The Wallace Foundation

AASA and The Wallace Foundation have partnered to work on the Educational Leadership initiative to develop, test and share useful approaches for the training of education leaders. The grant supports various programs and activities throughout the grant cycle.

The partnership makes available to all AASA members and their school districts a variety of resources to use in furthering the mission of public school education.

Please use the following web-based sites and information in your work.

Wallace Knowledge Center (www.wallacefoundation.org)

In October 2009 The Wallace Foundation released through the PBS stations across America, The Principal Story.

(1) THE PRINCIPAL STORY film is now available on DVD from Nomadic Pictures. TheDVD includes the full PBS documentary, THE PRINCIPAL STORY (52:30 minutes), outtakes and an interview with the filmmakers, as well as a special documentary, North Grand (25 minutes). To order a copy, please contact Nomadic Pictures: www.nomadicpix.com

(2) North Grand, a high school principal’s story, was produced by filmmakers Tod Lending and David Mrazek, Nomadic Pictures.

Created as part of THE PRINCIPAL STORY PBS documentary and media project, North Grand addresses the changing role of today’s principals and the challenges they face in turning around low-performing schools. This 25-minute documentary special aims to inspire deeper understanding of effective leadership at the high school level. It follows principal Asuncion “Sunny” Ayala through a year at North Grand High School, a four-year-old school on Chicago’s west side. Eighty-nine percent of North Grand students are Latino and most are from low-income families; they deal with poverty, gangs, teen pregnancy and learning in a non-native language. We see Sunny meet these challenges and share her joy at reaching her goal of a 98 percent graduation rate for the school’s first graduating class – a dramatic contrast to the 52 percent overall graduation rate for Chicago Public Schools.

The film is accompanied by the Conversation Guide.

Educators, policymakers and others interested in improving our nation’s high schools can use North Grand and its conversation guide to discuss what’s necessary to train and support high school leaders so they can close achievement gaps, enhance graduation rates and boost outcomes for all students.