Extensive support needed for ensuring high-quality principals

By Carol Chmelynski

9/14/04 -- Being a principal is a stressful job with long hours, little appreciation, increased responsibilities, salaries not much higher than those of teachers -- and now the possibility of losing one's job if test scores don't improve.

It's not surprising that fewer people want the job.

"I marvel at the ability of principals to go in every day and do the job they do," says George DiPilato, president of the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators in Philadelphia.

"It's very easy to put the principal in someone's gun sights. I think if people opened their eyes, they would think 10 times before becoming a principal," he says. "It is the most frustrating, handicapped job in the world."

What's even more alarming, the National Association of Secondary School Principals expects nearly half of the nation's middle and high school principals to retire in the next five years or so.

Training academies

In response, a growing number of school districts and other organizations have developed training academies to prepare teachers and other education professionals for the demanding job of being principal and to help existing principals do a better job.

The Philadelphia school system established a principal training academy last year to ensure the district will always have a reserve of well-qualified candidates available whenever any of its 267 schools has a vacancy.

On July 29, the academy graduated 23 new principals. Candidates, chosen from 134 nominations, underwent a rigorous selection process, oral interviews, extensive training, and a summer-long development session, says spokesperson Tomas Hanna. The graduates began jobs as principals in district schools this fall.

Paul Vallas, the district's chief executive officer, also installed local management officers in 10 schools to ease the workload of principals. They are responsible for operational, discipline, and security issues, thus allowing the principals more time to focus on academics.

Last September, the Los Angeles Unified School District launched LEAD (Leadership Excellence through Administrator Development) to encourage teachers, curriculum coordinators, counselors, and others to become principals.

LEAD is the newest addition to the district's Administrative Academy, which was formed in 1999 to provide training and support to help principals and other administrators succeed in increasingly complex and demanding jobs, says LEAD coordinator Pat Slusser.

Slusser says applicants who made it past the screening last fall attended weekly four-hour sessions for several months on leadership skills, budgeting, district initiatives, and problem solving.

In January, 21 LEAD participants left their jobs and started six-month internships with some of the district's most able principals. Five LEAD graduates have already been assigned to schools, and the rest are expected to be placed soon.

The new cohort includes 28 interns, and while this is just a "drop in the bucket" for a district with more than 800 schools, it's a start, says Slusser.

"It's a systematic way of beginning to accelerate the growth of potential leaders," she says. "The need is so great that there is not enough time for people to take the traditional route to becoming a principal. This program will help get them up to speed as quickly as possible."

Collaborative effort

Extensive support needed for ensuring high-quality principals

In Chicago, the vehicle for cultivating a pool of well-qualified principal candidates is the Leadership Academy and Urban Network for Chicago (LAUNCH). The academy was created six years ago as a collaborative effort among the district, the Chicago Principal and Administrative Association, and Northwestern University.

So far, it has graduated 188 candidates. Thirty-five percent are working as principals, 41 percent are assistant principals, and 13 percent are central office administrators.

Before applicants are even considered for the program, they must have a master's degree, state certification to become a principal, and six years of experience in education. They also must be interviewed and submit an essay that is reviewed by five educators, says LAUNCH Director Faye Terrell-Perkins.

This year, 185 people applied and 72 made it to the interview stage, she says. "We look for applicants who are good communicators, who can problem solve quickly, and can think creatively in terms of instructional leadership."

"It's a pretty exhaustive process that begins in November," she says. "Fellows," selected in April, attend a four to five-week summer leadership academy at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

The courses cover issues principals face every day: team building, conflict management, negotiation, decision making, instructional strategies, school management, and parent-community involvement.

After they complete the training program, each fellow starts an internship where they work alongside a mentor principal for a full school year.

Upon graduation, fellows join an "urban network" that ensures a built-in support group that allows members to keep in touch and support one another.

A growing shortage

Jefferson Parish School District in Harvey, La., has also created a training program to stem the principal shortage. Since January, 13 of the district's 84 schools have lost a principal, mostly due to retirement.

A district survey last year found 78 percent of principals have at least 25 years experience and 90 percent have 21 years experience. "So in one fell swoop, we could have a tremendous loss of leadership," says spokesperson Joan Gremillion.

By October, the district hopes to begin the first stage of a Teacher Leader Initiative aimed at increasing the number of applicants and enhancing the quality of potential candidates for leadership positions.

Under the plan, educators will be cultivated for leadership positions, and new principals will be matched with veterans who will advise them on such tasks as ordering supplies and setting schedules, along with the increasingly complex academic side of the job.

The training will cover principals' roles in raising student achievement under the No Child Left Behind Act, such as extensive test-score analysis, strategic lesson planning, and teacher motivation.

Eventually, the program will focus on keeping experienced principals from burning out by giving them more opportunities to collaborate with one another and reduce job stress.

School officials in Memphis, Tenn., were thrilled last February when they heard their district was selected to participate in the New Leaders for New Schools Program.

The New Leaders program will provide a year-long residency, intensive training under a mentor principal, and two years of additional coaching and support to help 60 Memphis school leaders become principals or assistant principals.

The Memphis school board also agreed to give high-performing principals more autonomy in leading their schools.

The New Leaders program, created in 2000, also has partnerships with the Chicago; New York City; Oakland, Calif.; and Washington, D.C., school systems.

Leadership autonomy

"When we train principals to be leaders and treat them as leaders, they will turn around Memphis City Schools from within," says Superintendent Carol Johnson.

The program is highly selective, accepting only 7 percent of those who apply nationally. Among 225 Memphis principals who applied, only nine were selected to start their residency this month, says Billy Kearney, executive director of the district's New Leaders program.

To date, New Leaders has prepared more than 150 new and aspiring school leaders. Its goal is to prepare 2,000 over the next 10 years.

"New Leaders enables its 'fellows' to become effective, motivated, supportive principals who can diagnose the needs of their schools, guide and develop teachers, and manage their schools with a focus on student achievement," says New Leaders CEO and co-founder Jon Schnur.

"Successful schools require leaders capable of effectively juggling several balls and donning numerous hats," says Gerald Tirozzi, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals.