Overview

"A New Model of School Leadership"

Rationale
The need to design a leadership program for principals in Portugal has been precipitated by impending legislation.  Public demands for more effective schools have placed growing attention on the role of school leaders.  Not surprising, given that "Evidence suggests that, second only to the influences of classroom instruction, school leadership strongly affects student learning" (Davis, Darling-Hammond, LaPointe, & Meyerson, 2005, 3).  The Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa recognizes the crucial role that teacher leaders have played in the educational system.  In an effort to support the efforts of the Portuguese Government, the university is proposing a new model for school leadership.

Process Steps

1. April 23, 2008 - Conference to be held at UAL to raise an awareness of the impact of the new legislation regarding leadership certification and teacher evaluation and to glean feedback from the various stakeholders.  To accomplish this, UAL has invited teacher leaders, parent association members, government officials, and faculty members from various academic institutions in Portugal and the United States to conduct a variety of sessions to engage the public in debate.  Information gathered from this conference will serve to direct the development of the new model of school leadership.
2. Fall 2008-Spring 2009 - Leadership Program at UAL will occur over two semesters led by faculty members, including professors from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia.  Proposed module sessions will focus on leadership, curriculum and human resource management, organizational communications, theory, and change.  Completion of modules will result in the accumulation of credits to be used toward the M.Ed. program.
3. Feedback from both the conference and leadership program will provide insight into the development of a Master's of Education degree program at UAL.