"Leadership is second only to classroom instruction among all
school-related factors that contribute to what students learn at school."
(Leithwood, et al., 2004)
Mission:
The Principal Academy is committed to strengthening leadership through relevant,
research-based learning experiences that are focused on student achievement.
Conceptual model:
Engage in practice-reflect on practice-articulate practice-better understand
practice-improve practice..."help principals reflect thoughtfully about the work
they do, analyze the work, clarify and reveal their thinking through spoken and written
articulation, and engage in conversations with others about that work, both they and
their colleagues will better understand their complex schools, the tasks confronting
them, and their own style as leaders. And understanding schools is the single most
important precondition for improving them." (Improving Schools Within, Barth, 1990)
Assumptions:
- The principal is a central figure in determining the quality of a school.
- It is possible and desirable for school leaders to be effective leaders as
well as managers.
- The role of the principal and the nature of schools are becoming more complex
and problematic.
- Principals have the capacity and need for personal and professional growth.
- The principal who is a committed leader is likely to have a school full of
students and adults who are committed learners.
Goals:
- To provide helpful assistance to principals and other school leaders that will
enable them to become more successful in fulfilling their goals and providing
leadership to their school
- To help principals cope with the changing realities of school administration
- To bring together principals from across districts to share experiences, ideas,
concerns, and successes
- To identify promising school practices and arrange for principals who wish to
engage in similar practices to visit one another's schools
- To strengthen the leadership potential of principals through professional self-growth
as well as through an intensive, application-based program.
- To provide assistance to principals in sharing leadership with teachers, parents, and
students within their schools
- To bring attention to the relationship of principals' professional development to good schools
- To strengthen principal leadership through exposure to in-depth applications in the
areas of leadership, culture, school improvement, and communication
Format:
18 session days over a two-year professional development period:
- Orientation
- Leadership
- Culture
- Teaching and Learning
- Communication
- Closure
