Developing Equity-Based Assistant Principals Through Community and Practice

• In Event: Educational Leadership for Equity

Abstract

With increasing principal attrition, there is a pressing need for new school leaders. Assistant Principals seem like an obvious possibility, yet their work is poorly understood and as a group they have received very little leadership training. These issues are magnified for schools that face stark inequalities. This project, developed through a district-university partnership in a medium-sized urban school district, aimed to cultivate equity-centered leadership competencies in a cohort of eight assistant principals. The core design elements included identifying promising candidates, intentionally building community, providing real site-based leadership opportunities, fostering reflection, and centering equity. We used observations, surveys, and participants’ critical reflection journals, to analyze their growth. We found that participants developed new ways of thinking about leadership, developed confidence and competence through their enactment of a real leadership project, and were buoyed by a community of like-minded, equity centered leaders.

Authors

• Madhu Narayanan, Portland State University

• Dawn Gillis, Portland Public Schools

• Tina Acker, Portland State University

• Emily Walsh, Portland Public Schools