Solutions for Principals

Supporting and Retaining New Principals

As they begin to realize the chasm between university-level administration programs and the "real world," new principals are also facing a bewildering array of demands and expectations from teachers, students, parents, and district and state leaders. The demands are so great that in a recent (2001) survey by Public Agenda, an overwhelming 92% of the respondents agreed that time demands and the responsibilities of principals constrained many from seeking these positions. And, until very recently, professionals assuming this role found themselves in a "sink-or-swim" situation. Emphasis has shifted, however, and now new principals are often part of formal mentoring programs—by retired principals, through Leadership Academies, through state or district programs, and through a range of universities and private organizations. Emerging research indicates that while these programs are generally effective, they are often constrained by the capacity of the mentors to develop trusting, reflective relationships with the new principals and to address issues that they have not experienced themselves.

This solution focuses on building the knowledge and skills of new principal mentors and on supporting them as they implement, monitor, assess, and refine the impact of their work with new school leaders. This involves:

• Developing a Professional Learning Community of new principal mentors focused on deepening and expanding their own knowledge and skills as educational leaders in order to mentor new principals more effectively
• Aligning mentoring strategies and skills with the ISLLC standards
• Promoting the use of 21st-century tools and technologies to make the mentoring process more effective and efficient

Teachscape offers support for this solution by providing face-to-face and online professional learning sessions, supported by coaching that is focused squarely on developing effective educational leadership skills that will support building and retaining a cadre of new leaders.

Developing a Professional Learning Community of New Principal Mentors: Mentors for new principals, often retired principals, bring their knowledge, skills, and experiences to the mentoring relationship. As they develop deeper and expanded knowledge and skills, they have more to offer their mentees. Teachscape leadership coaches will work closely with the members of this Professional Learning Community to:

• Self-assess their leadership and mentoring knowledge and skills as a baseline for developing a data-informed program of study and assessment tools to monitor the progress of the mentors relative to the defined skills.
• Develop a data-informed program of professional study that focuses on ensuring the mentors fill any gaps in their educational leadership knowledge and refine their professional mentoring skills to better support new leaders. These mentoring skills will include skills such as effective communication, action research studies, modeling, and a range of others.
• Provide ongoing support and advisement for the mentors. Teachscape coaches will mentor the mentors, not only offering needed support, but also modeling effective ways to build trusting, reflective relationships.

Aligning Mentoring Strategies and Skills with the ISLLC Standards to Ensure the New Leaders Reflect the Knowledge, Dispositions, and Performances That Define Effective Educational Leaders: Teachscape leadership coaches will enable this by ensuring:

• Integration of the data-informed program of study and data collection instruments with the ISLLC Standards to ensure a close alignment from the start
• Mentoring includes specific activities that enable the new leaders to demonstrate the ISLLC Performances and provide opportunities to refine these as needed

Promoting the Use of 21st-Century Tools and Technologies: Effective mentoring requires ongoing review and assessment of mentee skills—both for individual mentees and for the mentees as a group. Teachscape leadership coaches will promote the use of new tools and technologies to make the mentoring process more effective and efficient by:

• Using the Classroom Walkthrough tool and process to monitor implementation of recommended practices and to measure progress over time, relative to goal.
• Promoting the use of information technologies to provide professional learning. Teachscape coaches will engage the participants in professional learning activities delivered through Podcasts, Webinars, Internet-based learning, and others to ensure the new principals have convenient, on-demand access to opportunities for continuous learning.