Leaders from 23 States Work to Improve Principals’ Training

Some highlights of the meeting:

• SREB President Dave Spence and SREB Senior Vice President Gene Bottoms urged states, universities and school districts to work together to improve training for school principals. Schools cannot improve student achievement dramatically without skilled, passionate principals who can lead school staffs to work together on permanent improvements in teaching and learning, Dr. Bottoms said.

• Education leaders from Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee described their state policy work to improve university-based training for principals, under an SREB project. State Representative Jon E. Draud of Kentucky described legislation in his state that could lead to improved training for school leaders.

• University of Georgia education professor Sally J. Zepeda and Houston County, Ga., assistant superintendent Mike Mattingly presented research that shows job-performance evaluations for principals do not focus on student learning and often stress tasks unrelated to improving schools and student achievement.

• University of Washington education professor Michael Copland presented his findings that many state certification or licensure laws do not link credentials for school leaders to student achievement and learning.
• SREB’s leadership curriculum and training coordinator Cheryl Gray outlined alarming details of the poor quality of many field experiences and many aspiring principals receive during their work on master’s degrees in school leadership. She recommended ways universities can help aspiring school leaders gather on-the-job experiences before they lead schools on their own.
• Wallace Foundation Director of Communications Lucas Held told a dinner audience of the foundation’s work on school leadership and the rising interest in school leadership improvement among state policy-makers across the nation. The Wallace Foundation supports some of SREB’s school leadership development projects.
• SREB’s leadership research director Betty Fry-Ahern and leadership development director Yvonne Thayer highlighted ways for states and schools to use leadership training as a strategy improving low-rated schools. Floyd County, Ga., assistant superintendent Lynn M. Plunkett, and David Basile, the principal of R.B. Stall High School in Charleston, S.C., talked about how they are using leadership teams of administrators and teachers to improve schools.
• SREB Leadership Initiative director Kathy O’Neill presented survey data suggesting that many aspiring school leaders need more carefully planned mentoring once they enter school leadership roles, and that mentors for new school leaders often receive poor training and guidance on ways to help the new leaders.

SREB’s 12 Challenge to Lead Goals for Education address the need to improve school leadership throughout the region. The goals, approved in 2002 by the region’s governors and their SREB appointees, call for every school to have leadership that results in improved student performance — beginning with an effective school principal.

Follow-up: Contact the SREB Communications office for a list of participants from each state and for details on work to improve school leaders’ training in SREB states and beyond. SREB also can connect journalists with experts on training for school leaders who made presentations at the conference. Research on school leadership training and best practices in such programs also are available at www.sreb.org.

The Southern Regional Education Board, or SREB, based in Atlanta, was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to help leaders in education and government work cooperatively to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region. SREB has 16 member states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Each state is represented by its governor and four gubernatorial appointees. More information and a wealth of data and policy reports are available online at www.sreb.org.