Chapter 1: Sustaining School Leadership Programs: Planning for Leadership Succession, Recruitment, Selection, and Innovative Curriculum

This chapter focuses on: (1) leadership succession as critical for the improvement of schools (2) “emerging principal leadership” framework used to help determine candidate selection, and (3) innovative curriculum model where students learn “more with less” and are prepared to lead any school. Recent inquiry (e.g., Hargreaves & Fink, 2004) maintains that succession is a process of interaction that forms relationships and patterns that shape and socialize a leader’s impact on the organization. Succession planning assures continuity of leadership and capitalizes on capacity and sustainability that succession brings to implement new programs in a culture of change (Issa Lahera & Normore, 2012). Leadership succession planning is a pivotal element for the improvement of schools by shaping and expanding the professional orientation, knowledge, skills, and dispositions of those in leadership roles. Although we are at the early stages of succession planning we document our efforts to include an ongoing changing curriculum, supervision and instructional delivery, impact of a cohort model, and influence of adult learning field-based experiences on the community of professional practice. Both traditional school leadership preparation program (SLP), and nontraditional public charter school leadership academy (CASLA) are discussed.