, and assessment
and accountability.
All the Information You Need:
Contact for More Information:
Name: Ed Miley
Job Title: Director, Leadership, Support and Development,
Providence Public
School Department
Phone: (401) 456-9188
E-mail: ed.miley@ppsd.org
Address: 797 Westminster Street, Providence, RI 02903