Messenger - Vol. 1, No. 2, Page 6
Winter 1992
RE: Learning; Principals to attend leadership academy
     Sixty principals from seven states will return to school this
summer when the College of Education conducts its National Academy for
Principal Leadership, July 5-24.
     Under a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the
academy will train school principals in leadership skills, cooperation
with their many constituencies and methods of restructuring education.
     The principals will come to the University from seven states that
are participating in the RE: Learning approach to restructuring
schools, including Delaware, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Illinois,
Arkansas, Colorado and New Mexico. RE: Learning was formed in 1987 as
a partnership between the Coalition of Essential Schools, founded by
educational reformer Ted Sizer, and the Education Commission of the
States, a group of reform-minded governors.
     One of three to be held across the country, the academy at the
University will help the principals develop an overall plan to
restructure their schools and teach them to work with government and
business leaders, school boards, teachers, parents and administrators.
One part of the academy program will emphasize developing leadership
skills with help from the business community and creating links
between businesses and schools. Another part will emphasize how
students learn and how to encourage and motivate staff.
     "More is asked of principals today," Frank B. Murray, H. Rodney
Sharp Professor of Educational Studies and dean of the college, says.
"Formerly, if a principal ran a school smoothly with no problems
surfacing, that was considered successful, but that is not enough
today. Principals are expected to be leaders, the movers and shakers
in reforming education, and this academy is designed to help them."