About the Advancing Inclusive Principal Leadership State Initiative
CCSSO’s Advancing Inclusive Principal Leadership (AIPL) State Initiative is designed to help state education agencies develop and implement a plan to advance the preparation and practice of effective inclusive principal leadership anchored in this online guide. Through this initiative, four states—Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and Ohio—are refining their principal preparation and development efforts to ensure an intentional focus on supporting the academic and social success of each learner, with an emphasis on those with disabilities.
Arkansas
OBJECTIVE
The Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education will embed High Leverage Practices (HLPs) and inclusive leadership into existing statewide professional learning initiatives for principals and school leadership teams.
STRATEGY
Embed High Leverage Practices (HLPs) and inclusive leadership into existing statewide professional development (PD) Initiatives, including Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), Strategic Instruction Model (SIM), Reading Initiative for Student Excellence (RISE), Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), High Reliability Schools (HRS), and coaching support to advance inclusive principal leadership.
Build on the Solution Tree work in the state around professional learning communities (PLCs) and scale up professional development and coaching support for a cohort of schools with an intentional focus on High Leverage Practices (HLPs) and inclusive leadership.
Georgia
OBJECTIVE #1
The Georgia Department of Education will revisit, realign, and revise the state mandated evaluation system for leaders—Leader Keys Effectiveness System (LKES)—to ensure inclusion of behaviors and practices that specifically address meeting the needs of ALL learners including students with disabilities, English Learners, and students of poverty.
STRATEGY
Work with the Georgia Professional Standards Commission to finalize and release the Teacher Preparation Program Effectiveness Measure (TPPEM) dashboard that provides ongoing program improvement data with the goal of revising the leader evaluation system as indicated by the preparation program data.
Expand the state core team to include additional university leadership faculty to ensure preparation program impact.
Develop a state advisory comprising additional local superintendents, district central office representatives, school principals, assistant principals, and school leader associations to ensure revisions to the evaluation system are built on a foundation of stakeholder feedback.
OBJECTIVE #2
The Georgia Department of Education will develop professional learning opportunities—both face-to-face and virtual—to address the behaviors and practices critical to meeting the needs of ALL learners including students with disabilities, English Learners, and students of poverty.
STRATEGY
Review the Leader Preparation program data with the State Preparation Program Effectiveness Measure (PPEM) Advisory. Collaborate with the State PPEM Advisory to assist with the development and communication of the Leader PPEM and the accompanying dashboard over the coming year.
Expand the Professional Learning team at the Georgia Department of Education to assist with the development of virtual professional learning modules to support the AIPL work.
Mississippi
OBJECTIVE #1
By 2020, the Mississippi Department of Education will adopt Guidelines for Educator Preparation to include leadership program alignment to the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL) with an emphasis on inclusive leadership practices.
STRATEGY
Engage with the Mississippi Education Leadership Faculty Association (MELFA) to communicate new requirements to leadership preparation programs and institutions of higher education.
Revise Educational Leadership program review to include the requirement of PSEL alignment with a focus on inclusive leadership and knowledge of high-leverage practices.
OBJECTIVE #2
By fall 2020, the Mississippi Department of Education will implement a series of regionally delivered professional learning opportunities which will focus on inclusive practices and high-leverage practices for practicing district- and building-level administrators in schools identified as Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI).
STRATEGY
Develop an Access for ALL guide for school leaders to help them address issues that impact learners with a wide variety of needs.
Design a series of evidence-based professional learning sessions to include UDL, inclusive practices, culturally responsive practice, equity, and multi-tiered systems of support.
Ohio
OBJECTIVE
The Ohio Department of Education will support and disseminate a common set of standard resources aligned to inclusive principal leadership practices in a subset of priority schools.
STRATEGY
Vet, align, and complete an inventory of inclusive leadership tools aligned to the Ohio Standards for Principals which are also aligned to the Ohio strategic plan and the Ohio Improvement Process.
Create a map of tools to disseminate content to stakeholders based on common gaps, questions, and needs that is readily accessible.
Create trainings—both in person (through the State Support Teams and Educational Service Centers) and virtually—to build awareness of the tools, provide supports for matching the tools to identified needs, and assist in their navigation and use.