Mark Roosevelt Superintendent of Schools

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Pittsburgh Emerging Leadership Academy

• Mark Roosevelt - Superintendent of Schools

Jerri Lynn Lippert April 2008 2008-2009
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Theory of Action

• Scratch the surface of an excellent school and
  you are likely to find an excellent
  principalAmerican Educational Research
  Association
• Look into a failing school and you will find
  weak leadership. American Educational Research
  Association
• Great leaders are required to transform urban
  schools for the sole benefit of improving student
  achievement

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Theory of Action

• Mounting evidence shows that strong, trained
  school leaders are a critical lever to increase
  student achievement.
• Principals are key levers to raising student
  achievement.
• Leadership development should be a core capacity
  in any districts strategic plan.
• Leadership is defined as the practice of
  improvement. Effective school leaders must have
  the capacity to improve the quality of
  instructional practice. (Elmore, 2006)

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Pittsburgh Urban Leadership System for Excellence
Pittsburgh Emerging Leadership Academy
(Leadership Pipeline)
Principal Performance-Based Compensation
Support for New Principals
P.U.L.S.E.
Ongoing Professional Development for Principals
(Leadership Academy)
Principal Evaluation (standards-based,
performance driven)
Individual Executive Director Mentoring
Training
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What is Pittsburgh Emerging Leadership Academy
(PELA)?

• A Leadership Pipeline
• To recruit
• To select
• To train
• To place
• To evaluate
• To retain
• To grow
• Increasing the academic achievement of students
  through high quality, effective, sustainable
  school leadership

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PELA Goals

• Residency-Based Model with on-going, intensive
  professional development
• Build and sustain an effective leadership
  pipeline in Pittsburgh
• Develop a clearly articulated, rigorous
  identification recruitment process of external
  and internal candidates that is not based on
  self-selection alone
• Develop systems to recruit from outside of the
  district
• Develop a system to identify leadership potential
  in teachers, assistant principals and support
  administrators
• Provide pathways to administrator preparation
  programs and challenging experiences to prepare a
  successful pool of principals
• Identify, select, train, mentor, place and retain
  highly qualified urban principals into key
  positions that will increase student achievement

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Why do we need PELA?

• Steady or growing demand for high-quality
  principal candidates in urban school districts
• Existing supply cannot meet demand it does not
  contain enough high-quality candidates who are
  prepared to assume an urban principal role
• Principal candidates existing principals are
  often ill-prepared and inadequately supported to
  organize schools and improve learning while
  managing all other demands of the job (Young,
  2002 Levine, 2005)
• Highest quality candidates often go elsewhere
  (attracting and retaining of highly qualified
  candidates)
• Urban districts suffer from insufficient
  applicant-to-hire ratios and a heavy reliance on
  internal candidates who are often not ready for
  the principalship
• University-Based programs are not preparing
  principal candidates for challenging urban
  schools

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PELA 5 Components

• Instructional Leadership
• Curriculum specialists
• Pedagogy specialists
• Data specialists
• Strategists to build sustain capacity and
  effectively implement structures that maximum
  student achievement
• Transformational Change Agents
• Chief Executive Officer
• Civic and Community Leaders
• Research practitioners

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PELA Develops Urban Leaders Who Demonstrate

• The Vision of Learning
• The Culture of Teaching and Learning
• The Management of Learning
• Relationships with Families and the Community to
  Foster Learning
• Integrity, Fairness, and Ethics in Learning
• The Political, Social, Economic, Legal, and
  Cultural Context of Learning
• Leadership for Learning

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PELA Residency Model

• A year long intensive administrative residency
  with a highly effective mentor principal
• Mentor Principal and Civic Mentor
• July 1st through July 31st
• Participation in intensive professional
  development 4-6 times per month facilitated by
  the PELA Lead Principal and in partnership with
  Duquesne University, University of Pittsburghs
  Learning Research and Development Center
  Institute for Learning, International Center for
  Leadership in Education and Coro
• Unique Problem-Based Learning, Performance-Based
• Case Study Driven (simulations)
• Extensive Mentoring and Coaching

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Transformational Change Agent
Instructional Leader
Student Achievement
Civic Leader
Researcher Practitioner
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Process of Becoming a PELA Resident?

• Recruitment beyond self-selection
• Application Process
• Selection is based on performance from 3-4 round
  process
• 10-12 Diverse Administrative Residents
• Cohorts will be racially and gender diverse
• Each cohort will contain at least 2 external
  candidates
• Cohort selection will reflect demographic
  composition of district and projected need

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PELA Application Selection Process

• Complete application, 1 long essay, 1 short
  essay, 3 letters of recommendations, resume and
  letter of interest, submit current clearances,
  transcripts (May 1st-May 15th)
• Selection Process
• Intensive application screening (May 15th-May
  30th)
• Possible phone interviews (May 15th-May 30th)
• Day long intensive In-basket interview process
  (June)
• Project presentation
• Panel Interview
• In-basket activity 2 individual activities
• Group In-basket activity
• Final round interviews
• Acceptance finalized in June effective Start date
  for Cohort 2 2008-2009 is July 1st, 2008.
• Summer Intensive in July, Leadership week August
  4th-8th

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Requirements for Application

• District Requirements
• Requires a PA teaching certificate and/or
  principal certification (or eligibility for PA
  principal certification)
• An overall 3.00 GPA in undergraduate and/or
  graduate courses. Graduate and Undergraduate
  Transcripts
• 3 letters of recommendation with application.
  Letters of recommendation should address
  leadership qualities and potential. Should be
  from K-12 administrators (may include one from
  univ faculty)
• Resume and Letter of Interest
• Completion of the PELA application
• Minimum of 5 years teaching experience or other
  job-related experience.
• Current Clearances

• Duquesne Partnership for Urban Principal
  Certification
• Masters Degree in education or related field
• Overall GPA of 3.0 on 4.0 scale
• 3 letters of professional references from faculty
  or K-12 administrators
• Resume that documents competence and
  effectiveness in education
• 3-5 page essay

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Who is Eligible to Apply?

• Teachers, coaches, support administrators, and
  assistant principals
• Certificated administrators
• Non-administrative certificated teachers,
  coaches, etc.
• Pursuing administrative certification candidates

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Qualifications

• Candidates without administrative certification
  must complete certification in one of two ways
• Duquesne Univeristy PELA Partnership
• Completion of program already enrolled

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Qualifications
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Qualifications
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What Happens if Selected?
Complete Year long residency experience
developing Qualities of Effective Principals

• Instructional Leadership Influences student
  achievement through the support and development
  of effective teachers and uses data to drive
  instruction
• School Chief Executive Officer implementation
  of effective organizational processes and
  strategic planning
• Transformational Change Agents
• Researcher Practitioners
• Civic Leadership

Civic Leadership Component
Within a rigorous, ongoing formal informal
evaluation framework
Duquesne University Course Work Simulations
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Resident Responsibilities

• Successfully complete a year-long residency under
  the mentorship of a principal
• Perform all administrative duties including
  instructional leadership responsibilities, school
  management, school operations and cultural
  building aspects of the principalship, under the
  direction of a mentor principal
• Perform all civic leadership responsibilities
  working with civic mentor
• Serve as summer school principal
• Perform all required competencies at an emerging,
  proficient or accomplished level
• Participate in all Emerging Leadership Academy
  training sessions (including evening and Saturday
  trainings) and demonstrate successful completion
  of all required training protocols

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What Happens after the PELAResidency?

• Work in the Pittsburgh Public Schools for a
  minimum of 5 years
• Accept an offer of a Pittsburgh Public Schools
  principal position (or other administrative
  position)
• Complete the Administrative Induction Program (2
  years)

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PELA Partnerships

• Duquesne University School of Education
• RESEARCHER-PRACTITIONER
• Urban Administrative Certification Program
  (non-certified residents)
• 30 credit program 12 credits accepted, 18
  credits scholarship
• Research Component (embedded problem-based
  research specific to the urban context)
  culminating in the Urban Leadership Symposium
• The partnership will understand the unique
  perspective of urban education in Pittsburgh,
  through the lens of principals who research their
  own context
• The partnership will research and evaluate the
  training and development process for the
  principal leaders who matriculate through the
  urban leadership academy.
• Case Study Simulations - all PELA residents
• E-Portfolio - all PELA residents

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PELA Partnerships
CHANGE AGENT International Center for Leadership
in Education Whole-School Reform Conference,
Senior Consultants, Rigor, Relevance,
Relationships Framework
INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER LRDC-IFL Intense
Instructional Coaching with Senior Fellow,
On-Site, Observing Conferring
Protocol, Effort-Based Education Training
CIVIC LEADER CORO Civic Mentor, Project
Management, Leadership Inventories,
Personal Strategic Plan, Community-Project
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PELA Resident Evaluation

• Quarterly Administrator Performance Standard
  Rubric Competencies achieved in residency
  evaluated by mentor principal, lead principal
  facilitator and executive director
• Portfolio Assessments as part of the on-site
  professional development component of PELA
  including response to case study simulations,
  book reviews, videotape evaluations, and other
  program expectations
• CORO civic project, mentor component and
  strategic plan
• Research project for Urban Symposium
• Required certification courses (18 credits, 6
  courses)
• Exit interviews conducted by panel comprised of
  central office staff and mentor principals

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PELA Evaluation

• The administrative fellow will be assessed using
  a performance-based standards evaluation rubric.
• Administrative Fellows must demonstrate emerging,
  proficient and/or accomplished performances on
  the standards as indicated below
• The Vision of Learning
• The Culture of Teaching and Learning
• The Management of Learning
• Relationships with Families and the Community to
  Foster Learning
• Integrity, Fairness and Ethics in Learning
• The Political, Social, Economic, Legal and
  Cultural Context of Learning
• Leadership for Learning

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PELA Evaluation

• Successful completion of the emerging leadership
  academy will be determined collaboratively by the
  mentor principal, executive director of
  curriculum, instruction and profesisonal
  development and lead principal facilitator
• A PELA resident may withdraw from the academy at
  any time, or be terminated from the Emerging
  Leadership Academy at any time at the sole
  discretion of the Emerging Leadership Academy.
• Any costs associated with the academy including
  stipends must be paid back to the district upon
  withdrawal from the academy.
• The administrative residents former position, if
  applicable, will be held with a right of return
  to that position for one year.
• Upon completion of the academy, administrative
  residents must accept an offer of an
  administrative position in the Pittsburgh Public
  Schools for a minimum of five years.

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Transition Placement After Residency

• At the completion of the residency,
  Administrative residents will be considered for
  principal openings, assistant principal openings,
  support administrator openings or return to an
  equivalent of his/her last held position
• Graduated residents if not placed will
  participate in the districts Leadership Academy
  
• Residents that are placed in principal positions
  will participate in the 2 year administrator
  induction program PA Inspired Leadership Program

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Associated Costs

• Administrative fellows will earn an assistant
  principals salary. Current assistant principals
  accepted into the academy will earn no less than
  his/her current salary.
• Scholarships available for non-certified
  residents meeting requirements (tuition costs for
  18 credits)
• Books not included
• All training materials

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Incentives

• Principal Performance-Based Compensation
• Upon completion of the program, guarantee of
  interview and consideration for principal
  openings
• Priority consideration for principal openings
• Principal Certification at Duquesne University
• Relocation Bonuses up to 15,000 paid over 3
  years (5000 per year)

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What PELA Residents Gain

• A year long, experience-based residency with a
  highly effective mentor principal
• System and organizational knowledge
• Constructive feedback about your leadership
  skills
• Training, coaching and support on becoming a
  highly effective school leader (leveraging your
  strengths and developing areas of weakness)
• Practical, experience-based, problem-based, case
  studies approach to learning
• Relationships and networking with high quality,
  committed educational professionals and leaders

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What to Expect

• Challenge
• Transforming professional growth experience
• Intense learning experience
• Deep awareness that school leadership is the key
• Knowledge of organization
• Excellent mentoring, coaching and training

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For More Information

• www.pps.k12.pa.us/profdevelopment
• Contact Jerri Lippert
• 412-622-3655
• Email jlippert1_at_pghboe.net