LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Aug. 28, 2007)—In a rare public sector/private sector collaboration, the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), the Kentucky Leadership Academy (KLA), Pike and Graves County Schools Districts have partnered with Bellarmine University to implement a pilot program to deliver a co-designed, co-delivered principal certification program based on the elements of redesign being proposed for all Kentucky principal preparation programs.
The collaboration began this fall with 15 teachers enrolling in the Bellarmine Universtiy pilot program, leading to principal certification. The program is taught by Bellarmine faculty on campus and at locations in Pike and Graves counties. Students will be in residence on Bellarmine’s campus during the summer sessions and for fall and spring retreats with degree completion scheduled for summer 2009.
The two-year program is being supported by a grant from the Wallace Foundation, the Kentucky Department of Education, Bellarmine University and Pike and Graves County aspiring candidates. The goal of the program is to implement the critical elements for an effective 21st Century principal preparation program that will prepare candidates to become highly effective principals prepared to lead Kentucky schools to proficiency for all students by 2014.
Debbie Daniels, state director for the Kentucky Cohesive Leadership System (KyCLS) program, said that when looking at the state’s principal programs, Bellarmine’s program closely mirrored the proposal for redesign and offered a “real world field-based model” program.
“The key reason Bellarmine was chosen,” Daniels said, “is that they developed their program at the time all of the redesign work was in the discussion stage across the state and so they developed their program with the critical elements of redesign as the foundation of their program.” Daniels also said that the faculty and staff have developed a collaborative relationship with the department of education and the administrators of both Pike and Graves Counties. Bellarmine’s program was developed in 2002. This summer started their fourth cohort for Louisville area teachers.
“We’re pleased to be a part of this pilot program and to provide principal certification for Graves and Pike County teachers,” said Cindy Gnadinger, Bellarmine’s acting dean of the Annsley Frazier Thornton School of Education. “School leadership is one of the most important components in achieving the educational outcomes we desire. We’re excited about this opportunity to strengthen our program and hopefully this type of collaboration can continue between public and private sectors.”
The program kicked off in Graves County and Pike County two weeks ago, and according to Daniels, all involved are glad to be a part of the program. The idea of creating a cohort of teachers from the far eastern and western parts of the state and bringing them together to learn and share cultural and instructional practices is certainly causing all of us to rethink how we prepare principals and meet the needs of schools and districts across the Commonwealth. Students’ initial on-campus experience will be this weekend beginning with an orientation to campus and library resources followed by their scheduled weekend class.