Time magazine and other national media have recently featured the work of a program called "New Leaders for New Schools," which is preparing 15 people to become school principals. This is most certainly a valuable activity and it deserves commendation if, in fact, the 15 people do someday turn out to be not only principals but good principals. Of course, we won't know the answer to that question for several years.
Meanwhile, completely unnoticed by the national media, the New York City public school system has launched a startlingly effective program that is training nearly 400 new principals. Although not usually known in recent years for its innovative programs, the NYC schools are sponsoring a principal development effort whose purpose is to improve and retain its newest principals, those who have been on the job for two years or less.
Its founder and leader, Mary Butz, is a 33-year veteran of the NYC school system who previously created her own small public high school (Manhattan Village Academy). Invited last fall by Chancellor Harold O. Levy to tackle the problem of training new principals, Butz designed an innovative program that got off the ground this past spring and summer.
First, she selected a corps of 40 experienced principals who are known as "the Distinguished Faculty." These 40 became mentors for nearly 400 newly assigned principals.
During the spring, mentors and mentees exchanged visits and worked through the complexities of running an urban public school. In July, the Distinguished Faculty conducted two weeks of workshops for the new principals, focusing on real-time issues such as data analysis, budgeting, curriculum, school safety, and other hands-on matters that principals confront on a daily basis.
This fall, the number of new principals will expand to nearly 500 as old hands retire from the school system. The professional development program will continue this year, and new principals now know that they have a senior colleague who will help them when they need it. The reward for the Distinguished Faculty who have participated is the collegiality that they have gained as well as the opportunity to help those who will follow them in the school system.
Everyone involved in this program has been enthusiastic about what has been accomplished in a short period of time with a minimal budget. Butz, who is a friend of mine, knows how lonely principals are and how much they need someone to turn to for help who is not evaluating their performance. Her ability to shape this initiative in a matter of months, within a bureaucracy not known for speed or compassion, has been a minor miracle.
Perhaps more important, Mary Butz has developed a national model that every school district should be encouraged to borrow. She can be reached at the NYC Board of Education at 718-935-3058.
Education journalist Jay Mathews also touches on how to get more good principals in "Good Principals Keep Good Teachers," by Jay Mathews, WashingtonPost.com, August 14, 2001, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9394-2001Aug14.html
