APS and UNM Collaborate to Develop Impactful School Principals.
It’s hard to overstate the impact a principal can have at a school.
Effective principals play a crucial role in establishing a school culture in which students and families feel welcomed, teachers are valued and innovation is celebrated. They set high academic expectations, motivate students and staff to reach goals and intervene when something isn’t working.
Recognizing the vital role a principal plays in the success of a school, Albuquerque Public Schools and the University of New Mexico College of Education and Human Sciences have partnered for the last 15 years on a program that trains APS teachers to become school and district leaders.
It's called the Alliance for Leading and Learning Principal Preparation Program, and for school leaders like Michele Torres, it’s made all the difference.
“If you’re interested in educational leadership, this is the best route to take,” said Torres, who went through the program, became principal of West Mesa High School and now mentors aspiring principals. “You learn the ins and outs of actually being a principal. It’s not just about sitting at your desk. It’s getting out. It’s working with people.”
Jonathan Saiz, an assistant superintendent at APS, is also a product of the principal training program. Saiz, who now helps run the program, said it has produced phenomenal school leaders over the years.
How it works
The innovative yearlong program – funded, in part, through a grant from the state Public Education Department – provides aspiring principals with a paid residency, expert mentors and a clear path to licensure.
It’s open to those who have at least five years of teaching experience, including at least three years at APS. To qualify, APS employees must have a Master’s degree and a Level IIIA teaching license and be committed to applying for a principal or assistant principal position after they complete the program.
Participants continue to earn their APS salary while going through the program. The curriculum is co-developed by UNM faculty and APS principals.
A key component is the real-world experience participants receive by working hand-in-hand with APS principals for a year. Aspiring principals are immersed in daily school operations. They assist with teacher development and work on enhancing school performance and bolstering systems for student achievement.
While the program has been around for 15 years, it has evolved. Just last year, it became a full-year residency.
Lessons from Harvard
The latest cohort of aspiring APS principals has nine members. On a recent summer day, their guest lecturer was Sarah Edith Fiarman, with the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Appearing virtually, Fiarman told the class she considers the principal position a linchpin role for improving student learning. While she’s now considered an authority on educational leadership, she initially didn’t think of herself as a leader.
“I had this notion that leaders wore blazers,” she joked. “For me and a lot of other leaders, there’s this sense that leadership is something that other people do.”
Fiarman said she had to work to reframe how she saw leaders, and part of that evolution was taking stock of her talents.
“I know how to build community and make people feel safe,” she told the class. “... I’m a facilitator of learning. That’s what my school community needed from me. I’m supporting everyone to learn and grow.”
Among the questions aspiring principals had was how to strike a balance between ensuring that teachers feel heard and that their voices are being honored while also maintaining accountability.
Fiarman said she doesn’t subscribe to the top-down approach to leadership.
“One of the things I was most proud of in a survey that an outside consulting group did was that my staff was unified around the sense that I had high expectations for student learning at our school,” she said. “So everyone knew that was my purpose in being a leader. That was what was going to drive all of (my) decisions.”
She said that’s what she focused on in team meetings, evaluations and all of her other interactions with staff.
“I saw my goal as not making them do something to have that outcome, but instead, if somebody’s resisting, I need to … try to understand what is this person’s story – where is this resistance from and have the humility to believe that there are things I may not be seeing,” she said. “It’s not going to change my goal about what our outcomes are, but it might change how I approach things.”
Fiarman’s take on leadership resonated with the class.
“I’m really excited about learning more about the building community part, the building the trust part and how you get it all going,” said Jeanett Jimenez, a second grade teacher in the program.
For more information on the Alliance for Leadership and Learning program, visit the ALL pag