An Evaluation of a Development Program for New Principals

Introduction An ongoing educational theme over the last several years has been the importance of leadership development. Agencies such as colleges and universities, regional principal centers, state and national organizations, and other entities have developed programs to provide potential school leaders the support they need to be successful. One such program is being conducted in SW Virginia. The program is entitled the Recently Appointed Principals Program. This program is a collaboration between the Western Virginia Public Education Consortium and the Center for (COTA) at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. This article highlights the evaluation of this program beyond just gathering participant perceptions at the end of a particular program session. The program directors asked us to construct and operate a comprehensive evaluation of the program. The readers of this article will learn how this evaluation was conducted, the results of the evaluation, and the recommendations we made to improve the delivery of the program. Our work could be the foundation for others charged with evaluating or organizing other similar leadership development programs. Content and Training Needs of School Leaders and Principals Today's school leader faces many difficult challenges. Authors point to the increased scrutiny of schools, budget shortfalls, and student achievement challenges are among the many problems facing today's school leader. As the challenges of society have increased, the role of a principal or school leader has become increasingly difficult and complex. Crow (2006) outlined the increased accountability and complexity that makes the role of the principal difficult. He stated ".. .higher expectations for ... principals in the area of instructional leadership... increased public scrutiny of public schools, and the promotion of privatization as a public policy agenda, have significantly changed the role of school principal" (p. 310). This high level of complexity can make it difficult for new principals to successfully acclimate into the job. The public looks to schools and their leaders to be able to work through the chaos and operate in a focused and effective manner. This can be a daunting and overwhelming task, especially for new principals or leaders. Walker and Qian (2006) state, "The dominant modern myth portrays the school principal as an underpaid workhorse tangling with the conflicting demands of instructional leadership, bureaucracy, official mandates and adverse interest groups ..." (p. 298). In schools where problems are becoming more complex, there may be little time to prepare or plan for the succession of new principals into leadership positions. Some new school leaders are simply placed in a building and left to discover how to lead, satisfy the needs of the community, and support their teachers and students. Left on their own, some principals successfully figure out how to successfully navigate the environment but others flounder and even fail. New principals need support and guidance as they assume the role of school leader. Educational administration professors, universities, and leadership organizations typically provide support and assistance to aspiring school leaders and principals through principal preparation programs. Principal preparation programs are usually organized around standards. The Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards are one type of standard used by principal preparation programs. Murphy and Shipman (1996) point out that the knowledge, disposition, and performance sections of the original ISLLC standards contain many technically-based skills. The original ISLLC standards also do not address strategies to enable principals to actually implement the standards. The 2008 revision of these standards does provide more insight into the implementation of the standards and the "human element" needed for success. …