Wallace Foundation grant supports leadership development

Dozens of educators from throughout the state are focusing extra energy this summer on Wisconsin's two-year Learning for Leadership grant, funded by the Wallace Foundation.

The $2 million grant will support work on leadership development. The Wallace Foundation funded Wisconsin's project based on existing policies that support goals for the grant and on previous success with a Wallace Foundation grant for urban school leadership. Wisconsin has a set of standards that identify what an administrator should know and be able to do. The state's tiered licensure system -- with initial, professional, and master level licenses --recognizes that beginning administrators need career support and provides a clear definition of mastery. This grant will help align leadership development from pre-service training through the state's three licensure levels.

"Strong school leaders can bring dynamic change to the learning environment," said State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster. "This grant allows us to develop ways to improve the training of educational leaders, especially those in the early stages of their educational leadership career, so they can increase student achievement, especially in high-needs schools."

Wisconsin's grant is focusing on high school leadership, recognizing that many high school principals start their administrative careers as elementary or middle school principals. At the high school level, they encounter challenges that differ from their early leadership experiences. The grant, which will have a statewide impact, will

• strengthen pre-service training of principals by aligning all university preparation programs to the Wisconsin Educator Standards for Administrators;
• increase the capacity of Leadership for Learning teams from five urban school districts to lead instructionally focused teams, manage resources, and effectively use data to increase student achievement as well as strengthen field placement and mentoring supports for pre-service administrators; and
• leverage resources through a Statewide High School Leadership Network to share lessons learned through the grant throughout the state.

Leadership teams from high schools in Green Bay, Kenosha, Madison, Milwaukee, and Racine are participating in the grant along with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, three universities, and the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators. The Leadership Learning teams include 14 high school principals and faculty members from Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The grant will produce a toolkit of leader assessment measures and supporting documents, including a handbook for use across the continuum of leadership. The aligned system of leadership development ultimately will impact the state's 15 pre-service and three alternative pathways to educational leadership training programs. The grant concludes in August 2010.

Wisconsin's first Wallace Foundation grant focused on urban school leadership. Through the work of that grant, the state's five largest school districts developed connections to provide professional support for urban school leaders. Additionally, participants developed criteria that documents mastery in educational leadership that was a pilot for a master administrator license.

"We are most appreciative of the faith and confidence the Wallace Foundation showed in awarding Wisconsin a second grant. This funding allows us to build on our previous success so we can ensure strong leaders in every school who are prepared to lift achievement for all students and close the achievement gap," Burmaster said.

A list of high schools participating in the Leadership for Learning grant is included in the complete news release.

Last updated on 6/29/2009 11:06:05 AM