We describe the contours of one leadership preparation partnership between a university and urban high school district, to demonstrate the affordances that have allowed the partnership to process and weather challenges. Critically, we describe the actual work of collaboration, presenting one extended example of learning-in-action. As such, the…

Characteristics that contribute to successful redesign and launch of principal preparation programs may be understood collectively as the capacity of those programs. A model of capacity for redesign of principal preparation programs should strike a balance between the technical and professional aspects of teaching and leadership and the cultural…

Following a professional program to ensure qualification for school leadership is a growing trend. However, school leaders have also come to understand and use content from educational programs in widely different ways. There is therefore a need to study how participating school principals experience learning differently within one and the same…

Although research alliances (RAs) have long been seen as mutualistic and reciprocal, RAs face numerous obstacles navigating stakeholders' differing goals, incentives, and information. This longitudinal, comparative case study of two RAs uses principal-agent theory to analyze these interdependent challenges and their relationship to RA strategy and…

Research findings have identified the importance of university/district partnerships in the preparation of principals along with points of dissatisfaction of traditional preparation programs outcomes. While change had and was occurring in some programs, impactful change in the quality of programs and program completers must involve all…

Background: Few "intervention agnostic" strategies have been developed that can be applied to the broad array of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in schools. This paper describes two studies that reflect the initial iterative redesign phases of an effective leadership-focused implementation strategy--Leadership and Organizational Change…

One principal preparation program in Illinois experienced severe turbulence following the statewide redesign of all principal preparation programs. Myriad problems contributed to a cascading turbulence that negatively skewed stakeholder perceptions of program quality. In addition, the program failed two national accreditation submissions and faced…

This study examines the work completed by a regional, comprehensive university's principal preparation program in redesigning their curriculum for greater coherence. Their process for identifying equity as a program theme and explicitly addressing learning related to program themes is described. Key steps in the process include: (1) collaborating…

Leadership preparation is essential in developing critical skills of effective school leaders. Educational leadership preparation programs vary greatly in terms of program features, it is important to identify which specific elements are likely associated with program quality. Using multiple years of Initiative for Systemic Program Improvement…

Purpose: This study examines a university-based professional learning program, the University School Systems Program (USSP), designed to strengthen district- and school-level leadership for improvement. The program has a record of success in improving student outcomes in participating schools, yet little is known about how the program design may…

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,…

Massachusetts introduced the first high-stakes performance assessment for principal certification in 2014. Using student surveys from six institutions and interviews with program directors from ten out of 23 state-approved programs, the author asked, "How are Massachusetts principal preparation programs changing in response to the new…

This study was conceptualized to identify how Filipino school principals designed a wellness program as basis for general guidelines for the design of teachers' wellness program. The researchers used descriptive method, particularly case study method of research. Five public elementary school principals with implemented teachers' wellness programs…

Over the past five years, Albany State University (ASU) has reconstituted its Education Specialist Leadership Tier II Program to prepare school principals to work in some of the least served schools in southwest Georgia (and, as described below, outside of Georgia as well). Prior to the redesign of the program, ASU was struggling with a limited…

In this case study, we explore how principal candidates made sense of their internship by analyzing their weekly reflections during a school year. We found that candidates' views of leadership developed from viewing leadership solely through the lens of making decisions and providing direction, to recognizing that much of the work of a school…