Informal ACSA surveys and reports from a number of California districts lead education leaders to believe there is likely to be a 40 percent turnover in the principalship over the next four years. Site principals are retiring and being asked to move up to the central office to take the place of retiring baby boomers.
ACSA has been asked by superintendents to develop a new program designed to encourage teacher leaders and assistant principals to “make the move” to the principalship. Too many teachers see the principalship as offering little more than endless rounds of meetings and a call to non-stop problem solving. But ACSA knows the position is truly much more than that.
Former ACSA president and principal Sidney Morrison, along with National Distinguished Principal Fran Cohee-Chandler, have joined forces to develop “A Call to Leadership.” The intended audience includes brand new, first-year principals, assistant principals and teacher leaders.
A Call to Leadership is intended to support and enrich “grow your own” district principal development programs; to present the site principalship as a unique opportunity to make a deep and lasting difference in instruction and learning; and to develop leadership skills in participants in their current roles at the school site.
All sessions in this five-part professional development series will include focused content to develop site leadership skills, but will also include modeling of teambuilding experiences that will serve to build networking and communication among the participants and serve as models for activities that could be replicated at the school site.
Participants will also be given structured time at the end of each session to plan their next steps in implementation of content, skills and strategies, and at the beginning of sessions two through five to engage in facilitated discussion of successes and challenges in carrying out plans made in the previous session.
This program is designed for all five sessions to be full-day trainings, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., during the workweek and spread, minimally, over a half year.
A Call to Leadership can be offered within a district to invited participants, within a multiple district region interested in growing their own site leaders, or through a county office of education.
School leaders and potential school leaders are encouraged to attend a workshop on Friday, Nov. 7 at this year’s Leadership Summit, where Morrison and Cohee-Chandler will introduce this exciting new professional development offering.