The ‘Secret Sauce’ in Our Pipeline Programs

Executive Perspective

AASA's mission statement reads as follows: “AASA, The School Superintendents Association advocates for equitable access for all students to the highest quality public education, and develops and supports school system leaders.”

The job of the superintendent is challenging and stressful and is one that most educators aspire to toward the end of their career. Surveys indicate that a superintendent’s tenure tends to be slightly over three years in urban districts and six years in suburban and rural districts. Over the past two years, the superintendent’s job has been further complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the assault mounted against the first part of our mission statement, advocating “for equitable access for all students to the highest quality public education.”

We know the superintendent’s role is essential, often as the most important voice on behalf of the children in a community. Even as the work is increasingly challenging, rewards still can be found in service, helping to shape the lives of all students and, in fact, impacting the very fabric of our democracy.

Rapid Growth

To meet the needs of today’s district leaders and to fulfill our mission, AASA has significantly increased its professional learning opportunities by focusing on the areas that present the greatest challenges to superintendents. We have expanded our traditional role to include aspiring leaders as AASA has created a pipeline that now extends from the classroom to the superintendent’s office.

The professional learning menu began with the National Superintendent Certification Program. The intent was to provide sitting superintendents with the knowledge and skills to thrive in their jobs, not just survive. The first cohort was followed quickly by additional cohorts as the program’s popularity grew. Today, three concurrent cohorts are offered over an 18-month period. Our state affiliates have joined our national efforts, and four states now offer certification programs in partnership with AASA.

Recognizing the need to better prepare our aspiring leaders for the superintendent’s hot seat, AASA launched the Aspiring Superintendent Academy. Our surveys historically show that only 5 percent of superintendents are either African American or Hispanic, even as the majority of public school learners are students of color. In partnerships with Howard University and the University of Southern California, two cohorts of the Urban Superintendents Academy run annually and continue to grow. From the outset, many participants have been offered superintendent positions, in some cases prior to finishing the program.

Not long after the implementation of the Urban Academies, other groups began to request similar opportunities. Recognizing that only 25 percent of women hold the superintendent’s job, AASA was proactive in the creation of the Female Leaders Academy. The implementation of the Latino/a Academy is the latest in our commitment to addressing underrepresented colleagues as district leaders. Critical to the success of these programs is that they are staffed primarily by sitting superintendents as lead teachers and mentors.

Natural Progression

Our expansion of the pipeline leading to the superintendency began with our partnership with the University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership in the area of principal supervisor training. Most superintendents were principals at one point in their career. In many cases, particularly in small districts and rural districts, principals move directly into the superintendency. Thus, the development of principals is a critical building block and part of AASA’s National Principal Supervisor Program.

A natural progression to expand the pipeline was to partner with the National Association of Elementary School Principals to offer the National Aspiring Principals Academy. Applicants for the program can be teacher leaders, assistant principals or early career principals wanting to take their leadership to a higher level.

In addition to what we refer to as our cornerstone programs, AASA offers an extensive choice of professional learning opportunities focusing on specific topics and skills. Aligning with our mission to provide equitable access for all students to the highest-quality public education, our Equity in Action cohort is timely as it focuses on the long-standing inequities exacerbated by the pandemic. The participants engage with national experts and passionate school leaders focused on addressing equity and excellence.

Also relevant in these times is the Social Emotional Learning Cohort that focuses on the needs of the whole child and provides participants with extensive resources to sustain high-quality SEL implementation. Rounding out our ever-increasing catalog of professional learning: Early Learning, Radical Family Engagement, Transformational Leadership, National Institute for Leadership, Women’s Consortium, Eastern States Consortium and Redefining Ready!

An Impactful Network

Most recently, we established a commission that issued “An American Imperative: A New Vision of Public Schools.” The action-oriented report has led to the creation of our most comprehensive and impactful network of school systems.

More than 100 school systems have joined with the expressed purpose of bringing about the systemic redesign of our schools.

All of these exciting professional learning opportunities are part of AASA’s Leadership Network, built on the secret sauce of networking, learning, growing and acting together. We are proud of our contribution to provide the highest-quality public education by endowing our members with the knowledge and skills they need.