Training for Principals

The National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) is calling for elementary school principals to get focused professional development to help them meet the higher expectations of modern early childhood education.  In reporting this proposal, Education Week (August 11, 2010) observes..."in a bid to stamp out the achievement gaps that often plague poor and minority children before they start school, groups in early childhood are emphasizing the need for principals to be poised to lead good practices for pupils in prekindergarten to grade 3." 

In the article  Barbara Chester, President of NAESP, notes that "learning what developmentally appropriate practice looks like can be a challenge for any principal, but especially for those who come to elementary schools from secondary school backgrounds....We are looking for ways for our principals to have more training and understanding of what they should be able to do and know.  The goal is not to make school for the youngest into a 'mini-kindergarten,' but for principals to learn how to link up with early childhood providers that operate in their communities and even sometimes in their school buildings in a way that makes that transition for the youngest child easier....

"It is important for the principal to make way not just for the practices to happen in the school, but also the school's mission to engage families as well.  It's a pedagogical underpinning, not just a philosophical tenet of schooling."

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