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| Participants at the Third Annual Policy and Practice Institute discuss a variety of issues related to teacher leaders and school improvement. |
The full SAELP I Consortium, the three task forces that helped direct SAELP I work, participants at the Delaware Policy Institute in June 2003, and the SAELP II planning task force have all recommended action at the state and district levels to deepen the pool of leadership talent in the state. In particular, the SAELP I task force on Minority Recruitment and Selection has made a strong case for building a diverse pool of leaders that mirrors the student population in Delaware schools.
Breakthrough idea number two, which is tightly aligned with breakthrough idea number one, is designed to address this issue by crafting a framework to ensure that that succession planning is hardwired into the policy and practice domains of school districts and the state. As with the earlier breakthrough idea on distributive leadership, our intention is to pursue this objective through a "district-based model", that is, by engaging all 19 districts in the state and, in terms of the strategic through-line, having an impact on conditions of work and leader development upward to the state and downward through the school to the classroom. As noted above, the breakthrough idea is structured to address two existing policy goals in Delaware: (1) deepening the overall pool of leadership in the state--and crafting mechanisms to guarantee continual replenishment of the pool--and (2) increasing minority representation in the formal leadership ranks. The strategy here is "breakthrough" on a number of other dimensions as well. Most critically, it transfers responsibility for leader development to school districts, in cooperation with the state and its university training institutions.
SAELP II will work to support each of the 19 districts as they create policies and administrative regulations to create district-based leadership succession plans. The succession programs that nest within district policy and regulations will be buttressed by state policy. To begin with, existing regulations at the state level that are barriers to succession planning will be identified and a waiver initiative will be crafted to give districts flexibility in removing barriers to their succession planning. In addition, through policy, we will ensure that participants who successfully engage in succession planning work will receive a 2 percent salary increment under the state school finance system.
We will begin with a one-day workshop in January 2005 for teams from all districts in the state. Teams will be composed of the superintendent, a member of the board of education, a teacher, a principal, and a member of the community--someone with experience in the area of leader development, especially in the sub-area of career development. At this initial meeting, the topic of succession planning will be examined, benchmark programs from both the educational and corporate sectors will be highlighted, the criteria to employ in building robust plans will be presented, and the policy role to be assumed by the state will be laid out (e.g. the 2 percent cluster).
We note here that action on developing the program specifications (e.g. the need to scaffold learning experiences on the Delaware Standards for School Leaders) has begun under the direction of the SAELP II planning task force. In organizing the initial meeting--and subsequent activities for the districts--we plan to turn to SAELP team members from the corporate area that have insights to share as well as to representatives of the National Consortium who can help us identify benchmark programs in the educational and private sectors.
We will form a network of all the Delaware school districts that wish to engage in developing leadership succession plans. We will provide approximately $10,000 for each district to (1) develop a program, (2) implement the program, and (3) craft the policies and administrative regulations at the district level to shape and direct the implementation of the leadership succession program.
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| Dr. Joseph F. Murphy, Consultant to the SAELP project from Vanderbilt University, talks with educators and policymakers at the Third Annual Policy and Practice Institute about the importance of Succession Planning and developing teacher leaders. |
To support the work of network members over the life of this SAELP II initiative during which plans are created and cemented into the district policy structure, we will create a dedicated website. We will also develop a Succession Planning Advisory Task Force that is composed of a representative from each district team, SAELP consortium members, and key leaders from the business sector. The advisory group will meet once a month to plan professional development needs, share successes or concerns, and provide guidance to the districts. We will also convene district teams twice a year during the life of the grant to work on collaborative construction of succession plans and district policies. Our goal here is to have the districts learn from each other. At the same time, we will continue to make available examples of quality initiatives elsewhere--from districts in other states and from the corporate sector both in Delaware and throughout the nation. We will tap the resources of the National Consortium in locating the benchmark programs.
The SAELP II Consortium will play three key roles in the work. First, the team will be the convener of the 19 districts and the shaper, along with districts themselves, of the work agenda. Second, the Consortium will be the conduit of the work of the districts to the policy structure at the state level (the ride up the strategic through-line). Finally, the Consortium will be a direct provider of services on two fronts.
To begin with, we will forge a leader development system for existing principals who will serve as mentors to prospective administrators in the leadership succession plan programs. To ensure the longevity of the mentor training, we will establish a 2 percent salary cluster at the level of state policy. While Wallace funds will be used to develop the training, state funds will be employed in the on-going delivery of the leadership development. Through the framework of the Delaware Principals' Academy and the university-based preparation programs in the state, we will create linkages between the district-based, succession-focused learning experiences and administrative licensure. Specifically, we will work with universities to develop a six hour "internship" which all participants in the succession plans will complete. This internship will form part of the degree structure for those participants who elect to complete coursework for licensure. At the state policy level, we will work with professional and governmental members of SAELP II to enact policy to provide free tuition or for all minority candidates in district leadership succession programs who pursue the coursework for administrative licensure.
We believe that we gain considerable leverage on the impact and sustainability issues through (1) our use of a district-focused model, that is by working with all the willing participant districts in the state, (2) the development of a broad support framework at both the district and state policy levels, and (3) by using Wallace funds not to provide core operational support but as a resource in the development phase of work, with state and district funds being employed for delivery--district and state funds that will remain after the grant monies have been exhausted. On the policy issue, for example, we spotlight the importance of measurable results and sustainability by consciously identifying and emphasizing the changes in the structure of district policies and administrative regulations to lock succession planning initiatives into place. We also capture a series of changes in state policy (e.g. tuition forgiveness for minority candidates, cluster funds for leader development) that help ensure the long term viability of the succession planning work.
At the end of year one, each participating district will have developed a quality leadership succession plan, including needed changes in district policies and administrative regulations.
At the end of year three, the first cohort of carefully selected participants will have completed their programs. We anticipate a total state cohort of about 100 at the end of year three.
At the end of year five, we will see about 200 additional leaders in the pool from which school administrators could be selected--a total pool after year five that will be roughly half the size of the total of all school administrative positions in the state. One quarter of this pool of 300 will be educators of color. SAELP II will also have created approximately 150 mentors from the existing cadre of school administrators (2 per district in each year 2 through 5). Since the foundation for this training will be hardwired into both district and state policy and delivered through the existing resourced state program structure, we expect these benefits to flow for considerable time into the future.
This site will provide the reader with information on Delaware's progress with succession planning. A history of the work to date will be provided, along with a list of current accomplishments. Copies of Delaware's vision for succession planning and resources that have been used by consultants and district teams can be read and downloaded. Copies of presentations, meeting minutes, and assessments used to monitor the district pilots of succession planning are also provided in an effort to share the work with Delaware's 19 school districts and the 24 SAELP state partners. Training opportunities will be posted along with training handouts, agendas, and consultant materials. There is also a link to the Aspiring School Leaders Program with information about programs available through districts, universities, and the Delaware Department of Education. Readers can also download a copy of Delaware's School Leader Standards.
Succession Planning Workplan |
New Proposal 2005-2006 |
