Since they were launched in 1996 and endorsed by the National Commissions for Advancement in Educational Leadership Preparation (NCAELP) in 2002, the Interstate School Leadership Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards and the Educational Leadership Constituent Council (ELCC) standards, either directly or through state accreditation requirements, have been perpetuating programmatic change in school leadership preparation programs nationwide. This paper, as part of a larger mixed method study conducted in 2007, highlights the degree to which professors of educational administration in the United States perceived that their programs were aligned with the ISLLC/ ELCC standards and describes the work that can be done to ensure a higher level of program-standard alignment. Although education administration faculty perceived that their programs, on average, are well aligned with all seven standards, they indicated that their programs are better aligned with Standards 7 (internship) and 3 (management of organizational operations and resources), followed by Standard 2 (sustaining school culture and instructional program ), 1 (developing a shared vision), 5 (acting with integrity, fairness and ethics), 6 (influencing larger political, social, economic, legal and cultural context), and finally, 4 (collaboration with families and communities). Group differences were observed in the degree to which faculty perceived that their programs were aligned with the different standards, when compared across NCATE accreditation status (for Standards 5 and 6), and affiliation status (for Standards 1, 5 and 6), but not Carnegie classification status. Given the fact that schools are more inclusive and diverse places than they were 50 years ago this study challenges education administration faculty to align programs more effectively with Standards 4, 5 and 6.
This manuscript has been peer-reviewed, accepted, and endorsed by the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) as a significant contribution to the scholarship and practice of education administration. In addition to publication in the Connexions Content Commons, this module is published in the NCPEA Education Leadership Review (ELR) and accessed at:
International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, Volume 5, Number 1 (January – March 2010). Formatted and edited in Connexions by Theodore Creighton, Virginia Tech.
Statement of the purpose
The new
Educational Leadership Policy Standards: ISLLC 2008 retain the footprint of the ISLLC 1996 standards and continue to challenge faculty to enhance leaders’ capacity to improve teaching and learning for all. If we, as educational administration faculty, are to respond to these standards, it is imperative that we move beyond
meeting the standards to actually
embracing them. To accomplish this, we need to reflect on where we are in terms of standards implementation, redefine priorities, and identify strategies that will get us to where we want to be in the years to come. This paper, as part of a larger mixed method study conducted in 2007, identifies when educational administration faculty aligned their programs with the Interstate School Leadership Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards and/or the Educational Leadership Constituent Council (ELCC) standards. It highlights the degree to which faculty perceived that their programs are aligned with each of the standards. Finally, it describes group differences in faculty perceptions across National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) accreditation status, Carnegie classification status (doctoral intensive, doctoral extensive, masters 1, masters 2 level institutions) and affiliation status (private and public institutions), and identifies steps that preparation programs can take to ensure that their programs reflect the ideals of the standards more fully.
