Illinois' School Leadership Work

The Center for the Study of Education Policy's work around principal preparation and development has been cited as a national model in the following publications:

Evaluations

Navigating the Shift to Intensive Principal Preparation in Illinois: An In-depth Look at Stakeholder Perspectives (2016) Illinois Education Research Council

Books

Hunt, Haller, Hood & Kincaid (April 2019). Reforming Principal Preparation at the State Level: Perspectives on Policy Reform from Illinois. New York: Routledge.

Awards

CSEP, ISBE, and IBHE were recognized by Education Commission of the States in 2014 with the Frank Newman Award for State Innovation.

Multi-Media

This video series, funded by the Wallace Foundation, shows how Illinois successfully revamped requirements for preparation of principals.

In the News

Pressure Mounts on Higher Ed to Improve Principal Preparation , Education Week (January 2017). "Only 2 states - Illinois and Tennessee - use "well-developed" policies in the five "high leverage" areas listed below to approve principal-preparation programs and award licenses/certificates, according to the University Council for Educational Administration."
Principal-Preparation Programs Get Major Makeover in Illinois , Education Week (January 2017). This article highlights that the state's push to upgrade its cadre of school leaders shifts programs' emphasis to instructional leadership while noting that challenges still exist in rural areas.

Principal Development

Coaching Principals to Develop Their Capacity as Instructional Leaders - Insights from Two SEED Grants - by the Teacher Quality Programs Technical Assistance Center. (2019) "This brief presents insights gained from the grantees' experiences and the lessons they learned over the course of implementing their coaching initiatives. It is designed for EED grantees and other education leaders who are providing support to principals to improve their instructional leadership. Links to relevant resources are provided within the brief and in an Appendix."

National Policy Papers

Preparing Principals for Pre-K in Illinois The Prairie State's Story of Reform and Implementation by Abbie Lieberman (2019) "This paper explores Illinois' shift from a general administrative license, called a "Type 75" license to a "PK-12 Principal Endorsement". It includes both a history of the reform efforts and a look at how implementation has fared nearly a decade after the legislation was signed into law. It also offers lessons and recommendations for other states looking to ensure principals are equipped to lead pre-K and early grade classrooms."
A Policymaker's Guide: Research-Based Policy for Principal Preparation Program Approval and Licensure A report developed by the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), co-authored by Erin Anderson and Amy L. Reynolds, documents Illinois' principal preparation program as an example to follow.
Developing Excellent School Principals to Advance Teaching and Learning: Considerations for State Policy by Dr. Paul Manna, College of William and Mary, references Illinois as a leading state in principal preparation redesign.
A publication by the National Governors Association (NGA) titled Improving Educational Outcomes: How State Policy Can Support School Principals as Instructional Leaders highlights state efforts to improve student learning outcomes by focusing on more rigorous principal development, citing Illinois’ work with principal preparation redesign as a model.
Another publication by NGA titled Leading for Early Success: Building School Principals’ Capacity to Lead High-Quality Early Education highlights the work done in Illinois around the new P-12 principal endorsement in describing how governors can build effective school leadership to promote high-quality P-3^rd education.
A recent publication by the Institute of Medicine titled Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation offers recommendations for building a workforce that is unified by the foundation of the science of child development and early learning for the development and early learning of children from birth through age 8. Illinois is cited in this report as the only state to have a principal endorsement that not only certifies principals for PreK through Grade 12 but also includes competencies that principals must master with early childhood, students with disabilities, and English Language Learners.
The National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) released a policy brief titled Preparing a Pipeline of Effective Principals: A Legislative Approach that featured Illinois’ work in transforming school leadership preparation and support. The brief was the result of a seminar held for legislators at the NCSL Legislative Summit in August 2012 and a webinar hosted by NGA, NCSL, and CCSSO focused on using policy to improve principal preparation that featured Illinois’ work.
The Center for Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) publication titled What Do We Know About Principal Preparation, Licensure Requirements, and Professional Development for School Leaders? highlights Illinois as the only state that has included early childhood content specifically in their licensure and accreditation processes.

Webinars

University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Webinar Series:
- Getting Principal Preparation Right - Thursday, March 9, 2017 12:00pm EST - Join UCEA for an engaging conversation detailing how members of the UCEA consortium have distinguished themselves from the broader field of educational leadership preparation providers and addressing critics of the field.

Academic Publications

The Leadership Challenge: Preparing and Developing Catholic School Principals by Michael Boyle, Alicia Haller and Erika Hunt
Leaders Who Dare: Pushing the Boundaries by Linda Lyman, Dianne Ashby and Jenny Tripses
Principal Internships Create Exciting Opportunities by James Herdon
Goodbye, Type 75. Hello, Endorsements by Howard Bultinck
Will New Illinois Principal Preparation Programs Fix Illinois Public School? By Vicki Van Tuyle and John W. Hunt
Reinventing Principal Preparation in Illinois: A Case Study of Policy Change in Complex Organizations by Angeliki Lazardou
Preparing Principals for Success with English Language Learners: Challenges and Opportunities in Illinois by Allison Reeves