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A new breed of school principals is the goal of UL's new Educational Leadership master's program.
The program, created in collaboration with local school districts, trains prospective principals to be more than the managers of their school. It focuses, instead, on their ability to impact student learning.
A key approach, the program believes, is effectively analyzing student achievement data and turning that analysis into positive action.
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080806/NEWS01/808060309" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>
Cody Daigle •
cdaigle@theadvertiser.com • August 6, 2008
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"In the past, someone might have said, 'We have poor kids and need help with reading.' " said Nathan Roberts, a UL education professor. "The response would often be, 'How do you know?' Now, they have the data and have something to back it up."
UL has also partnered with local school systems to identify those individuals who would be good candidates for the program. That partnership has also created field experience opportunities for students in the program.
By working together, a pathway has been created for future vacancies in administration to be filled by graduates of the program.
The Education Leadership program comes on the heels of a shortfall of professionals throughout Louisiana in key areas, including education.
Governor Bobby Jindal has made strengthening Louisiana's workforce a top priority of his administration. In response, the University of Louisiana System Board committed to create 2,400 new graduates per year by 2012 in education, business, engineering and health care.
The Education Leadership program fits into that commitment.
Eddie Palmer, dean of UL's graduate school, said one of the goals of the graduate school as the university moves ahead is to create more programs, like Educational Leadership, focused on the creation of professionals.
Palmer calls the idea "reverse engineering" -creating programs with the end result in mind, and working backwards in developing the best way to train for that end.
"Programs like these meet a need in the community," Palmer said. "And they in turn meet the needs of the university. That kind of balanced approach is good for everyone."
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