Urban Leadership Development Academy
   

The Urban Education Network Leadership Development Academy is a leadership preparation program offered by the University of Northern Iowa and Iowa's eight largest public school districts, the Urban Education Network  of Iowa (UEN). Those successfully completing the program meet the Iowa State Board of Education Examiners standards for licensure as a Pre-12 principal and PK-12 special education supervisor. The Academy is challenging, fast-paced and a non-traditional performance-based program. Participants can earn credit by a demonstration of knowledge and performances associated with the Iowa Standards for School Leaders (ISSL). Participants will undertake problem-based learning, action research and an extensive practicum related to the context of a multi-cultural educational environment with student populations that reflect today's diverse communities.

Although participants completing the program qualify for licensure as administrators, the residual value of the program for districts is the enhancement of leadership capacity among teachers in a school and district. The need for distributed leadership is very evident as districts strive to meet the evolving educational needs of a diverse student population. Building leadership teams, research action teams and various other cooperative initiatives benefit from teachers who possess leadership skills and knowledge. The Academy, though specifically intended to meet the needs of Iowa's eight largest and urban school districts, can be customized and/or replicated to meet the specific needs of any school district.

In addition to 37 credit hours of coursework, the two hour program places emphasis
on practical internship experiences that are aligned with the ISSL standards and supervised by a mentor/coach, a university advisor and a faculty field supervisor.  Internship experiences include course-assigned and site-determined experiences
that are documented.

Courses are generally taught via the ICN in evening session and WebCT so participants may stay in their home district for these courses. However, participants are required to enroll in on-campus courses for three weeks (Tues., Wed., and Thurs.) in the summer between the first and second years of the program.

For those interested in this unique leadership development program, complete information is available in the office of Human Resources in each UEN district, on the website http://www.uni.edu/coe/elcpe/edlead/index.shtml or contact Betty Hogan at the University of Northern Iowa.  betty.hogan@uni.edu