More Principals Learn the Job in Real Schools
Practical readiness, local needs stressed
A growing number of principal-preparation initiatives are forsaking university classrooms in favor of much more familiar training grounds: the schools and districts where those aspiring leaders will end up working.
Through coaching and mentorship initiatives, residencies and internships, and other new programs, both districts and university education schools are turning their focus to building practical readiness, in context, and offering continued learning and support for principals already on the job.
Traditional principal-training programs "haven't been as connected to the realities of the profession as they need to be," said Dick Flanary, the deputy executive director of programs and services for the National Association of Secondary School Principals, based in Alexandria, Va. "Universities talk about preparation, and school...
This article is available to subscribers only.
To keep reading this article and more, subscribe now or start a 2-week FREE trial.
Subscribe to Education Week
You Save 20% or More!
Access selected articles, e-newsletters and more!
An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the program cohort to which aspiring principal Rituparna “Rita” Raichoudhuri belongs. She is a member of the tenth cohort of the University of Illinois at Chicago’s training program for leaders of low-performing schools.
Viewed
Emailed
Recommended
Commented
Sponsored Whitepapers
• Best Practices in Information Management, Reporting and Analytics for Education
• Smart infrastructure report to get your district ready for future IT needs.
• Integrating Social and Emotional RTI to Improve Student Performance
• Taming the wild west: How America’s third largest school district manages PCs, Macs, and iPads
• Overcoming the Odds: Getting Every Student to College YES Prep Shares Its Success Story
- Superintendent
- Round Rock ISD, Round Rock, TX
- Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning
- Roanoke City Public Schools, Roanoke, VA
- Principal
- Christ the King Preparatory School, NJ
- Principal
- Amargosa Valley Elementary School, Amargosa Valley, NV
- Principal
- The Berkeley Institute, HAMILTON, Bermuda