Program Develops Better School Leaders

˙ PREAL Blog

We are pleased to share with you information on New Leaders for New Schools (NLNS), an innovative organization dedicated to bringing about a new generation of school leaders in the USA. “More than principal training program,” they explain, “NLNS is a national movement of leaders with an unwavering commitment to ensure that every student achieves academic excellence. “ The program entails recruitment and selection of committed school leaders – former teachers and young principals, mostly – who train with “mentor principals” in urban school districts over the course of intensive management training and a year-long school residency.   

The concept was the fruit of a heralded graduate student project at Harvard Business School in 2000. Today, the group trains school leaders in 10 states, with a focus on urban centers and counts on support from both the private sector and the school districts themselves. The program is subjected to rigorous evaluation based on student outcomes, and school leaders who have graduated from the program have shown marked improvement over their peers. From discussions with NLNS staff, we have learned that groups in other countries — such as the Netherlands, Brazil, India, UK, and Israel — have begun to adapt the NLNS model for similar programs.

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