Abstract: Instructional leadership faculty in the College of Education at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama, worked with local school district superintendents and other stakeholders to redesign its leadership curriculum to teach the knowledge and skills instructional leaders need to improve student achievement. The capstone experience of the redesigned curriculum was a semester-long internship during which residents practiced leadership behaviors under the supervision of a mentor principal in a school setting. Residents completed 18 authentic assignments during the semester; mentors offered formative feedback on each of them. The new curriculum was evaluated with The Leadership Practices Inventory, the PRAXIS II examination, and surveys completed by mentors and residents. The results are conclusive: aspiring school administrators learn to become leaders when they practice leadership behaviors in a school setting under the supervision of a mentor for an extended period of time.
AVAILABLE AT: http://cnx.org/content/m34358/latest/
Keywords: instructional leadership, program renewal, school administration
 Full Text | [ ] | 162 kB |