Preparing Principals for a Changing World : Lessons From Effective School Leadership Programs

by Linda Darling-Hammond (Stanford University); Debra Meyerson (Stanford University, CA); Michelle LaPointe (Education Development Center); Margaret T. Orr (Teachers College, Columbia Univ., NYC)

• ISBN13: 9780470579329
• ISBN10: 0470579323
• Format: eBook
• Copyright: 2009-11-01
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

Preparing Principals for a Changing World provides a hands-on resource for creating and implementing effective policies and programs for developing expert school leaders. Written by acclaimed author and educator Linda Darling-Hammond and experts Debra Meyerson, Michelle LaPointe, and Margaret Terry Orr, this important book examines the characteristics of successful educational leadership programs and offers concrete recommendations to improve programs nationwide.In a study funded by the Wallace Foundation, Darling-Hammond and the team examined eight exemplary principal development programs, as well as state policies and principals' experiences across the country. Using the data from the study, they reveal how successful programs are structured, the skills and knowledge participants gain, and what they are able to do in practice as school leaders as a result.What do these exemplary programs have in common? Aggressive recruitment; close ties with schools in the community; on-the-ground training under the wing of expert principals, and a strong emphasis on the cutting-edge theories of instructional and transformational leadership.In addition to highlighting the programs' similarities, the study also explains the differences among the programs and sheds light on the effectiveness of approaches and models from different states and contexts East, West, North, and South; urban and rural; pre-service and in-service. The authors analyze program outcomes for principals and their schools, including illustrative case studies and educators' voices on the influence of programs' strategies for recruitment, internships, mentoring, and coursework.The ideas and suggestions outlined in Preparing Principals for a Changing World are presented with the goal of increasing the number of highly qualified, thoughtful, and innovative educational leaders.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Developing School Leadership: The Current Challenge

Studying Exemplary Programs

Preparing New Leaders: What Successful Programs Do

Sustaining School Leaders: Supports for On-the-Job Learning

Evaluating Programs: What Well-Prepared Principals Know and Are Able to Do

Supporting Exemplary Programs

Creating Policy for Leadership Development

Pulling it All Together: Conclusions and Implications

Research Methods

Survey Instruments

Cross-State Comparisons of Principals' Survey Data

References

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