A New Era in the Professional Development of School Administrators: Lessons from Emerging Programmes

The entire area of administrator training is, at present, undergoing thorough scrutiny. Questions have been raised about the adequacy of university-based training programmes. In addition, for perhaps the first time in the history of educational administration, the topic of staff development for principals and superintendents is receiving serious consideration. New programmes to provide systematic professional growth opportunities to school administrators are being developed by an ever-increasing number of groups, including principals themselves, state departments of education, federally sponsored laboratories and centres, professional associations, colleges of education and school districts. The National Commission on Excellence in Educational Administration was established by UCEA in 1985 to conduct a thorough review of issues surrounding the training of school administrators.