School Leaders in a Time of Accountability and Data Use: Preparing Our Future School Leaders in Leadership Preparation Programs

Educational Leadership Standards

In today’s education arena with high stakes testing and student achievement quality, school leaders are essential. Educational leaders need to understand their key role to create an environment to sustain constant improvement (Muijs, & Harris, 2003). With sustained constant improvement comes data-driven decision-making (DDDM). In order to have essential school leaders, universities are charged with preparing these educational leaders. Educational leadership programs need to contain quality outcomes in order to prepare leaders to be effective instructional leaders (Barnett, Basom, Yerkes, & Norris, 2000). The key to having a successful Educational Leadership Program is meeting the expectations of the National Educational

Leadership Preparation (NELP) Standards and the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL) Standards. National standards are needed due to changes in school conditions and school populations, higher expectations for teaching and learning, and increased knowledge regarding effective leadership. Clear and consistent standards allow all stakeholders to understand and communicate expectations regarding ways to meet these challenges (National Policy Board for Educational Administration, 2015).

In 1987 The National Commission on Excellence in Educational Administration (NCEEA), sponsored by the University Council of Educational Administration (UCEA), reported concerns and needs of educational leadership preparation programs. The NCEEA criticized the educational leadership preparation programs for a number of deficiencies:

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  A lack of a definition of good educational leadership;

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  A lack of leader recruitment programs in the schools;

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  A lack of collaboration between school districts and universities;

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  A lack of minorities and women in the field;

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  A lack of systematic professional development for school administrators;

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  A lack of quality candidates for preparation programs;

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  A lack of preparation programs relevant to the job demands of school administrators;

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  A lack of sequence, modern content, and clinical experience in preparation

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  Programs;

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  A lack of licensure systems to promote excellence; and

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  A lack of a national sense of cooperation in preparing school leaders (Griffiths, 1988).