(1) The program
requires that a candidate who completes a school principal, supervisor, and
curriculum director educational leadership preparation program understands and
demonstrates the capacity to promote the current and future success and
well-being of each student and adult by applying the knowledge, skills, and
commitments necessary to:
(a)
collaboratively lead, design, and implement a school mission, vision, and
process for continuous improvement that reflects a core set of values and
priorities that include data use, technology, supports for each student's
learning needs, diversity, digital citizenship, and community. Successful
candidates understand and demonstrate the capacity to:
(i) collaboratively evaluate, develop, and communicate a school
mission and vision designed to reflect the core set of values and priorities,
and have knowledge of:
(A) research on the
role and importance of school mission and vision;
(B) processes for collaboratively developing
a mission and vision;
(C) processes
for developing an actionable mission and vision attentive to the core set of
values and priorities; and
(D) the
characteristics of well-written mission and vision
statements;
(ii) lead
improvement processes that include data use, design, implementation, and
evaluation, and have knowledge of:
(A)
research on school improvement;
(B)
formal processes of iterative, evidence-informed improvement;
(C) data collection, analysis, and use;
and
(D) implementation theory and
research;
(b)
understand and demonstrate the capacity to advocate for ethical decisions and
cultivate and enact professional norms. Successful candidates understand and
demonstrate the capacity to:
(i) reflect on,
communicate about, cultivate, and model professional dispositions and norms,
including fairness, integrity, transparency, trust, digital citizenship,
collaboration, perseverance, reflection, and lifelong learning, that support
the educational success and well-being of each student and adult, and have
knowledge of:
(A) professional norms,
including integrity, competency, fairness, transparency, trust, supports for
each student's learning needs, democracy, digital citizenship, diversity,
inclusiveness, and the belief that each child can learn, which support student
success and well-being;
(B)
practices that reflect professional norms;
(C) approaches to cultivating professional norms in others;
and
(D) reflective
practice;
(ii) evaluate,
communicate about, and advocate for ethical and legal decisions, and have
knowledge of research on decision making; decision-making processes; and
guidelines for ethical and legal decision making; and
(iii) model ethical behavior in their
personal conduct and relationships and to cultivate ethical behavior in others,
and have knowledge of ethical practice and approaches to cultivating ethical
behavior in others;
(c)
develop and maintain a supportive, equitable, culturally responsive, and
inclusive school culture. Successful candidates understand and demonstrate the
capacity to:
(i) use data to evaluate,
design, cultivate, and advocate for a supportive and inclusive school culture,
and have knowledge of:
(A) dimensions of
positive school culture (e.g., safe, healthy, caring, responsive, inclusive,
and respectful);
(B) research on
inclusive school culture;
(C)
processes for evaluating school culture;
(D) processes for effecting changes to school culture;
and
(E) engaging in advocacy for
all students, including American Indians and tribes of
Montana;
(ii) evaluate,
cultivate, and advocate for equitable access to educational resources,
technologies, and opportunities that support the educational success and
well-being of each student, and have knowledge of:
(A) research on the importance to student success of equitable use
of educational resources and opportunities;
(B) equitable allocation of educational resources, procedures, and
opportunities (e.g., materials, technologies, media, teachers, social and
behavioral supports, interventions, and adult relationships); and
(C) broader social, cultural, and political
context for the equitable access to and use of educational resources,
procedures, and opportunities to develop the full educational potential and
well-being of each person through our public schools;
(iii) evaluate, cultivate, and advocate for
equitable, inclusive, and culturally responsive instruction and behavioral
support practices among teachers and staff, and have knowledge of:
(A) leadership strategies related to Montana
Indian Education for All, including the Essential Understandings Regarding
Montana Indians;
(B) culturally
responsive instructional and behavior support practices that recognize the
distinct and unique cultural heritage of the American Indians and tribes in
Montana;
(C) characteristics and
foundations of equitable educational practice, especially among teachers and
staff;
(D) research on implications
for students of equitable, culturally responsive, and inclusive practices;
and
(E) broader social, cultural,
and political context and concerns, including those unique to American Indians
and tribes of Montana;
(d) evaluate, develop, and implement coherent systems of
curriculum, instruction, data systems, supports, and assessment. Successful
candidates understand and demonstrate the capacity to:
(i) evaluate, develop, and implement high-quality, technologically
rich curricula, programs, and other supports for academic and non-academic
student programs, and have knowledge of:
(A)
research on the leadership of academic and non-academic programs;
(B) approaches to coordinating curricula,
instructional technologies, and other supports with academic and non-academic
systems;
(C) evidence-based
curricula, use of technology, and other supports for academic and non-academic
programs; and
(D) infrastructures
for the ongoing support of academic and non-academic
programs;
(ii) evaluate,
develop, and implement high-quality and equitable academic and non-academic
instructional practices, resources, technologies, and services that support
student learning, digital literacy, and the school's academic and non-academic
systems, and have knowledge of:
(A)
evidence-based instructional practices for different student populations,
including American Indians and tribes of Montana;
(B) curricula, educational technologies, and
other educational resources that support digital literacy among students and
adults;
(C) educational service
providers; and
(D) approaches to
coordinating resources and services in support of the school's academic and
non-academic services;
(iii) evaluate, develop, and implement formal and informal
culturally responsive and accessible assessments that support data-informed
instructional improvement and student learning and well-being, and have
knowledge of:
(A) research on effective
assessment of student learning and well-being;
(B) research on assessment practices that are culturally
responsive and accessible for each student;
(C) formative and summative measures of student learning and
well-being; and
(D) approaches to
coordinating among assessments, instructional improvement, and educational
service delivery;
(iv)
collaboratively evaluate, develop, and implement the school's curriculum,
instruction, technology, data systems, and assessment practices in a coherent,
equitable, and systematic manner, and have knowledge of:
(A) appropriate and ethical use of data to monitor and
continuously improve the school's curriculum, instruction technology, and
assessment practices;
(B) research
on the coordination of academic and non-academic services and its impact on
student learning and well-being;
(C) approaches and strategies for building a coherent and
equitable system of academic and non-academic services; and
(D) approaches and strategies for supporting
faculty collaboration;
(e) engage families, community, and school personnel in order to
strengthen student learning, support school improvement, and advocate for the
needs of their school and community. Successful candidates understand and
demonstrate the capacity to:
(i)
collaboratively engage diverse families in strengthening student learning in
and out of school, and have knowledge of:
(A) research on the role of families in supporting student
learning in and out of school;
(B)
research on student and family diversity; and
(C) strategies for understanding and cultivating relationships
with families and engaging them in their children's
education;
(ii)
collaboratively engage and cultivate relationships with diverse community
members, partners, and other constituencies for the benefit of school
improvement and student development, and have knowledge of:
(A) school organizational cultures that
promote community engagement, including American Indians and tribes of
Montana;
(B) research on how
community members, partners, and other constituencies can support school
improvement and student success;
(C) collaboration methods to develop and sustain productive
relationships with diverse community partners; and
(D) practices for accessing and integrating
external resources into the school;
(iii) communicate through oral, written, and digital means with
the larger organizational, community, and political context when advocating for
the needs of their school and community, and have knowledge of:
(A) research on the importance and
implications of social, cultural, economic, legal, and political
contexts;
(B) strategies for
effective oral, written, and digital communication with members of the
organization, community, and policy communities; and
(C) educational policy and advocacy for all
students, including American Indians and tribes of
Montana;
(f)
improve management, communication, technology, school-level governance, and
operation systems to develop and improve data-informed and equitable school
resource plans and to apply laws, policies, and regulations. Successful
candidates understand and demonstrate the capacity to:
(i) evaluate, develop, and implement systems that support each
student's learning needs and promote the mission and vision of the school, and
have knowledge of:
(A) research on school
management, operations, use of technologies, communication, and governance
systems;
(B) principles of systems
management and continuous improvement;
(C) management theories on the effective use of school resources
and structures (e.g., school time and schedules) to achieve equitable outcomes
for diverse student populations;
(D) processes for developing and implementing management,
communication, technology, school-level governance, and operation systems;
and
(E) use of technology to
enhance learning and program management;
(ii) evaluate, develop, and advocate for a
data-informed and equitable resourcing plan that supports school improvement
and student development, and have knowledge of:
(A) school-based budgeting;
(B) strategies for acquiring resources;
(C) processes for gathering, synthesizing,
and evaluating data to develop and implement management, communication,
school-level governance, and operation systems;
(D) strategies for aligning and allocating resources according to
school priorities and student needs;
(E) methods and procedures for managing school resources;
and
(F) Montana school
finance;
(iii)
reflectively evaluate, communicate about, and implement laws, rights, policies,
and regulations to promote student and adult success and well-being, and have
knowledge of:
(A) laws, rights, policies, and
regulations enacted by state, local, and federal authorities that affect
schools, students, and adults, including Montana school law and special
education law;
(B) implications of
laws, rights, policies, and regulations for diverse student populations,
subgroups, and communities, including tribal laws and regulations;
(C) research on emerging challenges such as
privacy, social media, cyber-bullying, and safety; and
(D) the role of collective bargaining
agreements;
(g) build the school's professional capacity, engage staff in the
development of a collaborative professional culture, and improve systems of
staff supervision, evaluation, support, and professional learning. Successful
candidates understand and demonstrate the capacity to:
(i) collaboratively develop the school's professional capacity
through engagement in recruiting, selecting, and hiring staff, and have
knowledge of:
(A) research on teacher
recruitment, hiring, and selection;
(B) best practices for recruiting, selecting, and hiring school
staff; and
(C) strategic staffing
based on student, school, and staff needs;
(ii) develop and engage staff in a
collaborative professional culture designed to promote school improvement,
teacher retention, and the success and well-being of each student and adult in
the school, and have knowledge of:
(A)
research-based strategies for developing a collaborative professional culture
designed to support improvement, retention, learning, and well-being;
(B) effective communication; and
(C) the role of relationships, trust, and
well-being in the development of a healthy and effective professional
culture;
(iii) personally
engage in, as well as collaboratively engage school staff in, professional
learning designed to promote reflection, cultural responsiveness, distributed
leadership, digital literacy, school improvement, and student success, and have
knowledge of:
(A) research on teacher
professional learning;
(B)
practices for supporting and developing school staff;
(C) practices for cultivating and
distributing leadership among staff;
(D) providing professional learning that promotes reflection,
cultural responsiveness, digital literacy, school improvement, and student
success; and
(E) how to use digital
technology in ethical and appropriate ways to foster professional learning for
self and others;
(iv)
evaluate, develop, and implement systems of supervision, support, and
evaluation designed to promote school improvement and student success, and have
knowledge of:
(A) research-based strategies
for personnel supervision and evaluation;
(B) importance of, and the ability to access, specific personnel
evaluation procedures for a given context;
(C) multiple approaches for providing actionable feedback and
support systems for teachers; and
(D) the role of collective bargaining agreements in the
supervision process.