August 3, 2005 – Shirley Luna

University receives funding for school leadership training

An expected shortage of principals in East Texas schools may have been averted thanks to a $712,000 U.S. Department of Education grant to Stephen F. Austin State University.

The SFA College of Education received the grant to assist in certifying principals and assistant principals for area school districts most likely to face a shortage of administrators. According to Dr. John Jacobson, dean of the College of Education, SFA's goal during the next three years is to prepare state certified school leaders to fill 70 anticipated vacancies by identifying individuals who have the commitment and abilities needed to serve the youth of East Texas and then preparing those individuals with educational and mentoring experiences to ensure their success.

"The university has formed a partnership with 21 high-need school districts to develop strategies to address the growing need for well-prepared and fully certified principals and assistant principals in rural East Texas," Jacobson said. "The primary goal of the program, titled Project Develop (Developing an Entrepreneurial Vision for Exemplary Leadership and Ongoing Professionalism) is to ensure that each partner school has talented individuals with the skills required to lead their diverse campuses to recognized or exemplary status."

The potential vacancies were identified through surveys sent to local schools by SFA. In addition to the Nacogdoches Independent School District, partner school districts are Center, Joaquin, Tenaha and Timpson in Shelby County. Partner school districts in Cherokee County are Jacksonville, New Summerfield and Rusk, and in Tyler County, the Spurger and Woodville school districts are partners. Other partnering districts include Alba-Golden, Beckville, Kirbyville, Laneville, Longview, Lufkin, Malakoff, Marshall, Shepherd, Slocum and West Sabine.

According to Dr. Betty Alford, chair of the Department of Secondary Education and Educational Leadership, aspiring principals will enroll in either 11- or 18-month Web-based, modular program options, depending on whether they hold a master's degree. Additionally, at least 100 currently practicing principals and assistant principals will participate in professional development activities, and 20 of these also will participate in nine-month mentor programs.

"Scholarships and stipends will provide incentives to principals, principal candidates and mentors, and remove financial barriers to help committed individuals to become highly qualified school leaders," Alford explained. "The program design offers a variety of executive leadership and professional experiences to current and aspiring principals in a format that reflects an entrepreneurial vision for exemplary leadership and ongoing professionalism."

SFA's proposal was one of 24 applications accepted from 155 submissions received by the U.S. Department of Education. According to Jacobson, the university's faculty, staff and administration are committed to finding and securing grants to enhance and expand the school leadership programs offered by SFA.

"Receiving this highly competitive grant not only validates the quality of our program, but coupled with several other grants recently awarded to the College of Education, means that more than $3 million in scholarships is available to train teachers, counselors and, now, school leaders," Jacobson said.

Specific objectives of the plan are to make high-quality, non-traditional and individualized principal preparation and professional development programs readily accessible in rural communities; build the capacity of partner school districts to identify high-quality individuals from diverse backgrounds whom they can recruit, mentor, employ and retain in school leadership positions; and provide school leaders with multicultural educational experiences. Alford said the program also is designed to help integrate school leader preparation and professional development into each district's plans for improving student achievement.

"Joint planning with partner school districts will strengthen school-university partnerships and will result in principal preparation and professional development programs designed by and for leaders of rural schools that meet their specific needs now and in the future," Alford said.

Alford said that an extensive evaluation of the SFA program by the Texas Lighthouse Initiative provided valuable feedback and reaffirmed administrators' direction for the program.

"We received accolades for the quality of our program from Joseph Murphy, a leading author in the field of educational administration from Vanderbilt University, and the report stated that we are on our way to developing a national benchmark model," Alford said. "We still have some work to do, but we've implemented some sound ideas, and with these additional funds, we can continue to enhance our program and move to the next level."

The College of Education now has more than $11.2 million in grants under contract, and more than $3 million of that goes directly to student scholarships, according to Jacobson. While those scholarships are important to SFA students, the dean said they are just as important to the local economy.

"Instead of being pulled from our local economy, these scholarship funds are funneled in from outside our area," Jacobson said. "It has a tremendous positive impact on the economy."