Expansion and replication of successful charter schools is paramount to the progression of the charter movement, but sustainable growth is reliant on the sector’s ability to produce effective leaders from within. With more than 5,000 charter schools, the sector needs thousands of effective leaders to replace those in unproductive or mediocre schools and more to expand high-performing schools. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools estimates the sector will need as many as 21,000 new school leaders in the next decade. Clearly, there is a bottleneck to the flow of charter growth: a national shortage of transformational school leaders.
In the September issue of Charter Schools Insider, consultant and former KIPP Houston President Duncan McCrann examines the shortfall of school leadership and where the next effective leaders will come from.
Although there are leadership development programs available through some universities and nonprofit organizations, they can be expensive and are simply not capable of developing enough skilled leaders fast enough to meet the expected demand.
In light of the supply-and-demand problem, some CEOs of high-performing charter schools or networks are designing their own internal leadership pipelines. McCrann says the programs run the spectrum of sophistication, intentionality and organization. Generally, there are four main components to many school leadership development programs: experiential learning, classroom curriculum, new school business plan and coaching.
In his article, McCrann discusses these components, as well as other issues that affect a school’s ability to create “home grown” transformational school leaders, including the size of the pipeline to support growth and vacancies, codifying a school’s culture, identifying core competencies for success, the need for tiers of development for including potential leadership candidates, and the selection process.
To read the article in its entirety, please download the September issue of Charter Schools Insider.
