ABOUT THE MINNESOTA PRINCIPALS' ACADEMY
Goal: To create a statewide network of district and charter school leaders who are motivated and have the skills to create and sustain schools in which all students are on the path to college readiness by the end of high school
Despite the importance of the principalship and the demands that are placed on principals today, relatively few principals receive ongoing professional development that enhances their ability to lead schools to high performance. The Principals' Academy fills that gap by bringing to Minnesota the research-based program of the National Institute for School Leadership (NISL), an initiative of the Washington, D.C.-based National Center on Education and the Economy. The NISL executive development program was developed over six years with major support from national foundations and is being used to provide leadership development for school principals in Massachusetts, Florida and other states.
Using the NISL program, the Minnesota Principals' Academy enables cohorts of practicing principals to put leadership best practices from education, business, the military and other fields to work on behalf of their students and schools. Delivered in two and three-day segments over the course of one year, the curriculum combines face-to-face instruction in workshops, seminars and study groups with interactive Web-based learning. Through the Minnesota Principals' Academy, this rich curriculum is being adapted to the unique needs of Minnesota’s urban, suburban and rural schools and students.
The NISL program uses a train-the-trainer delivery model that enables Minnesota to provide continuing leadership development for principals over the next several years. During 2006-2007, forty-eight Minnesota principals and school leaders were trained by NISL professionals and experts from across the country. Since June 2007, members of the Leadership Team are working in smaller teams to deliver the NISL curriculum to cohorts of principals across the state.
For more information, contact Julie Sweitzer, Director, Leadership Initiatives/University of Minnesota at 612-625-5324, sweitzer@umn.edu or Kent Pekel, Executive Director, College Readiness Consortium/University of Minnesota at 612-625-7002, pekel@umn.edu