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Conclusions

There are several lessons that we have learned in our efforts to renew our school leadership program. We find that that the success of any major reform initiative such as ours requires that outcomes and expectations be clearly understood from the beginning. “Begin with the end in mind,” as Covey advises, by establishing a conceptual framework and set of professional standards that was essential to our progress. These profession standards (ISLLC) must be built into the system of learning and assessment and represent what we expect our graduates to achieve in their program. It is also important to engage students in the process during their initial introduction to the program. We do so by requiring them to take a seminar course during their first semester where they are introduced to our mission, conceptual framework and standards and begin to demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and dispositions through their portfolios.

Fullan (2007) reminds us that introducing lasting change requires the cooperation and support of a variety of people. We are learning that our renewal will succeed only if there is commitment from the entire Center for Education community. This includes administration, full and part-time time faculty, support staff, and school district partners. In order to garner their support and cooperation, there needs to be a balance in work expectations and a system for rewarding those who take leading roles in implementing the changes.

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