A new state program to begin this fall will offer people an alternative route to public school leadership, allowing those who have strong management skills but perhaps no classroom experience to serve three-year "residencies" as vice principals before becoming eligible to apply to be principals.
In theory, program participants could be business executives or nonprofit managers, with no background in education. Officials say the program will also be open to school-level personnel, such as psychologists, who are currently ineligible for principal certification because they haven’t been teachers.
In the current system, someone seeking certification as a principal must have at least five years of school-level experience, including three in the classroom.
However, new rules that allow another way to certification were approved by the Board of Education this month and will go to Gov. Neil Abercrombie for his signature by July.
After final approval the Department of Education is expected to begin accepting applications for the program.
The alternative certification is seen as one way to build the pool of school leaders, as the department fears an increase in the number of principals retiring over the next decade. So far, that exodus has not materialized, but some worry that more principals eligible for retirement could leave.
BECOMING A PRINCIPAL
The state is planning to open an alternative route to principal certification in the fall aimed at attracting leaders inside and outside the education sector. Twelve candidates are expected to be selected for the first group.
The state said an eligible candidate must:
» Have at least three years of qualitative leadership experience.
» Be able to document leadership experience through a portfolio, résumé, interviews and written recommendations.
» Hold a master’s degree.
» Be willing to work three years as a vice principal before being eligible to apply for a principal’s job.
Source: State Department of Education
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IN THE 2009-10 school year, 83 of Hawaii’s 265 public school principals were eligible to retire. Only 22 did.
Twenty-five vice principals were eligible but only four retired.
Donna Lum Kagawa, administrator for the department’s professional development and educational research institute, said the sheer number of school leaders who are eligible to retire is reason enough for the department to bolster the pipeline of qualified vice principals and principals.
"This is a cutting-edge alternative to increase the pool of candidates to fill needs," Kagawa said. "It needs to begin with a very rigorous screening process so we can really attract the people with the highest potential for leadership."
The alternative certification project will start out small, in part because the department will need to place candidates in vacant vice principal positions. The department expects to limit enrollment over the first two years of the program to about 24 candidates.
The program will be paid for with about $1 million in federal Race to the Top funds, which will go to pay for course work and mentoring for candidates.
After a brief introduction to the program, participants will assume the responsibilities of vice principals. While they are learning on the job, they will also take courses covering topics such as high-quality instruction, personnel management and school turnaround practices.
The current route to a principal’s job is through the Administrator Certification for Excellence program administered by the department, which is open only to people with teaching experience. The two-year, on-the-job program places candidates in vice principal positions at schools.
About 99 people applied for the program this year, and 54 were accepted.
Hawaii pledged to provide another way for certifying principals in its application for a $75 million federal Race to the Top grant. Under the grant, awarded in August 2010, the state is also setting up alternative certification programs for teachers, which are set to begin this fall.
At least 16 states besides Hawaii offer some type of alternative principal certifications, according to the Education Commission of the States, and that number is expected to rise given federal support for attracting new types of leaders to schools.
NATIONALLY, however, there has been some criticism of principal certification programs that do not require applicants to have a background in education. Critics question how such principals can lead the instructional practices in their school and evaluate teachers if they have never taught.
Kagawa said the state recognizes that applicants without education backgrounds "will not be as grounded in terms of the instructional expertise." But, she said, that’s where taking courses and intensive mentoring comes in. She added, "We are calling upon the principal to be that role model" for participants.
There has been little opposition to the plan locally.
NO ONE testified against it at a hearing in April on proposed regulations allowing for alternative certification. Nine people supported the plan.
Among them was Zach DiIonno, a third-year University of Hawaii law student. DiIonno, who also taught for three years at Ilima Middle School, said the program could help relieve chronic shortages for leaders at hard-to-staff schools and attract pioneering thinkers.
DiIonno got into the classroom through Teach for America, a national program that offers an alternative way for teacher licensing by placing candidates directly into a teaching position as part of a two-year commitment.
DiIonno said alternative principal certification is overdue, but added that the application process needs to be tough and candidate accountability high.
"It’s just offering another avenue," he said.
