(a) To receive approval,
a GaPSC-approved EPP shall offer Tier I and Tier II Educational Leadership
preparation programs described in program planning forms, catalogs, syllabi,
and on websites conforming to the following Georgia Educational Leadership
Standards, which are adapted from the Professional Standards for Educational
Leaders (PSEL) published in 2015 by the National Policy Board for Educational
Administration. The elements accompanying the standards are adapted from PSEL
Standards. Although programs shall be designed upon the PSEL Standards and as
required by GaPSC Rule
505-3-.01, the Teacher Assessment on
Performance Standards (TAPS) in relation to instructional leadership (see GaPSC
Rule 505-3-.01
paragraph (e) 3. (i)), EPPs are advised to consider additional standards in
developing program curricula and clinical experiences at the appropriate level
(Tier I or Tier II), such as the Learning Forward Standards for Professional
Learning, Georgia Teacher Leadership Standards (GaPSC Rule
505-3-.72 TEACHER LEADERSHIP PROGRAM),
the Model Principal Supervisor Standards, and the evaluation standards
comprising the Georgia Teacher Keys Effectiveness System (TKES) and the Georgia
Leader Keys Effectiveness System (LKES), and the standards delineated in GaPSC
Rule 505-3-.03,
FOUNDATIONS OF READING, LITERACY, AND LANGUAGE. GaPSC and Georgia Department of
Education (GaDOE) rules are often focused on implementation of such standards;
candidates shall complete preparation programs prepared to implement programs
and processes that address such standards. Professional learning as described
in the GaPSC certificate renewal rule (GaPSC Rule
505-2-.36 RENEWAL REQUIREMENTS) and
continuous improvement as described in GaDOE rules and processes shall be
addressed in the leadership preparation curriculum and clinical experiences.
The elements accompanying the standards inform and support the practice of the
educational leader by illustrating some, but not all, leadership practices that
define the standards in practice. Programs will be assessed at the standard
level. The
Guidelines for EPPs: Georgia Tier I and Tier II
Performance-Based Educational Leadership Programs accompanying this
rule provide direction and other resources to support development of quality
leadership preparation programs. Effective leaders:
1.
Develop, advocate, and enact a
shared mission, vision, and core values of high-quality education and academic
success and well-being of each student. Education leaders build
consensus among all stakeholders to develop an educational mission, vision, and
core values of what students should know and do as a consequence of their
schooling, as well as what it means for students to become well-adjusted,
contributing members of society. Building such a vision supported by core
values can require reconciling possibly competing perspectives among all
members of the school community. Based on this vision, leaders work with school
and community members to establish the school's mission, and to plan,
implement, monitor, and evaluate impact to promote continuous and sustainable
improvement. Effective leaders:
(i) Using
relevant data and in collaboration with school and community members, develop
an educational mission, vision, and
statement of core values for the school to promote student success and
well-being.
(ii) In collaboration
with members of the school and the community and using relevant data, develop
and promote a vision for student success and well-being by articulating,
advocating, and cultivating core values that define the school's culture, and
stress the imperative of child-centered education; high expectations and
student support; fair access, opportunity, and advancement for all students;
openness, caring, and trust; and continuous improvement.
(iii) Utilize best practices to strategically
identify, implement, and evaluate actions to achieve the vision, mission, and
core values for the school.
(iv)
Ensure core values support processes and procedures that allow all students
access to the most effective teachers and an instructional program that will
ensure they are college and career ready.
(v) Develop a systematic, inclusive, and
comprehensive process to review, revise, and communicate the school's mission,
vision, and core values, and respond to
changing expectations and opportunities for the school, and changing needs and
situations of students.
(vi)
Develop shared understanding of and commitment to mission, vision, and core
values within the school and the community.
(vii) Monitor communications and actions to
build and sustain school and community alignment with the shared vision,
mission, and core values.
(viii)
Model and pursue the school's mission, vision, and core values in all aspects
of leadership.
2.
Act ethically and according to professional norms to promote each
student's academic success and well-being. Educational leaders are
professionals who ensure personnel are equipped with professional understanding
of the school's mission and the professional norms that must be followed to
ensure student success and well-being. Leaders have an understanding of ethical
principles to guide actions and decision-making, which must be within the
boundaries of professional practice. Leaders foster the development of a school
culture that nurtures understanding of professional conduct and ethics, and
have a professional responsibility to take an intentional approach to ensure
not only regulatory enforcement, but also ethics education, outreach, and
prevention. Effective leaders:
(i) Act
ethically and professionally in personal conduct, relationships with others,
decision-making, stewardship of the school's resources, and all aspects of
school leadership.
(ii) Act
according to and promote the professional norms of integrity, fairness,
transparency, trust, collaboration, perseverance, learning, and continuous
improvement.
(iii) Place children
at the center of education and accept responsibility for each student's
academic success and well-being.
(iv) Safeguard and promote the values of
democracy, individual freedom and responsibility, and fairness.
(v) Lead with interpersonal and communication
skill, social-emotional insight, and understanding of all students' and staff
members' backgrounds and cultures.
(vi) Provide moral direction for the school
and promote ethical and professional behavior among faculty and
staff.
3.
Strive for fairness of educational opportunity and responsive
practices to promote each student's academic success and
well-being. Education leaders create a school culture that values
learner differences. Students are known, accepted, valued, and empowered to
reach their full potential. The school's culture supports a climate in which
students are healthy, safe, and supported. The culture defines high
expectations, encourages trust, and expects all to be responsible participants;
as a result, all students thrive. Effective leaders:
(i) Ensure that each student feels a sense of
belonging, is treated fairly and respectfully, and is accepted and valued as an
active member of the school community.
(ii) Recognize, respect, and employ each
student's strengths, differences, and culture as assets for teaching and
learning.
(iii) Analyze data to
ensure that each student has equitable access to effective teachers, learning
opportunities, academic and social support, and other resources needed for
college/career readiness.
(iv)
Develop and communicate expectations and codes of conduct to address student
behavior in a positive, and fair manner.
(v) Eliminate barriers associated with race,
class, culture and language, gender and sexual orientation, and disability or
special status.
(vi) Utilize a
variety of strategies to examine and address assumptions and beliefs that may
conflict with vision, mission, core values, and goals.
(vii) Incorporate knowledge of the social,
cultural, leadership, and political dynamics of the school community to
cultivate a positive academic learning environment.
(viii) Promote the preparation of students to
live productively in and contribute to the varied cultural contexts of a global
society.
(ix) Act with cultural
competence and responsiveness in their interactions, decision making, and
practice.
4.
Develop and support intellectually rigorous and coherent systems of
curriculum, instruction, and assessment to promote each student's academic
success and well-being. Effective educational leaders develop and
support intellectually rigorous and coherent systems of curriculum,
instruction, and assessment to maximize each student's growth and learning.
Education leaders promote the use of rigorous curricula, which set high
expectations for students and are aligned to academic standards. They seek to
maximize student learning through authentic and differentiated pedagogy,
systems of support, and effective assessment strategies that inform
instruction. They develop and coordinate these systems in ways that create
opportunities to personalize the academic program to meet individual student
needs. The effectiveness of implementation and the impact of these systems on
student learning are evaluated. Effective leaders:
(i) Promote the mission, vision, and core
values of the school, embody high expectations for student learning, and align
curriculum, instruction, and assessment with academic standards that are
responsive to the needs of all learners.
(ii) Align and focus systems of curriculum,
instruction, and assessment within and across grade levels to promote student
academic success, love of learning, the identities and habits of learners, and
healthy sense of self.
(iii)
Promote instructional and assessment practice that is consistent with knowledge
of learning, learner growth and development, effective pedagogy, and the needs
of each student.
(iv) Guide the
selection and implementation of evidence-based teaching strategies, curricular
materials, educational technologies, and other resources appropriate to address
diverse all student populations.
(v) Ensure instructional practice that is
intellectually challenging, authentic to student experiences, aligned to
student strengths, and is differentiated and personalized.
(vi) Collaboratively model and promote with
all stakeholders a culture of high expectations for all students.
(vii) Promote the effective use of
technology.
(viii) Employ valid
assessments that are consistent with knowledge of child learning and
development and technical standards of measurement.
(ix) Monitor and evaluate the use of
diagnostic, formative, and summative assessment to provide timely and accurate
feedback to students and parents, and to inform instructional
practices.
5.
Cultivate a welcoming, caring, and supportive school community that
promotes the academic success and well-being of each student.
Education leaders build a school culture and climate that supports students
being known and valued. The learning environment is personalized so students
feel encouraged to engage with others as active learners. In such an
environment learners are willing to take chances in their learning since a
support system has been built to reinforce student learning. Effective leaders:
(i) Build and maintain a safe, caring, and
healthy school environment that meets the academic, social, emotional, and
physical needs of each student.
(ii) Create and sustain a school environment
in which each student is known, accepted and valued, trusted and respected,
cared for, and encouraged to be an active and responsible member of the school
community.
(iii) Provide coherent
systems of academic and social supports, services, extracurricular activities,
and accommodations to meet the range of learning needs of each
student.
(iv) Promote
adult-student, student-peer, and school-community relationships that value and
support academic learning and positive social and emotional
development.
(v) Cultivate and
reinforce student engagement in school and positive student conduct.
(vi) Infuse the school's learning environment
with the cultures and languages of the school's community.
6.
Develop the professional
capacity and practice of school personnel to promote each student's academic
success and well-being. Education leaders support the professional
learning of effective, caring teachers and leaders who are able to work with
students productively in the classroom and who can collaboratively lead a
school or district. Building an effective staff requires careful personnel
recruitment, selection, assignment of responsibilities, support, evaluation,
and retention. Developing the professional skills of educators involves such
activities as coaching, creating supportive conditions, and fostering a
professional learning community. Effective leaders:
(i) Recruit, hire, assign, support, develop,
and retain effective and caring teachers and other professional staff and form
them into an educationally effective faculty in an equitable manner based on
school needs, and local, state, and federal requirements.
(ii) Plan for and manage staff turnover and
succession, providing opportunities for effective induction including mentoring
of new personnel by carefully selected and trained mentors.
(iii) Develop teachers' and staff members'
professional knowledge, skills, and practice through differentiated
opportunities for learning and growth, guided by understanding of professional
and adult learning and development.
(iv) Foster continuous improvement of
individual and collective instructional capacity to achieve outcomes envisioned
for each student.
(v) Deliver
actionable feedback about instruction and other professional practice through
valid, research-anchored systems of supervision and evaluation to support the
development of teachers' and staff members' knowledge, skills, and
practice.
(vi) Empower and motivate
teachers and staff to the highest levels of professional practice and to
continuous learning and improvement.
(vii) Recognize the achievements of highly
effective teachers and others by developing the capacity, opportunities, and
support for teacher leadership and leadership from other members of the
school.
(viii) Promote the personal
and professional health, well-being, and work-life balance of faculty and
staff.
(ix) Address their own
learning and effectiveness through reflection, study and improvement,
maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
7.
Foster a professional
community of teachers and other professional staff to promote each student's
academic success and well-being. Education leaders promote each
student's academic success and well-being by creating and supporting a
professional community of teachers. Building a community of teachers and other
professional staff includes creating effective workplace conditions, promoting
collective engagement and responsibility, and mutual accountability. Creating
professional communities of teachers and other professional staff includes
job-embedded opportunities that promote collaborative examination of practice
and focuses on improvement of programs and practices. Effective leaders:
(i) Foster supportive workplace conditions
for teachers and other professional staff that promote effective professional
development, practice, and student learning.
(ii) Empower and entrust teachers and staff
with collective responsibility for meeting the academic, social, emotional, and
physical needs of each student, pursuant to the mission, vision, and core
values of the school.
(iii)
Establish and sustain a professional culture of engagement and commitment to
shared vision, goals, and objectives pertaining to the education of the whole
child; high expectations for professional work; ethical and equitable practice;
trust and open communication; collaboration, collective efficacy, and
continuous individual and organizational learning and improvement.
(iv) Promote mutual accountability among
teachers and other professional staff for each student's success and the
effectiveness of the school as a whole.
(v) Develop and support open, productive,
caring, and trusting working relationships among leaders, faculty, and staff to
promote professional capacity and the improvement of practice.
(vi) Design and implement job-embedded and
other opportunities for professional learning collaboratively with faculty and
staff.
(vii) Provide roles,
structures, opportunities, and norms to support collaborative examination of
practice, collegial feedback, and collective learning.
(viii) Encourage faculty-initiated
improvement of programs and practices.
(ix) Use data, including student performance
data, to evaluate the impact professional learning has on the faculty and
staff, the school/district, and student learning.
8.
Engage families and the
community in meaningful, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial ways to promote
each student's academic success and well-being. Education leaders
build and sustain productive relationships with families and other community
partners in the government, non-profit, and private sectors. They promote
understanding, appreciation, and use of the community's cultural, social, and
intellectual resources. They communicate regularly and openly with families and
community partners, and seek their input and support for continuous improvement
efforts. Effective Leaders:
(i) Are
approachable, accessible, and welcoming to all families and community
members.
(ii) Create and sustain
positive, collaborative, and productive relationships with families and the
community for the benefit of students.
(iii) Engage in regular and open two-way
communication with families and the community about the school, students,
needs, challenges, and accomplishments.
(iv) Maintain a presence in the community to
understand its strengths and needs, develop productive relationships, and
engage its resources for the school.
(v) Create means for the school community to
partner with families to support student learning in and out of
school.
(vi) Build and sustain
mutually beneficial productive partnerships with public and private sectors to
share resources and promote school improvement and student learning.
(vii) Create an environment that values
differences, serves as a resource for families and the school community, and
welcomes family engagement in school activities.
(viii) Understand, value, and employ the
community's cultural, social, intellectual, and political resources to promote
student learning and school improvement.
(ix) Advocate publicly for the needs and
priorities of the school, district, students, families, and the
community.
(x) Work with the
community to collect and analyze data on economic, social, and other emerging
issues that impact district and school planning, programs, and
structures.
9.
Manage school operations and resources to promote each student's
academic success and well-being. Education leaders are responsible
for the effective, efficient, equitable, and ethical management of schools and
districts. Their responsibilities include garnering and allocating resources,
monitoring and addressing internal and external regulatory requirements,
developing organizational policies and practices, and other administrative
duties that maintain the continued viability of the school or district.
Effective leaders:
(i) Institute, manage, and
monitor operations and administrative systems that promote the mission and
vision of the school.
(ii)
Strategically manage staff resources, assigning and scheduling teachers and
staff to roles and responsibilities that optimize their professional capacity
to address each student's learning needs.
(iii) Seek, acquire, and manage fiscal,
physical, and other resources to support curriculum, instruction, and
assessment; student learning community; professional capacity and community;
and family and community engagement.
(iv) Are responsible, ethical, and
accountable stewards of the school's monetary and nonmonetary resources,
engaging in effective budgeting and accounting practices.
(v) Protect teachers' and other staff
members' work and learning from disruption.
(vi) Employ technology to improve the quality
and efficiency of operations and management.
(vii) Develop and maintain data and
communication systems to deliver actionable information for classroom and
school improvement.
(viii) Know,
comply with, and help the school community understand local, state, and federal
laws, rights, policies, and regulations to promote student success.
(ix) Develop and manage relationships with
feeder and connecting schools for enrollment management and curricular and
instructional articulation.
(x)
Develop and manage productive relationships with the central office and school
board.
(xi) Develop and administer
systems for fair and equitable management of conflict among students, faculty
and staff, leaders, families, and community.
(xii) Manage governance processes and
internal and external politics toward achieving the school's mission and
vision.
10.
Act as agents of continuous improvement to promote each student's
academic success and well-being. Educational leaders foster an
environment among stakeholders where data are analyzed and used to continuously
improve the academic and social success of the students, staff, and the
community of learners. Leaders ensure a systematic and collaborative process
that promotes a culture of school improvement and accountability. This plan,
do, check, act process is created with input from all stakeholders. The leader
uses current and relevant research and effectively gathers, analyzes, and
interprets student data from multiple sources to promote a shared vision for
instructional improvement that engages all stakeholders in decision-making that
drives and sustains school improvement for each student. Effective leaders are
willing to make difficult decisions and confront adverse situations to promote
student academic success and well-being. Effective leaders:
(i) Use a systematic continuous improvement
process to achieve the vision, fulfill the mission, and promote the core values
of the school.
(ii) Create a
continuous improvement culture within the school and community that promotes
mutual commitment and accountability for student success.
(iii) Develop the capacity of staff to
effectively lead strategic teams in a systematic process of school
improvement.
(iv) Employ
situationally-appropriate strategies for improvement, including
transformational and incremental, adaptive approaches and attention to
different phases of implementation.
(v) Build the capacity of staff to assess the
value and applicability of emerging educational trends and the findings of
research for school improvement.
(vi) Develop systematic processes of data
collection, management, and analysis to determine root causes and inform the
decision-making process.
(vii)
Adopt a systems perspective ensuring alignment among improvement efforts and
within all aspects of school organization, programs, and services.
(viii) Manage uncertainty, risk, competing
initiatives, and politics of change with courage and perseverance, providing
support and encouragement, and openly communicating the need for, process for,
and outcomes of improvement efforts.
(ix) Develop and promote leadership among
teachers and staff for inquiry, experimentation and innovation, and initiating
and implementing improvement.