SAELP Scoop

May Edition

Save the Date

Spring SAELP Institute: May 10th 1:00 – 7:00 p.m. with dinner included.

Please Register for this in conjunction with your CTAG registration. Click on this link and scroll to the bottom to register.

Minority Student Achievement Network Conference (MSAN) “Opening Doors and Raising the Roof”June 25th-26th (see for more conference info) Registration forms available on SAELP Website at: . Please contact Eliza Drummond at if you have any questions

Resource Links and Reports

Educating Educators

Afterword: Understanding and Serving the children of Immigrants

Wallace Perspective: Getting Principal Mentoring Right

Mentoring School Leaders in Competency Based Internships

Schools Can’t Wait: Accelerating the Redesign of Principal Preparation Programs’

Spotlight on Oregon Education Leadership Standards

Standard 7: Practicum (Practical Experience)

Standard 7.0. Practicum (Practical Experience): Practical experience provides significant opportunities for leaders to synthesize and apply the knowledge and practice and develop skills identified in Standards 1-6 through substantial, sustained, standards-based work in real settings planned and guided cooperatively by the institution and school district personnel.

Leaders with practical experience…..

Demonstrate the ability to accept genuine responsibility for leading, facilitating, and making decisions typical of those made by educational leaders.

Will have a minimum of six months work in the field

Spend an extended period of time near the conclusion of the program to apply knowledge and skills on a full-time basis

Apply skills and knowledge articulated in these standards as well as state and local standards for educational leaders; and

Have experiences that occur in multiple district settings that allow for the demonstration of a wide range of relevant knowledge and skills;

Work with appropriate community organizations, parent groups and school boards.

Use practica that is planned and guided cooperatively by the individual, the site supervisor, and institution personnel to provide inclusion of appropriate opportunities to apply skills, knowledge, and research contained in the standards.

Receive mentors who are provided training to guide the candidate during the practicum experience.

Mentoring: What SAELP ColleaguesAcross the Nation are Doing About it

Notes from Wallace Moderated Discussion: April 2007

“The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) has a Collaborative Professional Development Process for School Leaders which focuses on experienced school leaders who need to continueto develop and are often not well-served by current professionaldevelopment opportunities. The concept is to develop a "master-mind" group of colleagues to serveas mentor coaches to one another over the course of a year to enable each member of the group (usually 5) to identify a specific schoolimprovement goal they are trying to address. There are suggested agendasfor monthly meetings where the group focuses on one member's goal andtheir evidence that goal is being addressed. The other members serve ascritical friends and coaches through critical questioning and review ofartifacts presented over the one hour monthly meeting of the master-mindgroup.This process, while connected to the ISLLC standards, could address anyset of professional development standards in a state or district.The important concept is that every leader along a continuum ofleadership development benefits from mentor-coaching as part of theircontinuous improvement.”

- Lois Adams-Rodgers

“This week a group of Delaware educators who are involved in Delaware's next round of reform called Vision 2015, met with the former superintendent from the Edmonton, CanadaSchool District which is ranked the #1 school district in the world. Angus McBeath, the former superintendent, told the group of Delaware educators, that principals in Edmonton have autonomy over 92% of their budget and that the central office works for the principals in Edmonton. Principals pay for services from the central office which has created a culture where central office is more service-oriented and this has also improved the quality of those services. Central office and the superintendent still have regulatory authority over principals but principals control the resources for their schools.”

- Jackie Wilson

“The Indiana Principal Leadership Academy (IPLA)is a two year professional development academy for principals. Principals meet 18 days in network groups over the two years. The Academy has four stands with four or five standards under each strand. The strands are leadership,teaching and learning, culture and communication.”

-Bill Gavaghan

“Kentucky has a similar program with practicing principals who have four years experience serving as mentors. They receive two days of training on the Kentucky Teacher Internship Process and Evaluation System, but not on being a mentor which is something we are working in through our new task force recommendations for program redesign. We do require that all mentors and principal interns spend 50 hours outside of the school day together in planning, conferencing, attending relevant meetings and activities and in reflection. Principal are paid $1,400 for their service as a mentor. One of the big issues in our state remains that the mentor is only during the intern year and also serves as a member of the evaluation committee deciding if an intern passes or not.”

-Debbie Daniels

“In Boston we pair new principals with experienced principals as mentors. We provide them with three days of training and a suggested list of contact activities and visits that we feel would make for a meaningful experience. Our findings have been that the level of support is really depended upon the relationship the two principals can establish and the time each will make for the other. Other than the required days of professional development that involves both mentor and mentee, we don't formally bring them together. We are really looking at ways to provide more systematic ways for sharing learning while not adding another "requirement" and more to the already full plate of a principal. Presently the mentor is a practicing principal in the district. We are exploring the idea of "coaching" for our school leaders.”

- Casel Walker

Mentoring Legislation

Summary of House Bill 2574

Lessons Learned : New Teacher’s Center Policy Paper

The University of Santa Cruz’s Policy Paper Executive Summary provides a synopsis of the larger NTC Policy Paper, highlighting the key lessons learned in the NewTeacherCenter’s New York City initiative:

  • Lesson 1: Build political will for reform of inductions systems.
  • Lesson 2: Ensure all mentoring programs develop and maintain a high quality selection process.
  • Lesson 3: Identify and support successful program standards.
  • Lesson 4: Align mentoring program and general induction activities with district and regional programs related to teacher development.
  • Lesson 5: Address systemic and infractructure issues that impact new teachers.
  • Lesson 6: Leverage systems change by building on mentor skills, knowledge, and experience.

For more information and to read the entire executive summary please go to:

Quote of the Week:

“Principals need to be prepared to handle the various situations they face in a day. Theory is important, but aspiring principals must be shown that most of what they will be facing will not come out of a book. They must be prepared to be open-minded and handle each situation as it comes. Working in collaboration with school districts to create mentoring programs is important. Principals need a network of peers to alleviate the isolation and helplessness many feel. “ - source?