Preparing Principals for a Changing World (PDF)

Preparing Principals for a Changing World provides a
hands-on resource for creating and implementing effective policies
and programs for developing expert school leaders. Written by
acclaimed author and educator Linda Darling-Hammond and experts
Debra Meyerson, Michelle LaPointe, and Margaret Terry Orr, this
important book examines the characteristics of successful
educational leadership programs and offers concrete recommendations
to improve programs nationwide.

In a study funded by the Wallace Foundation, Darling-Hammond and
the team examined eight exemplary principal development programs,
as well as state policies and principals' experiences across the
country. Using the data from the study, they reveal how successful
programs are structured, the skills and knowledge participants
gain, and what they are able to do in practice as school leaders as
a result.

What do these exemplary programs have in common?
Aggressive recruitment; close ties with schools in the community;
on-the-ground training under the wing of expert principals, and a
strong emphasis on the cutting-edge theories of instructional and
transformational leadership.

In addition to highlighting the programs' similarities, the
study also explains the differences among the programs and sheds
light on the effectiveness of approaches and models from different
states and contexts?East, West, North, and South; urban and rural;
pre-service and in-service. The authors analyze program outcomes
for principals and their schools, including illustrative case
studies and educators' voices on the influence of programs'
strategies for recruitment, internships, mentoring, and
coursework.

The ideas and suggestions outlined in Preparing Principals
for a Changing World are presented with the goal of increasing
the number of highly qualified, thoughtful, and innovative
educational leaders.