Program addresses public schools' leadership shortage
The University is addressing a shortage of administrators in elementary and secondary schools with a new program called "Next Generation Leadership Academy."
The State Council of Higher Education awarded the University a $102,653 grant to help implement the program, which includes partnerships between the Jepson School of Leadership Studies, School of Continuing Studies and four local school divisions. The Next Generation Leadership Academy (NGLA) will be part of the University's newly established Center for Leadership in Education. It will involve 40 aspiring principals and 20 mentors from public schools in the City of Richmond and Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico counties. Thomas J. Shields is the center's director.
The center also sponsors the Issues in Leadership breakfast series for administrators from Chesterfield County. Administrators hear from and discuss ideas about leadership with academic scholars.
The center provides instruction to elementary and secondary students, and assistance to elementary and secondary teachers in leadership studies.
The center is developing non-traditional programs and seminars for all levels of administrators in both public and private K-12 schools and will be a resource for research on the effectiveness of a nontraditional approach to leadership studies. One program in development is a seminar for superintendents from the Greater Richmond area.
"Superintendents have as much responsibility as leaders of major corporations," said Jepson Dean Kenneth P. Ruscio, "but often don't have the chance to think about their professional role in society and the role education plays in society. They get lots of management training, but what they don't get is the opportunity to step back and reflect upon their professional role. Thanks to the day-to-day demands of the job, they don't have time to reflect on larger issues."
Shields said, "Leadership studies is integral to developing administrators, teachers and students who can think critically about their role in society." He hopes the center will transform how leadership studies is taught and administered in K-12 and become a national model in the study, teaching and practice of leadership in that setting.
Further information is available at the center's Web site: http://leadershipk12.richmond.edu/.
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