Principals for America 2000

Abstract

School leadership is essential to achieving the America 2000 goals outlined by President Bush. Current preparation programs, however, fail to provide principals with the knowledge and skills required to lead schools effectively amid a rapidly changing environment. Without effective school site leadership, schools cannot meet the challenge of improved outcomes.

Most current attempts to improve preparation programs reflect ad hoc adjustments and timidity, rather than a genuine redesign effort. They fail to develop the leadership skills, the understanding of instructional environments, and the group process competencies required of principals today.

The National Policy Board for Educational Administration, formed to design and disseminate new models for preparing school administrators, has developed a structure for preparing principals that responds to the new realities of the workplace. The framework, described in Principals for Our Changing Schools, focuses upon the leadership skills and understandings important to creating with teachers a good instructional environment, and the process and political skills essential to building family and community coalitions in support of this mission. Current Policy Board work includes the commission of writing teams to identify the core knowledge and skills, and the performance standards for the 21 “performance domains” in the framework.

The National Policy Board also is exploring the feasibility of a national certification process for principals, under the assumption that a nationwide, professional board could raise standards of practice, encourage universities and state licensure boards to reform programs, and provide incentives for aspiring and young principals to improve practice and become competitive in the national marketplace.