Leadership is Essential

EdWeek's District Dossier blog noted that a new bill making it s way through Congress would put more emphasis on leadership training for principal. We applaud this idea. Here is some of what EdWeek's Dakarai Aarons reported:

Aspiring principals would participate in a residency program before taking over low performing schools, and would continue to benefit from professional development. The current and aspiring principals would be required to spend four years at a school.

High need schools are defined as those with at least 40 percent of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals and/or a graduation rate of 65 percent or less. In the case of the middle schools, they must feed into a high school with a graduation rate that meets that threshold.

Those clamoring for more methods of evaluating school performance besides Adequate Yearly Progress will be pleased that the legislation directs the Department of Education to use "multiple measures" in evaluating the improvement of schools led by grantee principals for three or more years.