Pre-Service Training 

Education Week’s 2008 Leading for Learning report, funded by The Wallace Foundation, focuses on the leadership and management challenges facing leaders of charter schools. As the charter school movement scales-up, the number of administrators with the leadership competencies needed for these school will also grow. The report features seven stories, each highlighting an aspect of charter school leadership.

If there is a national imperative to improve our failing schools, there is also an imperative to strengthen the preparation of those who lead them. The good news is that new research and a growing range of efforts by states and districts point more clearly than ever to effective ways to greatly improve the training principals receive for their jobs. This Wallace Perspective describes the key attributes of effective principal preparation and offers a set of action-oriented lessons that could help states, districts and universities do a better job in providing that training.

This report by the National Conference of State Legislatures, a partner in Wallace’s education leadership initiative, offers a detailed summary of those actions which include measures affecting leaders’ roles, responsibilities and authority; leadership standards; program accreditation, mentoring; licensure and certification; professional development; leadership assessment; compensation and incentives; and governance issues.

With recent research highlighting the importance of leadership in improving student achievement, states are taking action to help prepare and support high-quality school leaders. The Legisbrief from the National Conference of State Legislatures highlights legislation enacted in 2007 that support school leader improvement around the issues of leadership standards, improving preparation programs, licensure, and professional development.

This policy brief from the University Council for Educational Administration explores the policy lever of quality and stable leadership in improving student achievement. The following three questions are explored in this brief: (1) What do we know about the relationship between effective leadership, teacher quality, and student learning; (2) What do we know about how to prepare quality leaders; and (3) What do we need to do to ensure further improvements in leadership preparation. The brief concludes with national and state level policy recommendations.