New Leaders for New Schools
- by Mary K. Levie, Friday, June 29th, 2007
Principal LaWanda Hill looks over her students at Caldwell Elementary. Photo courtesy of New Leaders for New Schools.
Three years ago Memphis was chosen as partner city for a cutting edge educational reform program called New Leaders for New Schools, Inc. (NLNS). The organization brings solid reform strategy and national funds into our struggling city school system.
New Leaders was born six years ago when students from the Harvard College of Education and College of Business collaborated in developing a business model for the annual Harvard business plan competition. It was the first time a nonprofit business plan had ever placed in the competition, and it marked the beginning of the organization’s great success in recruiting, training and supporting a new breed of urban school principal.
The organization brought its novel approach to education reform to Memphis in 2004. Jon Burchfield, Deputy Director of the Memphis program, says nationally about 50 percent of principals are at or nearing the age of retirement.
“You think about if you can start to recruit a new kind of leader,” says Burchfield. “We’re looking at corporate America successes and pairing that type of leadership and management with people who have been successful in motivating achievement.”
This is the philosophical core of New Leaders for New Schools - creating better school leaders who can in turn ensure high levels of academic achievement for every child. Each year candidates are selected for a one-year residency in a Memphis City School with a mentor principal.
The recruitment process is the first step in the program, and candidates are current or former educators with at least 3 years of teaching experience. About half of New Leaders come from within the school system and half come from diverse backgrounds in other companies and non-profits.
One of the main qualities looked for in potential New Leaders is a dedication to the organization’s core belief that all children from all socioeconomic backgrounds can reach high levels of academic achievement. Applicants are often nominated by people who are familiar with the NLNS program.
“I go out into the schools and meet with principals and talk with them; kind of network through them to find people that they think would be a good fit for our program,” says Burchfield.
Online applications are accepted in the fall and the spring, and from this pool candidates are selected for a first round interview where they discuss their experiences and interests as well as present a case study. This group is then whittled down for the final interview which is a full day of written assignments, one-on-one interviews, case studies, and role plays.
“It is a very, very intensive process, but by the end of that day you are very clear on where a candidate is and where their strengths are and what their areas of growth are,” says Burchfield. “We look at, can our program grow that person and can we get that person within a year’s time the growth that they need to be where they need to be?”
The number of New Leader residents has increased each year, from nine the first year of the Memphis program to 27 residents the past school year. Before the residency year begins, New Leaders attend an intensive five-week summer training course called the Foundations Institute, often referred to as “boot camp.” New Leader residents from all partner cities attend the program at the same time, fostering a national network of participants.
“The thing that really makes our organization so unique is just that whole national community we have,” says Burchfield.
Extensive support during the residency year is a key component to the New Leaders strategy. In addition to daily interaction with their mentor principal, residents have weekly meetings with the other residents to share their successes and challenges. The relationships formed between the residents become a valuable professional networking resource once they are placed into their own schools. Leadership coaches cultivated from the Memphis educational community also meet with the residents on a regular basis throughout the school year.
“We want to make sure that we are getting the results that we are setting out to get,” says Burchfield.
After the intensive residency program is over the NLNS program actively advocates on behalf of the residents to find school placements in the district. Sometimes residents aren’t quite ready after the year is over, so an assistant principal position may be an additional step in the training process.
New Leaders often face immense challenges once finding placement in a school. One of the biggest challenges, Burchfield says, is inheriting a staff that may or may not be in line with the educational philosophy of NLNS.
“It’s a challenge to go into a school and you have a bunch of teachers who may be set in their ways,” Burchfield says. “If you don’t have the autonomy to go in there and rehire and remove those teachers, then how do you motivate those teachers? Every year that a student isn’t taught is a year that’s lost.”
The NLNS program addresses every conceivable challenge that may arise through the extensive support and networking system in place from the very beginning of the residency. The program has made impressive gains in improving student achievement in Memphis City Schools and continues to flourish and grow here each year. For more information on the program visit their website, www.nlns.org.
