Newsroom

Quality of Nation’s School Leadership Programs Ranges from ‘Inadequate to Appalling,’ Says Comprehensive National Report by Teachers College President Arthur Levine

Low Standards, Weak Faculty, Irrelevant Curricula Are The Norm

WASHINGTON – March 9, 2005 –The quality of most preparation programs for education leaders ranges from “inadequate to appalling,” according to a major study to be released Tuesday by the Education Schools Project.

The study—written by Arthur Levine, the president of Teachers College, Columbia University—provides an indictment of leadership programs at the nation’s education schools and offers a roadmap for improvement.

Now more than ever, the nation’s educational administration programs need to prepare high quality principals and superintendents, who can lead schools and school districts through the profound changes called for under state improvement plans and the federal No Child Left Behind legislation. More than 40 percent of principals, and an even higher percentage of superintendents, can be
expected to leave their jobs over the next decade, says the study, and this means the nation faces an urgent need to educate large numbers of highly skilled administrators.

The Education Schools Project will host a presentation of the findings by Arthur Levine and a panel discussion on the report –“Educating School Leaders” – on March 14, 2005 in the Murrow, White, and Lisagor Rooms at the National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, from 10 AM to 11 AM.

Participants include:

• Arthur Levine, president, Teachers College, Columbia University;
• Marc Tucker, president and founder, National Center on Education and the
  Economy;
• Frederick Hess, resident scholar and director of Education Policy Studies at
  American Enterprise Institute (invited);
• Mary H. Futrell, professor of education and dean, Graduate School of
  Education and Human Development, George Washington University.

The four-year study was based on an extensive national survey of deans, faculty, alumni, and principals, as well as 28 in-depth case studies of education schools. It is the first of a series of reports on the preparation of educators and of scholars in education.

To RSVP, please return the attached fax-back form or contact Koryon Kerns at (202) 955-9450 or by email at kkerns@commworksllc.com

###