Central Texas Leadership Development Alliance (CTLDA)

About the Grant

      The Central Texas Leadership Development Alliance (CTLDA) grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education has augmented The University of Texas at Austin Principalship Program’s capacity to develop leadership through area partnerships. Our main partners include Austin Independent School District (ISD) and Pflugerville ISD as well as partnerships with state and regional agencies. We even have discovered partnerships within our own university with the recently formed Division of Diversity and Community Engagement (DDCE).
     
      In the past three years, we have accomplished the program goals set out in our original grant application and have chosen to highlight two of our initiatives here: (a) Preparing Principals Through an Authentic Case Study Experience and (b) Program Evaluation and Alignment.
     
      Authentic Case Study Experience: Most of our principalship students enter the program as teachers, traditionally an isolated, solitary position, and consequently view schools through a classroom perspective. Our introductory summer includes a Transition Camp weekend before classes begin in June. During the Transition Camp, cohort members meet, mingle, discuss readings, and begin the process of becoming a community of learners.

      During the first few weeks of the summer program, cohort students conduct a case study of an area school, designing the study to uncover the climate of the school as well as areas of strength and targets for improvement. Through semi-structured interviews with administrators, teachers, staff, parents, and community members, students learn the value of listening deeply to all stakeholders. After collaboratively analyzing the data and determining themes, students explore research to offer suggestions on how the school can address identified issues. As the culminating activity of the course, a collectively prepared report is presented to the principal, district supervisor, staff, and community members.
     
      The case study serves two critical functions:
      1.It is purposefully student driven—from planning the interviews to assigning tasks and setting deadlines—and thus cohort students take ownership of their own learning while working interdependently to achieve common goals.

      2. The experience and knowledge gained through working as a collaborative team while viewing a school through different lenses creates a shift in perspective, thereby enabling cohort students to view the campus through a school-level lens.
     
      To be inclusive of all community members, this year’s report and presentation were translated into Spanish. Both the English and Spanish versions of the report are available on our Web site at www.utprincipalship.org.

Program Evaluation and Alignment: While we have established a proud tradition of school leadership preparation for over 50 years, we must conduct ongoing evaluation in order to continue to develop leaders who create school environments that support excellence for all. We are involved in several areas of self-review at this time, including alignment of our current courses to the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) Standards, an Impact Evaluation funded by the U.S. Department of Education, and additional data generated internally.
     
      The process of aligning our course content to the ISLLC Standards has had an excellent, unintended consequence of increased communication between the several departments that support principalship program courses. Faculty members have shared syllabi and reading lists and even have connected assignments from one course to the next. As a result of this process, we are adding additional program requirements, including a Capstone project that will build on the school case study (see above) and development of a professional portfolio. Artifacts included in the portfolio will serve as tangible evidence of leadership knowledge and skills when students seek future educational leadership opportunities.
           
      We look forward to receiving the final report from the Impact Evaluation being completed on the efficacy of our program from the perspective of recent graduates serving as campus principals. Internal program reviews are also underway, utilizing surveys with past and current students, mentor feedback, interview data from focus groups with entry-year administrators, and input from area superintendents. Cumulative findings from these external and internal reviews will be incorporated into future principalship program offerings and departmental strategic plans.
     
      Overview of Accomplishments: The following table provides a summary of statistics on leadership preparation activities we have delivered with CTLDA grant support.

     
      In closing, The University of Texas at Austin Principalship Program wishes to thank the U.S. Department of Education for the support received to accomplish these goals. We look forward to sustaining and expanding our work in leadership development in the coming years.