PRINCIPAL PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION PROGRAM

The Educational Leadership Principal Professional Certification Program has as its goals to assist promising school leaders in:

- developing the vision and acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary to renew and improve schools;

- developing a critical, reflective practice approach to the challenges of school leadership, including the ability to reflect on, in, and about educational practice;

- adopting a career-long, developmental learning approach to one's own professional growth and renewal, and modeling this professional learning approach to others.

Program objectives:

Principal candidates in the Educational Leadership Principal Professional Certification Program will develop and demonstrate:

- professional expertise in the management and organizational leadership of preK-12 schools;

- a commitment to the overall educational development and best interests of children;

- a commitment to diverse populations;

- a commitment to the democratic value of pluralism;

- interpersonal competence;

- moral-ethical understandings;

- knowledge in the areas of curriculum, teaching, and learning;

- knowledge regarding school change and improvement processes;

- the ability to develop open communication processes and structures for school staff and community members;

- appreciation for collaborative, reflective thinking and decision making by encouraging professional involvement and growth of others;

- a propensity for action supported by critical, reflective inquiry and pedagogical expertise; and

- the ability to accept responsibility for the outcomes of their own professional decisions as well as the actions of their staff members.