Chapter 4: Reflections on What was Learned in the U.S. Department of Education Funded Learner-Centered Leadership (LCL) Project 2002-2006

Beginning in October 2002, the Division of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies at Arizona State University implemented an educational leadership and professional development program for aspiring, rising, and experienced school leaders. The Learner Centered Leadership (Arizona State University, 2002) project was implemented in collaboration with the Southwest Center for Educational Equity and Language Diversity at ASU and four diverse, urban school districts in the metro Phoenix area. The original grant provided under the auspices of the United States Department of Education’s School Leadership Program provided the opportunity to create The Learner CenteredLeadership Program (LCL) For Language and Culturally Diverse Schools In High Needs, Urban Districts. The intention of the federal grant program was to assist high need local educational agencies in developing, enhancing, or expanding their innovative programs to recruit, train, and mentor principals and assistant principals (U.S. Department of Education, 2002). The purpose of the partnership (among the university educational leadership program, a university-based research center, and four urban school districts) was to recruit and enhance the professional preparation of aspiring principals, provide mentoring and coaching to newly hired administrators (assistant principals and principals), and provide opportunities for experienced school administrators to participate in the preparation and professional development of administrators/candidates within and across districts. This chapter is both a description of the LCL program that was established with grant funding and a reflection on some of the overall successes and challenges in the grant activities and outcomes by the principal investigator and project director.