Why the Need?

There is an alarming shortage of qualified aspiring administrators to meet the current and future need for school leaders. As a result, school districts need to “build the pipeline” to ensure that their schools will have effective principals when vacancies arise. To attract the very best educators to school leadership positions and to keep them in such positions, school districts must offer a network of support and foster a career-long approach to administrator development (Pounder & Crow, 2005)

The Delaware Academy for School Leadership provides professional development for practicing Assistant Principals to prepare them for the Principalship.

The Step Up program provides assistant principals explicit professional guidance as they learn the skills necessary to become principals. Through role play, relevant activities, professional readings, and scenarios aligned to the Professional Standards for School Leaders, assistant principals are given the opportunity to experience all aspects of the school leadership and learn to make difficult decisions. An optional mock interview provides a rare opportunity to get real time feedback and practice for the hiring process.

At the conclusion of the six or nine month program, facilitators are available to debrief with district level staff to assess the readiness of each candidate to be a principal.