Transcript Academic Press

Succession Planning
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Succession Planning
Today’s Presenter:
Dr. Jacquelyn O. Wilson
University of Delaware
Succession Planning
Wanted: Secondary school principal for a 900-student school in
an urban setting. You must be able to meet state certification
requirements. Your responsibilities include: supervising a staff of
100, of which 25 percent are new teachers; managing a school
budget; working with various stakeholders including teachers,
parents, students, community members, central-office staff,
school board members, social services and the police
department; and assisting the superintendent and school board in
passing a major referendum. Other duties include serving on
various committees such as: teacher negotiations; district
improvement; and curriculum adoption. And, by the way, the
school has a performance rating of “in need of improvement.”
Succession Planning
“We need a bigger pool of outstanding principal
candidates; we need to get them into the
schools with the greatest challenges; and we
need to support them on the job. Right now,
that’s not happening in enough communities.”
By: Will Miller, The Wallace Foundation, The Opinion Page, APRIL 17, 2015 New York
Times
What is Succession Planning?
Succession Planning involves an organization
identifying job openings that may arise out of
retirement, promotion, or an increase in leader
positions. Succession planning also involves
preparing suitable employees through
mentoring, training and job rotation to replace
key leadership positions.
Why Succession Planning is Needed
Retirements. Job Re-assignments.
Promotions. Job Retention. Increase in
Leader Positions.
School districts must create pools of candidates
with high leadership potential to fill potential
vacancies, including the development of those
who already hold certification in educational
leadership but not employed as school leaders.
How Succession Planning Helps
Succession planning establishes a process that
recruits employees, develops their skills and
abilities, and prepares them for advancement,
all while retaining them to ensure a return on
the organization's training investment.
Succession planning involves…
• Understanding the organization's long-term
goals and objectives
• Identifying potential leaders and nurturing
their development
• Determining employment trends in the
organization
With good succession planning…
• Employees are ready to assume leadership
roles as the need arises
• Districts develop a diverse workforce
Succession Planning
Succession planning needs to focus on district
priorities and needs. Questions to consider
include:
1. What is the identified need for an expansion
of the succession pool? (For example, while
many succession plan have targeted assistant
principals and principals, has there been a need
for principal supervisors or assistant
superintendents?)
Succession Planning
2. What characteristics or qualities are required for
potential hires?
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Years teaching
Performance Evaluation Ratings
Degrees
Demonstrated leadership potential
Activities participation
Recommendations
Personal characteristics
How will the qualifications be determined?
Developing a Succession Pool
• How will participants be recruited and
selected?
• Who will make the selection?
• How will the applicants will be screened?
Developing the Succession Pool
What activities are planned to meet the
identified needs of the district? How will the
district provide the experiences and
opportunities to develop potential candidates
for positions?
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Professional development
Mentoring/coaching
Residency or internship experiences
Leadership opportunities in the school
Partnerships with universities or other training
programs
Principals in the Pipeline
Obtaining effective principals requires four
essential elements:
• principal standards
• high-quality training
• selective hiring
• a combination of solid on-the-job support
• performance evaluation
Principals in the Pipeline, Carlene Murphy, Learning Forward, June 2012 | Vol.
33 No. 3
Principal Standards
Districts create clear, rigorous job requirements detailing
what principals and assistant principals must know and do.
Standards for principals are the foundation and they……
• reflect district needs
• define what should be taught to those enrolled in principal
training programs
• describe functions and behaviors looked for in job
candidates
• provide the foundation for continuous growth plans and
professional development
• determine what is assessed in on-the-job performance
evaluations.
High Quality Training
• Pre-service principal training programs must be
aligned to school leader standards and district
needs.
• Preparation programs should work in
collaboration with districts to provide a learning
experience that includes both relevant content
and clinical experience working in the school
• Districts and preparation programs recruit
people who show the potential to become
effective principals and give them high-quality
training that responds to district needs.
Selective Hiring
Districts hire well-trained candidates with the
right set of characteristics to be strong school
leaders. To get the best candidates, districts
need to examine their hiring practices to include
a systematic approach to hiring and matching
candidates to a school.
ON-THE-JOB PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
AND SUPPORT
Districts regularly assess the performance of
newly hired principals and provide them with
the professional development and mentoring
they need to blossom and overcome
weaknesses pinpointed in evaluations.
What We Have Learned
Effective Principals
• Shape a vision for academic success
• Create a climate hospitable to education
• Cultivate leadership in others
• Improve instruction
• Manage people, data, and processes
--THE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL AS LEADER: GUIDING SCHOOLS TO BETTER TEACHING AND
LEARNING, Wallace Foundation, January 2013
What We Have Learned
If we want assistant principals, principals, and
principal supervisors who demonstrate the
following:
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Shape a vision for academic success
Create a climate hospitable to education
Cultivate leadership in others
Improve instruction
Manage people, data, and processes
We must invest in models of succession planning
What We Have Learned
Data is important to districts in tracking the
progress of candidates in the succession pool.
“The Leader Tracking Systems that they were building
as part of the Principal Pipeline Initiative were expected
to play an important role as a source of data for these
decisions and were seen as an especially important
addition to district capacity.”
--Districts Taking Charge of the Principal Pipeline, POLICY STUDIES ASSOCIATES, INC.
Brenda J. Turnbull | Derek L. Riley | Jaclyn R. MacFarlane, January 2015
What We Have Learned
• Every district had a new or modified screening
step producing a pool of candidates who were
allowed to apply for leadership positions.
• Every district developed or modified selection
criteria or instruments aligned with standards.
• Every district was using data on candidates and
schools in more systematic ways to match
candidates to specific school positions where
district leaders believed they would be the best
fit.
A Model for Succession Planning
Define
• Standards
for School
Leaders
Prepare
• Strategic
partnerships
with
universities
and training
programs
Select
• Matching
the person
to the
position
Support
• Mentoring
& Coaching
Questions
Jacquelyn O. Wilson, Ed.D.
302-547-0043
[email protected]