Alternative Routes to Certification for Assistant Principal/Principal in Delaware

Delaware requires all aspiring school leaders that want to earn a certificate to be an assistant principal or principal to first hold a teaching certificate and to have successfully completed three years of teaching determined by documentation of satisfactory performance evaluations. Currently there is no alternative path to a position as an assistant principal or principal position unless an individual has demonstrated success as a teacher.

Through the work of the Task Force for the Professional Develop Continuum, the redesign process for improving the Masters in School Leadership programs at Delaware’s three universities, and develop work for district succession planning it became apparent that the Department of Education needed to look at the career path for teachers. District succession planning in particular resulted in two groups of aspiring school leaders:  (1) teachers that want to remain in the school but take on leadership responsibilities such as mentoring new teachers, instructional coach or department chair and (2) teachers that have been in leadership roles in their schools and aspire to be assistant principals and eventually a principal. As a result of these findings, the Department of Education in collaboration with the Delaware Academy for School Leadership will convene an advisory group to discuss policy issues related to teacher leadership and how teacher leadership can lead to an alternative path to a position as an assistant principal or principal. Key questions that continue to be asked are:

1. What is teacher leadership?
2. How will Delaware define a teacher leader?
3. Is teacher leadership role-specific?
4. What is the work of teacher leaders?
5. What are the key domains of teacher leadership?
6. What are the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are necessary for teacher leaders?
7. Do we need a set of standards for teacher leaders?
8. Does Delaware need a masters program specifically designed for teacher leaders?
9. Should completion of the master’s degree program lead to a new certificate as a Teacher Leader?
10. What are the incentives for earning a Teacher Leader Certificate?
11. Could a masters degree program for Teacher Leadership be an Alternative Path for Assistant Principals/Principals
12. What would the alternative path include/require in addition to completion of the Teacher Leadership Program?  A course of study? An internship?

Five State Consortium Developing a Teacher Leadership Program

It has become very apparent through the work with districts on succession planning and the redesign process for the Masters in School Leadership Program at the University of Delaware that there is a missing piece in Delaware’s Career Continuum for School Leaders. There is no career path for teachers other than moving in to specialty positions such as a guidance counselor or reading specialist. These positions require additional coursework which results in a new certificate on the teacher’s license. These positions, however, do not reward teachers for taking on the role of Department Chair, Lead Teacher, or Instructional Coach in a school. These jobs tend to be positional with few identifiable incentives other than personal satisfaction. The MED Redesign Advisory Group, as well as the Professional Development Continuum Task Force, made recommendations that the Department of Education begin to explore a career pathway for teachers that could lead to a certificate as a teacher leader. The Secretary of Education, Valerie Woodruff, and the Associate Secretary of Professional Accountability are supportive of this recommendation and have encouraged the CLS Project Director to use the Alternative Routes Project to explore this option for teachers. The leadership from the Delaware State Teachers’ Association (DSEA) is also supportive of this work. One of the focus areas of Delaware’s Vision 2015 Plan is to provide career pathways for teachers. As districts identify their talent pool for the Aspiring School Leaders’ Programs through succession planning many of the teachers in the pool have no aspirations to be assistant principals or principals. They have strong leadership skills within their schools in curriculum and instruction, but they are not sure if they have the adaptability to become the assistant principal which they see as a stepping stone to the principal position. Schools in which the principal has become more skilled in distributing leadership opportunities to teachers seem to have more teacher leaders who have been provided opportunities and, therefore, exhibit leadership behaviors.

As a result of Wallace Foundation funding, Delaware is working with a consortium of five states—Delaware, Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio—to develop a model teacher leadership program. The five states will be provided research  about the characteristics of a quality teacher leadership training programs from experts such as Marilyn Katzenmeyer (University of Florida), Mark Smylie (University of Illinois), and Joseph Murphy (Vanderbilt). Once the research foundation has been established, the five states will collaboratively design ten courses that could be transported to any state and used to create a model teacher leadership program. Delaware will work with the consortium to develop the program and then work with a policy team to determine incentives, certification requirements and implementation of the program. The plan is to share the design with school of education faculty, including school of education deans, directors, and coordinators to see if there is interest in developing a new program that would result in a Masters in Teacher Leadership. Leadership from all four institutions will be invited to participate in the planning process at the outset.

Based on the feedback from a variety of stakeholders, it appears as if it is important to Delaware that the new program for teacher leadership provide an Alternative Route to Certification as an assistant principal or principal. For example, many teacher leaders who participate in succession planning in a district make a conscientious choice that they do not want to be an assistant principal. However, often they change their minds after spending five years in a leadership role in the school. If a teacher chooses to get a Masters in Teacher Leadership which results in a certificate with incentives, but after five years decides she/he wants to be considered for an assistant principal’s position, there needs to be a pathway for this to occur. Delaware will consider creating an alternative path so that outstanding teacher leaders with strong backgrounds in curriculum and instruction and exceptional leadership skills can move into the new role as an assistant principals.