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."