Education Schools Project

Report #1
Educating School Leaders
March 2005

This report—the first in a series of policy papers on the education of educators—offers a candid, no-holds-barred analysis of the university-based programs that educate the vast majority of the nation's school principals and superintendents.

Of the roughly 250,000 school administrators currently employed in the United States, nearly all were trained at schools of education, mostly in programs devoted to educational administration. Over the last 15 years, however, those programs—currently numbering more than 600—have faced a steady stream of criticism, their reputations have plummeted, and their hold over the licensure of administrators has begun to loosen, as districts and states explore alternative forms of recruitment and training.

Drawing from a four-year study of leadership programs at schools of education across the country, this report provides new insights into the ways in which those programs operate, the incentives that drive them, and the steps that must be taken if they are to improve.