Principals Excellence Program | University of Kentucky and Pike County Public Schools
Strategies for Student Success
PEP focused on diverse instructional strategies appropriate for learners at all ages. The cohort instructional team integrated a variety of strategies specifically recommended for adult learners (e.g., valuing their previous experiences, helping them recall and assess their tacit knowledge, understanding self as a unique individual and as a professional). Rather than having participants simply read and discuss ways to promote P-12 student success, the instructors modeled differentiated instructional and assessment methods (e.g., inquiry learning, individual and group activities, participant-developed presentations, field-based projects, individual and group reflection) and facilitated learning activities through questioning and debating. Professional reading and reflective writing were used throughout the year, but never lecturing. When necessary, instructors adapted the PEP curriculum to meet the learning needs of cohort members or to use leadership challenges shared by practicing principals during the opening “Nuts & Bolts” session of each seminar-workshop.
To promote linkage between practice and theory of the principal’s role as the primary instructional leader, cohorts were divided into small inquiry teams assigned to mentor principals in schools other than where they worked. Their task was to identify and investigate authentic P-12 student learning issues at their host schools. Each inquiry team completed their first study during the spring semester (January to May) in an assigned elementary school and then completed a second one the following fall semester (August to December) in an assigned secondary school. The research projects required environmental scans of contextual characteristics at the host schools, formal proposals approved by the mentor principals and district, collection and analysis of original data, reviews of appropriate literature, and written reports of findings that included recommendations for improving student learning in the host schools. PEP participants presented their findings to multiple authentic audiences using PowerPoint slides and one-page trifold handouts they created.
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Measuring Success | Program Evaluation | Obstacles
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