Wake Education Partnership presents "Wake FYI"
10.19.06
Beginning this fall, Wake FYI and the Wake Regional Education Roundtable series will focus each month on the same important education topic. This will allow Wake County residents the opportunity to get a deeper and richer understanding of the issues.

You can read about the topic in Wake FYI and then discuss the topics with other community members at the Wake Regional Education Roundtable, sponsored by Wake Education Partnership and the Chambers of Commerce in Wake County. For more information about the Roundtable series, or to view past editions of Wake FYI, please go to our website: www.WakeEdPartnership.org.

 

FOR YOUR INFORMATION: School Leadership

 

Much of the conversation around improving education naturally involves classroom teachers and their ability to provide rich learning opportunities for all children. Just as important, however, is the leadership that shapes the educational environment at each school.

 

A 2004 report from the Wallace Foundation concluded that school leadership is second only to teaching in school-based factors that influence student learning. With so much attention rightfully paid to teachers, the public often knows little about the leadership of our schools. This edition of Wake FYI takes a closer look at school leadership.
 

School Leadership in Wake County and Across North Carolina

  • In the 2005-06 school year, 2,238 principals and 2,708 assistant principals were employed in North Carolina. The State of North Carolina uses a formula to allocate administrator positions to schools across the state.

  • Many school districts provide additional administrators out of local operating dollars. (Many extra teaching positions are paid for in this same way.) During the last school year, for example, local dollars paid for 940 additional assistant principals in districts across North Carolina, 109 of them in Wake County schools.

  • A snapshot of school administrators in Wake County:

Type of School Administrator
Total Number
2006-06
Percent by Gender
Percent by Race
Principals
138
59% female
41% male
19% black
79% white
2% other races
Assistant Principals
236
63% female
38% male
33% black
67% white
< 1% other races

Totals may exceed 100% due to rounding

  • School administrator salary in Wake County is based on several factors, including:

    - The years of experience and type of degree the administrator earned;

    - The number of employees at the school and the level of the school (elementary, middle or high school);

    - Whether the school operates on a multi-track year-round calendar; and,

    - If the school has a magnet program.

 

Preparing and Developing School Leaders

Preparing School Administrators

  • Eleven colleges/universities in North Carolina offer state-approved certification programs for school administrators. The number of people earning certification as school administrators rose steadily during the five-year period from 1999 to 2004. In the 2004-05 school year, 402 people received a Master in School Administration degree in North Carolina .

  • The Triangle Leadership Academy, a public-private partnership created by the Wake County Public School System and Wake Education Partnership, has a Master of School Administration Program available exclusively to full-time WCPSS employees. The program, a collaboration between TLA and North Carolina State University, began in 2002 and graduated 16 members in its first class. WCPSS employees can get more information about this program by going to the school system's Intranet.

  • The Principal Fellows Program, created by the State of North Carolina and modeled after its successful Teaching Fellows Program, was created to support high-quality candidates as they earn certification as a school administrator. The program provides $40,000 to cover tuition and living expenses for fellows who are enrolled in one of the special certification programs across North Carolina. During the two years of the program, fellows earn a Master of School Administration degree and participate in a year-long internship. Repayment of the scholarship occurs through four years of service as a school administrator in North Carolina.

Developing School Leaders Throughout Their Careers

  • After initial preparation, it is important, as in other professions, for school administrators to have opportunities to continue growing professionally. This is especially true considering the long list of job responsibilities school leaders face: budgeting, personnel, operations (including transportation and custodial services), discipline, as well as serving as instructional leaders.
  • The Triangle Leadership Academy offers a broad array of opportunities to administrators and teacher leaders in five area school systems who want to improve their knowledge and skills and enhance their abilities to effectively lead their schools.
  • The Principals' Executive Program is a statewide effort to provide support and professional development to school administrators in critical areas such as retaining teachers, being an effective instructional leader, and federal law related to educating disabled students. Founded in 1984, PEP is the oldest organization of its kind in the country.
  • Leadership in a school need not be confined to traditional administrator roles. ASSET (Assuring Student Success through Empowering Teachers) is an initiative which works with middle schools in Wake and Orange counties to implement distributive leadership practices. By harnessing the knowledge and skills of teacher leaders and combining it with the experience of school administrators, schools can improve their decision-making and other leadership practices. This can ultimately result in higher teacher retention and improved student learning. ASSET, a collaboration of Wake Education Partnership, Triangle Leadership Academy, the Center for Teaching Quality and the Education Foundation for the Orange County Schools, is funded by the Wachovia Foundation. You can view a presentation about ASSET online.

The Importance of Leadership in School Success

  • In working conditions surveys completed between 2004 and 2006, teachers in North Carolina and five other states overwhelmingly identified leadership as the working condition domain most affecting their willingness to stay at their school.

  • Data from the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions survey supports how critical effective school leadership is:

For every one point increase in the leadership domain of the survey,
middle schools were 6.7 times more likely
to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under No Child Left Behind.

For every one point increase in the leadership domain of the survey,
high schools were 48 times more likely to be in one of the top designations
(at least 80% of students at grade level) under the state ABCs program.

Leadership was rated highest by teachers who work in schools that met AYP targets,
met their ABCs growth targets, and had at least 80% of their students at grade level.

 

  • In the 2006 North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions survey, Wake County teachers gave leadership an average rating of 3.58 (on a 1 - 5 scale). This was slightly below the statewide average of 3.60.

  • 65% of Wake County teachers agreed or strongly agreed that their school leadership was effective.

 

For More Information on School Leadership

  • On Nov. 1, Wake Education Partnership, in conjunction with the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, will hold an Education Roundtable on school leadership. Dr. Steve Bingham, director of the Triangle Leadership Academy, will be the guest speaker. The event is currently at capacity, but you may sign up for the wait list online.

  • Learn about the Interstate Consortium on School Leadership, which since 1996 has published standards for programs to certify school administrators. These standards have been adopted by more than 40 states, including North Carolina.