Principals-in-Training Hit the Books
20 interns are learning to lead, communicate, solve problems
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Dawn Hobbs of HISD is an intern with Houston A+ Challenge's new three-year training program for aspiring principals. "It's been a great learning experience," she said. JAMES NIELSEN: HOUSTON CHRONICLE |
By JENNIFER RADCLIFFE
Houston Chronicle
Published: July 18, 2008
Ellen Winstead needs to learn to keep a straight face as she delivers serious messages.
Fighting off a nervous tendency to smile as she speaks is one of the countless lessons the 36-year-old principal-in-training is mastering in a new academy designed to prepare educators to lead some of the region's toughest secondary schools.
"It wasn't aloof, but it was confusing to people," said Winstead, who moved to Houston in 1995 as a Teach for America corps member.
Winstead, who works for YES College Prep, didn't initially aspire to be a principal, but changed her mind after considering the broader impact she could have as a campus leader. She applied to Houston A+ Challenge's new three-year training program to get support and hands-on experience as she makes the career transition.
During an intensive six-week leg of the program this summer, the class of 20 interns is brushing up on data analysis, communication and other leadership skills. Candidates will spend next school year shadowing principals before applying for their own principalships in the fall of 2009.
"Most principals, you learn by fire, you figure it out as you go," said Sheri Miller-Williams, director of leadership for Houston A+ Challenge. "They will have some of those lessons learned already."
The nonprofit's academy is one of several initiatives created recently to improve the quality and quantity of school administrators. The Houston school district also launched an aspiring principals academy this summer and classes begin next month for Rice University's new MBA program for future principals.
About eight candidates are expected to participate in the first cohort of Rice's program, which will teach finance, marketing and management skills, said Panya Yarber, director of the Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program.
More than 100 Texas principals are also spending part of their summer at Harvard Graduate School of Education's Principal's Center, an effort organized by a nonprofit called Raise Your Hand Texas.
"If we're going to meet the challenge of our future for our kids, we're going to have to have strong leaders," said Spring Branch Superintendent Duncan Klussmann, chairman of the Raise Your Hand Texas Leadership Program. "We can't let that happen by chance. We have to go out to and develop that."
The focus on school leadership is needed, in part, because Houston-area districts face about 160 principal vacancies a year. That number is expected to increase as suburban districts continue to grow and as Baby Boomers retire at faster rates. They must also figure out how to find candidates who can juggle the rigor of today's high-stakes testing climate.
Houston A+ Challenge's first class of interns was selected from roughly 235 candidates, who came from all parts of the country and all different industries. The 20 selected — nearly all of whom have education backgrounds and were from the Houston region — were picked for their track records in and out of the classroom.
"It was just about quality," said Melissa Milios Davis, spokeswoman for Houston A+. "We didn't look at what districts they were with."
School districts, however, were asked to pay the interns' salaries during the program.
During classes this week, participants practiced making presentations — including delivering bad news about low test scores and campus misconduct — to their classmates, who were posing as parents and administrators.
Dawn Hobbs, 30, an intern for the Houston Independent School District, said the exercises are helping her react on her feet.
"I had 100 things going on in my head," said Hobbs, who graduated from HISD's DeBakey High School in 1995. "It's been a great learning experience, more than what I ever could have imagined in such a short time."
