Vicki VanTuyle

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Alison Reeves

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Abstract: Since the fall of 2012, Illinois principal preparation programs have been operating under new state requirements intended to produce highly qualified and effective school principals capable of leading Illinois schools to higher levels of student academic performance. The rules guiding new program development are applied with a broad stroke, attempting to meet the instructional needs of all students in Illinois’ diverse public schools located in diverse public school settings. While the rules explicitly state that early childhood, English language learners, students with disabilities, and gifted students should be a focus, the rules overlook meeting the needs of students from academically struggling schools and districts in sparsely populated areas of the state. “Forgottonia,” (Bibo, 2013) a name applied over 40 years ago to a group of rural counties in western Illinois, suggested the region’s transportation needs had been forgotten by state and federal government officials. Perhaps the name applies today, not only to western Illinois but to all of Illinois’ rural regions where developing school leaders for rural school leadership has been forgotten in the reform effort. This paper examines the current reality as Illinois implements new principal preparation programs in regions of the state regarded as fringe, distant, or remote rural areas.

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