2013 Webinar Series Promotes Professional Principalship

The success of any school starts and ends with strong leadership. From managing the building to teaching teachers to improving student achievement, the level of leadership provided by the principal defines a school’s learning environment. Our new, four-part webinar series, made possible through the generous support of The Wallace Foundation, will explore the paramount role quality principal leadership plays in driving school improvement.

The series, Building a Profession: Helping Principals Become the Lever of Change, beginning Feb. 13, will feature four educators who, as principals, led academic success in high-poverty schools around the country and who now have undertaken new roles in districts or states. The authors of Getting It Done: Leading Academic Success in Unexpected Schools, Karin Chenoweth and Christina Theokas, will facilitate as these leaders discuss what it really means to lead improvement in difficult circumstances. The educators will be asked to reflect on how their own leadership experiences now inform their thinking on how districts and states can best support current school leaders in their work to help all students succeed.

Von Sheppard, former principal of Dayton’s Bluff Achievement Plus Elementary in St. Paul, Minn., will talk about the kinds of help and support principals need to become instructional leaders while managing all the other parts of the job. Currently, Sheppard is the assistant superintendent for elementary schools in Boulder, Colo.

Jeffrey Litt, superintendent of Icahn Charter Schools, one of the highest achieving charter networks in New York City, will define what kinds of principals high-poverty schools need and what those principals, in turn, need from their districts.

Teri Brecheen, statewide literacy coordinator for Oklahoma, will discuss developing the knowledge and capacity of school leaders throughout a state to build the profession in ways that will help all children achieve at high levels.

Sharon Brittingham, who now leads her state’s Race to the Top program, will talk about how she helps principals throughout Delaware learn to lead instruction and the supports they need to become excellent leaders.

You can join the discussion! Learn more about this special webinar series and register today by clicking the name of each individual guest (see above). Click here to watch previous webinars from the Ed Trust Leadership Series.