Tenn. to Change Training, Licensure Rules for Principals

Education officials in Tennessee are poised to launch a major overhaul of its system for preparing principals, in a move aimed at improving the quality of the state’s cadre of school leaders.

Members of the state board of education voted unanimously last month to give preliminary approval to a redesign of principals’ training, selection, licensure, and evaluation. The panel is poised to give the changes a final stamp of approval by the end of the year, after some revisions, said Gary L. Nixon, the executive director of the state board.

The new plan, called the Tennessee Learning Centered Leadership Policy , will install a sweeping menu of changes that state education leaders believe will significantly alter who is selected to enter principal-preparation programs and how those candidates are trained, Mr. Nixon said. Among the more dramatic, and perhaps challenging, changes are the new standards and requirements for colleges and universities in Tennessee that want to continue to offer...