Two national education organizations are seeking additional feedback from the public on revised draft standards for education leaders. These standards aim to ensure district and school leaders are able to improve student learning and achievement and meet new, higher expectations. The first public comment period last fall resulted in suggested changes that have been incorporated into this draft of the standards.
For the past 16 months, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA) have led an effort to refresh the standards to reflect research-based evidence, practitioner input and experience gained since the last update of the standards in 2008. The Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium Standards for School Leaders, known as ISLLC, detail the knowledge and skills effective district and school leaders need in order to build teams of teachers and leaders who improve student learning.
“We strongly encourage the public to review these standards and help us make them even better,” said Chris Minnich, executive director of CCSSO. “We want to hear from teachers and school and district leaders as well as from parents and other stakeholders in public education. Their valuable perspective will help make sure the final ISLLC 2015: Model Policy Standards for Educational Leaders set the right expectations for these critical educators.”
Forty-five states and the District of Columbia, as well as districts, schools and university and nonprofit leadership preparation programs, use the voluntary ISLLC standards to guide preparation, practice, support and evaluations for district and school leaders, including superintendents, principals, assistant principals, and teacher leaders.
The standards are built on a transformational vision of education leadership expressed through seven policy standards. Transformational education leaders:
- Build a shared vision of student success and well-being.
- Champion and support instruction and assessment that maximizes student learning and achievement.
- Manage and develop staff members’ professional skills and practices in order to drive student learning and achievement.
- Cultivate a caring and inclusive school community dedicated to student learning, academic success and the personal well-being of every student.
- Coordinate resources, time, structures and roles effectively to build the instructional capacity of teachers and other staff.
- Engage families and the outside community to promote and support student success.
- Administer and manage operations efficiently and effectively.
Each of the seven policy standards is accompanied by specific actions that illustrate that standard.
The refreshed standards reflect the changing responsibilities of principals, superintendents and other district-office leaders. As a result of state-level reform measures, principals and other education leaders in most states are implementing higher learning standards to prepare all students for college, careers and life.
The refreshed standards benefitted from extensive involvement of the field and from researchers, including during the first public comment period. More than 1,000 principals and superintendents submitted surveys, and more than 100 participated in focus groups. This second public comment period will ensure that the revised standards truly reflect what effective leadership practice looks like in today’s schools and districts.
Review the standards at:
http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2015/RevisedDraftISLLCStandards2015.pdf
Provide feedback here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9ND6RVT
The public comment period will last until May 29. CCSSO will use the comments to make additional refinements to the standards, which will be finalized and released this summer.
