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Preparing First-Time Leaders For An Urban Public School District: An Action Research Study Of A Collaborative District-University Partnership, Juanita Cleaver Simmons, Margaret Grogan, Stacy Preis, Kristin Matthews, Sheila Smith-Anderson, Betty Porter Walls, Audrey Jackson

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This article reports the results for the first cycle of an action research study about a district-university partnership. Two district facilitators and two university facilitators co-constructed a principal preparation program for an innercity school district to help prepare the next generation of building leaders. Twenty-two students participated in the 15-month nontraditional program. The study found that in preparing first-time school leaders, the most helpful experiences were those that developed self-understanding and readiness for the role change. New instructional techniques and the full-time residency facilitated this learning. It also found that the partnership, though providing new and exciting opportunities to deviate …