Illinois is one of several states recently involved in the redesign of its principal preparation programs. This process began in earnest in May of 2008 when the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) convened a meeting attended by many representatives of the 32 public and private higher education institutions in Illinois which provided principal preparation programs. Citing the work of Levine (2005) and providing statistics regarding the number of principal level certificates issued in 2008 (ISBE, 2008), it was clear that the end result of this process desired by ISBE and IBHE was an improvement in the quality of principal preparation programs.
Throughout a process encompassing May of 2008 through February 2011, university leadership in this redesign process was provided by the Illinois Council of Professors of Educational Administration (ICPEA), an affiliate of NCPEA. Knowing that in some states, such as Iowa, the number of principal preparation programs had been reduced via a similar process (Hackmann&Wanat, 2007), ICPEA members took the lead to protect both the integrity of the process as well as their own institutions.
Due to this process, the ICPEA became a much more cohesive and cooperative organization. Rather than protecting the “turf” of individual institutions, the respective universities developed a collegial approach as they collaboratively worked through the development, lobbying, and administrative rulemaking processes, which are all detailed in the paper. Consequently, ICPEA blazed a new path - a truly collaborative partnership among its member institutions.
Ncpea education leadership review: portland conference special edition, volume 12, number 3 (october 2011)
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
Education Leadership Review: Special Portland Conference Issue (October 2011) , ISSN 1532-0723. Formatted and edited in Connexions by Theodore Creighton and Brad Bizzell, Virginia Tech and Janet Tareilo, Stephen F. Austin State University.
Introduction
In May of 2008, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), which regulates the K-12 public schools, and the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) which regulates the public and private universities in Illinois initiated a process to revise the universities’ preparation programs for building level principals across the state. These state agencies were reacting to two separate issues when the decision was made to begin the revision process. First, they were addressing the Levine Report (2005) which criticized principal preparation programs, nationally, for having inadequate curricula, low admissions and graduation standards, faculty disconnected from the K-12 schools, and insufficient quality control. Second, ISBE and IBHE were reacting to the fact that in fiscal year 2007, 2402 general administrative certificates were issued in a state that had just over 400 administrative openings at the principalship level (ISBE, 2008). Of course, hundreds of other administrative positions throughout the state also required the general administrative certificate. These agencies also touted the need to shift the emphasis of these administrative preparation programs from a management approach to more of a leadership approach.
