Identifying Leadership Potential: The Process of Principals Within a Charter School Network

• In Event: Roundtable Session 18.
  In Roundtable Session: District Reform Roundtable

Abstract

The importance of strong educational leadership for our schools cannot be overstated. Schools need to actively recruit and develop leaders, and one way to do so is for schools to become more strategic in leadership identification. However, the process of identifying leadership potential among faculty ranks is new territory to educational researchers. In this study, principles of the burgeoning fields of talent management and talent identification in business literature have been applied to the field of education. This qualitative case study focused on exploring the process principals use to identify potential leaders among their teaching staff, and to understand how principals’ personal experiences of being identified as leaders may influence their behavior in the identification of talent within their schools.

Authors

• Lynn Waidelich, The George Washington University

• Jennifer K. Clayton, The George Washington University