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Early funding will go to purchasing online tools for selection, evaluation, professional development
Glynis Jordan has taught seventh- through 12th-grade students, led a new teacher mentor program, chaired an academic department, and spent a year as the resident principal at Fairmont Heights High School in Capitol Heights.
Jordan, the Bladensburg High School principal, is a product of New Leaders for New Schools, one of Prince George’s County’s three principal training programs, which will be consolidated during the next five years with the help of a $12.5 million grant the county school system announced Sept. 7.
The grant from The Wallace Foundation, a New York-based education philanthropy, will fund the development of an in-house curriculum for preparing school leaders and the purchase of technology to link staff evaluations with professional development, said Doug Anthony, the school system’s chief of human capital.
“We’ll be able to streamline and create an authentic process for identifying potential leaders,” Anthony said.
The Wallace Foundation selected six urban school systems from among 90 districts nationwide to test its theory that an effective pipeline for developing principals and assistant principals will increase student achievement, said Jody Spiro, the foundation’s interim director of education.
Anthony estimated the school system will hire 125 principals and assistant principals during the five years of the grant — after school officials identify and outline standards for effective principals, the first component of the grant’s work.
“If we put quality leaders in place that can identify effective teaching strategies and help teachers continue to build their capacity, they’ll help lead schools and student achievement,” Anthony said of the system’s 205 principals, including resident principals, and 273 assistant principals at its 198 schools.
“We are hiring the most successful people and for the right schools,” said Synthia Shilling, the school system’s chief of human resources. “Selective hiring is about hiring the best. It’s putting them in the right place.”
The school system plans to build composite profiles of each candidate containing assessment information from the beginning of their career in Prince George’s and the final piece of a pipeline is on-the-job support, including mentoring by an established principal, Shilling said.
Jordan said she can seek advice and resources from principals nationwide.
“The New Leaders model provided not only extensive training from a theoretical point of view … but it also provided the opportunity for a hands-on experience in the residency,” Jordan said. “The support piece is critical as well.”
David Curry, the resident principal at Benjamin Stoddert Middle School in Temple Hills, said New Leaders affords him additional professional development and the opportunity to transition from his assistant principal role at William Wirt Middle School in Riverdale into that of a principal.
“As a resident principal, I’m taking more of a global look at the school,” Curry said.
Much of the $3.6 million the school system receives in this first year will go to purchasing online tools to aid in the selection process and to link employee evaluations with a professional development curriculum that shores up a candidate’s weaknesses, Shilling said.
School systems are required to contribute one-third of the funding for the pipeline initiatives, according to the foundation’s website. Shilling said Prince George’s will secure its portion through grants and donations from area organizations and businesses.
“[The pipeline] is an element of succession planning,” Shilling said. “We have great candidates who can come into those schools and continue the great work. The principal is the single biggest lever of change from a school level.”
Photo Credit: Greg Dohler/The Gazette
