Declining Support for Higher-Education Leadership Preparation Programs: An Analysis

Abstract

University-based leadership preparation programs no longer enjoy a near monopoly on the right to prepare school principals and other administrative leaders, and now compete with a growing number of alternative providers. This article utilizes the new institutionalism literature to analyze this shift. Practitioners and policymakers demanded reforms beginning in the 1980s. Two alternative state responses are discussed—increased regulation alongside deregulation. University-based providers have been weakened by value disagreements, inability to monitor quality, and weak research on program effectiveness. Strategies are discussed for creating a market of providers that is more strongly regulated around quality.

Notes

¹ Some states use the term certification rather than licensure.

² Earlier versions of the theory ignored the role of individual actors entirely, but more recent developments do incorporate perspectives that capture the role of “agency” in shaping institutions. As Rowan and Miskel (1999) explained, the new institutionalism in sociology often subordinates actors' rational action to their pursuit of institutional legitimacy. This perspective “sees rational action … as a cultural construction in which ends-means sequences and the very calculus of rational efficiency are understood as ideological constructs institutionalized in society” (p. 362).

³ The adoption by states of national assessments for licensure has created incentives for LPPs to align their programs to the knowledge and skills contained in the assessments. This was another way in which LPPs were influenced by the professionalization agenda.

⁴ The Educational Leadership Constituent Council is an arm of the Board. It consists of three NCATE member organizations (SPAs): the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

⁵ NPBEA had more success in the development of national licensure and program standards, working with CCSSO and NCATE, as was discussed earlier in the article. Higher education representatives also were participants in those efforts.

⁶ It is also the case that research conducted by economists and policy researchers has focused mainly on whether traditional teacher preparation programs and routes to licensure make any difference in student achievement outcomes (Kane, Rockoff, & Staiger, 2006). New Leaders for New Schools contracted with the Rand Corporation to evaluate the effectiveness of its graduates on improving student achievement.