One Superintendent’s Personal Commitment to Next-Generation Leaders

Preparing the next wave of education leaders is so important to Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia that the district superintendent himself commits four days to teaching in the principal pipeline program.

“Principals are second only to teachers in their impact on student performance,” says J. Alvin Wilbanks, CEO/superintendent of the 176,000-student district, located outside of Atlanta, in an e-mail interview. “I have a strong personal commitment to teaching in the Aspiring Principal Program because I believe leadership matters.”

Wilbanks ensures the expectations for school leaders are understood by modeling the behaviors and teaching the key concepts of Gwinnett’s Aspiring Principals Program.

The superintendent delivers lessons about the importance of developing and carrying out a 100-day entry plan and a schoolwide plan of improvement; developing continuous quality improvement at the school site; and the history of Gwinnett’s ambition to operate world-class schools.

Gwinnett is one of the six school districts funded by The Wallace Foundation through its $80 million principal pipeline initiative. Additional funding came from the George W. Bush Institute. The district was a co-winner of the Broad Prize for Urban Education in 2014.

Clear Pathways

For the past decade, the signature initiative is Gwinnett’s Aspiring Principals Program, designed to help assistant principals move up a step on the career ladder. To date, 85 percent of the district’s 136 principals are graduates of the yearlong program, which mandates a 90-day residency, similar to a medical residency model.

“It’s really important to place individuals where they have the opportunity to practice under the guidance and watchful eye of a mentor,” says Glenn Pethel, assistant superintendent for leadership development in the district.
The mentor principals receive a $6,000 stipend for this responsibility.

Case studies and leadership simulations pose sensitive issues to the fledgling principals, such as managing a teacher-parent dispute, conversing about performance issues with a staff member or managing a difficult budget process. By the end, the district is able to identify someone who “inspires, motivates, demonstrates and collaborates,” says Pethel. “The focus is on results. We want school leaders who focus on student performance and who have a positive impact on the students we serve.”

The training and mentoring continues once the assistant principals and principals are in place, especially during the first two years.

The district also provides a principal transition toolkit to help new principals, says Michelle Farmer, a former elementary school principal in the district and now director of leadership development. These prompts offer specific timelines, month by month, on targets principals must meet for logistical and instructional goals, whether it’s when to hire teachers for the following school year, set up open houses for parents or submit staff evaluations.

“These are concrete things that they need to think about, as well as how do these tie into the bigger picture” says Farmer.

Gwinnett also identifies high-potential teachers who might qualify for assistant principal positions as well as finance officers suited to move into central administration, and teachers fit to become curriculum specialists or professional learning experts.

Gwinnett’s training happens in partnership with five universities: Georgia State University, University of Georgia, Mercer University, University of Western Georgia and Clark Atlanta University.

Summer Slippage

One other signature program is Gwinnett’s annual summer leadership conference, now in its 39th year. The topical sessions are taught by the district’s own staff. At the 2015 conference, Shaun Harper, executive director for the Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education at the University of Pennsylvania, presented ways to improve achievement among black and Latino male students.

“You have to deeply see this as an investment, not an expense,” says Pethel. “This is not a quick fix.”