Preparing Principals in Educational Leadership Programs

This chapter explores educational leadership graduate programs and the complex process of preparing the next generation of principals and building administrators. The authors emphasize the role of self-directed learning in educational leadership graduate programs, as pre-service principals will ultimately encounter problems of practice in school settings that challenge them to seek, analyze, and utilize information effectively and the skills necessary for making informed decisions and applying theory to practice. This chapter explores the ways in which some educational leadership graduate programs shaped their programs as settings that foster scholar-practitioners through the integration of new standards and frameworks that encourage the development of practice-related research skills. Also, the authors examine problems of practice and the ways educational leadership programs prepare pre-service principals to grapple with these complex issues. Lastly, a problem of practice project is outlined for use in the classroom.

Utilizing Qualitative Research Methods in Doctoral Programs to Enhance the Importance of Social Justice in Educational Leadership

The Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree prepares individuals in research and professional practice in education. In the case of Doctor of Education programs that have a focus on leadership, candidates are expected to act as agents of educational and social change. This chapter turns a critical lens to educational leadership programs in two states, Connecticut and Ohio, in order to better understand the current state of qualitative research and social justice within Doctor of Education programs. Additionally, mission, visions, and educational websites were examined to assess the range of experiences around social justice offered in educational leadership programs. This work also explores the literature on qualitative research methods as a form of inquiry and the history and evolution of qualitative methods that makes this research paradigm a good fit for social justice research and activities within educational leadership programs. Lastly, it illustrates practical approaches to embedding social justice in qualitative research courses.

Accelerating Character Education Learning Through a Networked Approach: Insights From the Kern Partners for Character and Educational Leadership

This article explores the utility of networked improvement communities (NICs) as an organizing structure for scaling character education across educational leadership programs through a case study of one network committed to integrating character education across varied institutions and contexts. In examining the improvement science process that guided NIC members’ development and implementation of character education approaches and their perceptions of and participation in NIC activities, this case study offers insights on the promise of structured collaboration across diverse institutions. Furthermore, it identifies the need for NICs to differentiate improvement science activities based on participants’ institutional readiness for character education.

All We Need Is One Mic: A Call for Anti-racist Solidarity to Deconstruct Anti-Black Racism in Educational Leadership

In this article, we outline some of the vital measurements of racism and anti-blackness as a macro system in education. We contend that principal preparation programs have not explicitly prioritized anti-racist school leadership, while often resisting the possibilities of solidarity or one mic of knowledge to increase anti-racist dispositions. Considering the lexicon of whiteness as an assemblage, a racial discourse should be “supported by material practices and institutions,” that prepare educational leaders to examine anti-blackness curriculum that have been embedded as a standard method. We also posit that theoretical understanding of racism as global whiteness from a post-oppositional lens and decoloniality that will challenge the way racism is currently referenced in educational leadership scholarship. Moreover, current global and decolonial research gives way for a new vision of solidarity by humanizing scholarly resistance that cultivates a vision of community that regards differences of knowledge across groups and investigates racist policies and practices in educational leadership programs.

School Leaders in a Time of Accountability and Data Use

School leaders are challenged with the task of high stakes testing and student achievement. In the data-driven K-12 setting, it is necessary to have quality school leaders in place. Universities are charged with preparing these quality school leaders. Educational leadership programs need to contain quality structure and key components. These key components required of leadership preparation programs consist of data, leadership style/theories, data culture/climate school leader organizational and management, school community relations, professional development, school/teacher improvement, school improvement plan (SIP), implementation of SIP goals, and field experience. These key components need to encompass the national educational leadership preparation (NELP) standards and the professional standards for educational leaders (PSEL) standards to maintain a successful educational leadership program.

Implementing School Improvement Plans: Perceptions and Implications of Aspiring Principals for Educational Leadership Programs

This study examines what aspiring principal candidates in one universitybase preparation program learned as a result of developing and implementing a school improvement plan. A case study approach was used to examine 53 aspiring principals’ reports of what they learned from implementing school improvement plans. Findings revealed three significant themes: (1) the importance of collaboratively engaging the participants of the school improvement plan; (2) the essential need of establishing relationships; and (3) understanding the significance and impact of data-driven decisions. Findings can inform leadership preparation programs to redirect coursework that will help aspiring principals improve leadership skills.

Preparing School and District Leaders for Success in Developing and Facilitating Integrative STEM in Higher Education

Higher education institutions in the United States with graduate-level educational leadership programs traditionally do not offer professional learning opportunities in integrative STEM education. The objective of this paper is to share our journey to prepare and implement a course designed for P-12 educational leaders to build knowledge and skills to lead impactful integrative STEM programming. Results of the demand survey indicated a high amount of interest in an integrative STEM education course. Findings from interviews and the modified Delphi study informed our decisions for the development, objectives, assessments, and outcomes of the course to enhance integrative STEM culture in educational settings.

K–12 Administration of Inclusive Schools in Canada: A Literature Review of Expectations and Qualifications of Formal School Leaders

The formal educational requirements for principals in Canada vary significantly between educational jurisdictions. Principals are typically unprepared to lead inclusive schools upon graduation from educational leadership programs, despite the importance of formal education and experience in inclusive education in order to lead inclusive schools. Being unprepared includes lacking knowledge about students with exceptionalities and how they can and should be accommodated. Whether administrators value and support inclusion is imperative to schools being inclusive. Support of inclusion can include the use of teachers’ varied and extensive skill set through distributed leadership. The utilization of a leadership style focused on distributed leadership can be addressed through educational leadership programs, but also through professional development programs such as locally developed programs on mentorship. Educational leadership programs need to change in order to develop leaders for inclusive schools. Until such change occurs, principals are in significant need of professional development on inclusive education and how to lead inclusive schools.

Revolutionary Perspectives for Leadership Preparation: A Case of a Networked Improvement Community

This qualitative study describes and interprets how two educational leadership programs, participants in the UCEA (University Council for Educational Administration) Program Design Network Improvement Community, identified and responded to a problem of practice by focusing on the needs of each program regarding the recruitment, selection, admission, and retention of candidates from underrepresented groups. Through collaborative learning and research, the programs were able to guide the change processes of their institutional structures to focus on attracting more diverse applicant pools that are more focused on issues of diversity in the schools they will serve.

Systems-Focused Equity Leadership Learning: Shifting Practice Through Practice

This article shares our experience using a job-embedded active learning approach to support candidates’ growth as systems-focused equity leaders in the University of Washington’s Leadership for Learning program. We describe how socio-cultural learning theory helped us shift from field-based application projects to job-embedded learning. Our approach involved clarifying systems-focused leadership practices as primary learning targets, centering candidates’ workplaces as the main learning setting, and providing high-quality support consistent with apprenticeships and communities of practice. We conclude with opportunities, challenges, and ways forward for educational leadership programs seeking to design such approaches and develop systems-focused equity leaders.