University Council for Educational Administration's Program Design Network's Utility of Cross-Institutional Communities to Advance Educational Leadership Preparation Programming

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: Continuous Improvement in University, District, and School Contexts: Promises and Challenges, Iteration After Iteration

Abstract

“Never has it been more important to have well-prepared educational leaders who understand teaching and learning; who are able to support their school staff, student bodies, and school communities; and who are willing to question structures and norms in their efforts to meet the needs of those they lead” (Author, 2016a). Educational leadership faculty, researchers and reform-oriented stakeholders have dedicated tremendous resources to understanding and leveraging excellence in educational leadership preparation (Davis, Darling-Hammond, et.al, 2010; Jackson & Kelley, 2002). As a result, the question of whether educational leadership preparation matters, has been answered: It most certainly does (Orr & Pounder, 2008; Fuller, Young, & Baker, 2011).

This paper explores the implementation of UCEA’s Program Design Network (UCEA-PDN), an effort initiated in 2016 to support research-informed leadership preparation program change. The UCEA-PDN builds on UCEA’s research and development work and its success in fostering collaborative networks by supporting intentional collective action around continuous program improvement and fosters collective engagement in leadership preparation design, redesign, and improvement. The initiative is structured to engage UCEA faculty within cross-institutional teams in one of five facilitated networked improvement communities (NICs) to support their change efforts. The UCEA-PDN improvement work involves purposeful dialogue, inquiry, and analysis to understand preparation programs’ organizational contexts, program strengths, theories of action, and articulated steps to advance improvement efforts (Byrk, Gomez, Grumow, & LeMahieu, 2015; Langely, 2009). The PDN is based on the understanding that when educational leadership faculty collaborate on reform designs within and across institutional boundaries, using continuous improvement strategies, they have the opportunity to develop and adapt strategies that meet the needs of their institutional context.

Recognizing different programs have different programmatic areas in which to focus efforts, UCEA offered multiple target improvement areas from which institutions might choose. Thus, at the heart of each PD-NIC is a problem domain within educational leadership preparation programs. The five problem domains selected for the UCEA PD-NICs have been areas linked to quality preparation outcomes within the research literature and are as follows:

• Preparation Partnerships;
• Candidate Recruitment, Selection & Evaluation;
• Mentorship & Coaching;
• Curriculum, Instruction & Coherence; and
• Powerful Learning Experiences (with an emphasis on equity).

In this paper, we share an analysis of data documenting the first year of implementation the UCEA PDN and begin to address the larger question of how the PDN initiative supports institutional change. Data sources include documents, observations and interviews, including insights from the UCEA-hub, PD-NIC facilitators, knowledge workers and NIC members regarding the implementation process, factors impacting the process and iterative program changes.

Authors

• Michelle D. Young, University Council for Educational Administration

• Kathleen M. Winn, University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA)/University of Virginia