PRIORITIES FOR 2015:
TRANSFORM
INSTRUCTION
THROUGH HIGHQUALITY SCHOOL
LEADERSHIP
Transform instruction through high-quality school leadership that meets
local needs. While highly effective teaching yields improved learning for
Tennessee students, school leaders provide teachers with the support
they need to improve instruction and student learning in their classrooms.
For this reason, it is critical to invest in all aspects of the principal pipeline
to increase district access to high-quality school leaders.
1.
Principal Preparation: Promote principal preparation program approval
processes that require the implementation of best practices in principal preparation. The first step in creating effective principals is recruiting
high-quality candidates to principal preparation programs and improving
the quality of preparation programs to ensure they provide principals with the
skills they need to be instructional leaders in their schools. To do so, the State
Board of Education and the Tennessee Department of Education should work
to develop and oversee a more rigorous principal preparation program approval
process that focuses more heavily on rigorous selection criteria, a research-based
curriculum, high-quality clinical experiences, and partnerships between preparation programs and local school districts. This program approval process should also
focus on the outcomes of programs such as principal placement rates and principal
effectiveness measures.
2.
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Support for Current Principals: Provide professional development and ongoing support to
current principals to ensure they have the skills necessary to serve as instructional leaders in their schools. It is critical to provide current principals with the support they need