Winthrop University
That was one of the key points made during a webinar Thursday titled “Preparing Principals: Lessons for Higher Education and Partner Districts.” The webinar was hosted by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and meant to highlight a $75 million five-year grant program designed by The Wallace Foundation to improve the principal pipeline.
As a case in point, Mary Martin, Associate Professor within the College of Education at Winthrop University in South Carolina, detailed a selective principal preparation program developed through the grant in part by her college in conjunction with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina.
“We feel like we’re producing people that they are supporting and that they want to see lead in the coming years,” Martin said of the initiative, where candidates are admitted strictly by nomination from district officials.
Although as many as 60 candidates have been nominated and applied, only 25 are admitted to each cohort, Martin said.
“We know we’re getting the best and the brightest and that they’re eager to learn,” Martin said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is among six urban districts chosen to share a $75 million Wallace Foundation grant to develop a pipeline of school leadership and measure its effect on student achievement. The grant was announced in 2011 and covers a period of five years.
