SMHC-CPRE Invitational Conference Creating Urban School Principals

1. SMHC-CPRE Invitational Conference Creating Urban School Principals November 18, 2008LaVerne Srinivasan, President

2. New Leaders for New Schools • The role of the principal in human capital strategy • Our organization • Our vision, mission, and goals • Our partnership approach (district and other partnerships) • Our program • Our learning: the Urban Excellence Framework & EPIC • Our results

3. The Role of the Principal in a Human Capital Strategy The role of the principal is key to consider when developing a human capital strategy because it is: • Critical: Principals, as human capital managers in their schools, impact all other human capital initiatives in the district. • Scalable: While teacher-by-teacher strategies must impact a relatively large number of teachers (1+ per district classroom), even in the largest districts, the number of principals is orders of magnitude less (1 per school.) • High-Impact: Research shows that a principal’s leadership accounts for a quarter of a school’s achievement gains. • High-Leverage: Principals sit close enough to district leadership to be ambassadors for district-wide initiatives and reform efforts; at the same time, their impact is felt “on the ground” in the classrooms where teaching & learning happens.

4. Our Organization Launched in 2000, New Leaders for New Schools is a national social enterprise dedicated to transforming public education. • World-class organization with 568 New Leaders serving in 9 cities nationwide. • Named NewSchools Venture Fund’s Organization of the Year in education in 2008. • Recipient of Fast Company/Monitor Group’s Social Capitalist Award for 5 consecutive years. • Formed deep partnerships with nine school districts and major supporters such as the Gates Foundation, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, and dozens of other individual, corporate, and foundation partners.

5. Our Vision, Mission, &Goals Vision One day every student will graduate from high school ready for success in college, careers, and citizenship – in at least 10 US cities by 2020. Mission To ensure high academic achievement for every student by attracting and preparing outstanding leaders and supporting the performance of the urban public schools they lead at scale. Goal I School Performance at Scale Goal II World-Class, Scalable, Sustainable Organization and Innovative “Action Tank” Goal III Mission-Driven, High-Quality Principals at Scale to Support City-Wide Success for All Students

6. Our New Leaders & Their Schools WHO WE ARE: OUR NEW LEADERS Driven, results-focused, and diverse current and former educators • Age of New Leaders: 24 – 57 years old (average is mid-30s) • Average Years Teaching Experience: 7 years • Percent Female New Leaders: 67% • Percent of New Leaders of Color: 68% • Percent of New Leaders with Advanced Degrees: 87% SCHOOLS WE SERVE Our mission is to train leaders to serve in significantly higher-need schools when compared with the rest of schools in the U.S. • Percent of Low-Income Students Served in New Leaders Schools: 76% • Compared to 38% national average • K-12 education, roughly ½ elementary, ½ secondary • New Leaders in District Schools: 74% • New Leaders in Charter Schools: 26%

7. Our Partners & Community • Baltimore • Bay Area • Chicago • Memphis • Milwaukee • New Orleans* • New York • Prince Georges County • Washington, D.C. Text New Leaders is in 9 districts nationally—including 5 of the largest 25—and expects to grow to approximately 13 by 2014

8. Our Partnerships Top 10 Reasons Districts Seek To Partner with Us 1. To benefit from the incredible New Leaders we find for their schools to impact student achievement*** 2. To benefit from the presence of our training program & have other principals learn from it 3. To take advantage of our learning about school leadership & successful urban public schools 4. To bring financial resources into the district 5. To provide their principals with a national community of best practices sharing 6. To have us as a major part of the reform efforts / redesign of the school system 7. To bring our expertise to bear on aspects of reform in the school system 8. To bring a nationally known program to their district 9. To avoid the time, cost, and risk involved in starting up their own leadership academy 10. To take advantage of our experience and hit the ground running in the start up process

9. Our Program New Leaders has created a scalable model to drive student achievement through highly effective school leadership and management. Ongoing Analysis of Data Recruit Select Train & Develop Support Outcomes Commitment and Capacity to Improve Measurable Student Achievement Results

10. Our Program Selection and Admission of High Quality New Leaders Our rigorous selection process has proven successful on a national scale in identifying high quality candidates. STEP 1: ONLINE APPLICATION STEP 2. FIRST ROUND INTERVIEW STEP 3. FINALIST SELECTION DAY STEP 4: REFERENCE CHECKS • Final decisions are not made without complete materials (transcripts, certificates, references, essays) • Submit short-answers • Submit 3 essays • Meet minimum requirements in becoming a public school principal • Approximately 2 hours • Case study presentation • Deeply explore reasons for wanting to become an urban public school principal • Full day of interviews • “Day in the Life of a principal” • Written case studies

11. Our Program Selection and Admission of High Quality New Leaders Our selection process is performance based. The ten selection criteria outlined below serve as the basis for all of our admissions decisions. BELIEFS AND ORIENTATION • Belief & Urgency that All Students Will Excel Academically • Personal Responsibility & Relentless Drive • Results Orientation • TEACHING AND LEARNING • Knowledge of Teaching and Learning • STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT • Problem Solving • Project Management to Deliver Results • PERSONAL QUALITIES • Adult Leadership • Communication and Listening • Interpersonal Skills • Self-Awareness and Commitment to Ongoing Learning

12. Our Program Training and Development of High Quality New Leaders After our rigorous selection process, our program model provides intensive training and ongoing school support, enabling New Leaders to become outstanding principals of urban public schools focused on raising the bar of student achievement.

13. Our Learning: Context & Differentiation We are committed to continuous learning: - to improve our program’s core functions - to increase differentiation - to share with our principals and partners - to provide evidence that sustainable, scalable outcomes are possible As some of this work is in draft form, please do not cite or distribute without express permission from New Leaders

14. Action Tank: Learning from Our Work Our continuous cycle of learning drives internal and external change. Program & Data Areas Impact Organizational Learning Plan Immediate Program Improvement Urban Excellence Framework Research Integrated Analyses of Quantitative & Qualitative Data Across Program Components Findings Re-Tested in Practice Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC) Learning Shared with Partners RAND World Class Evaluation Learning Shared with Policymakers Internal Data: Selection, Training, Support, Achievement

15. Learning Into Action: The UEF The Urban Excellence Framework • The Urban Excellence Framework (UEF) is our research-based theory of action about what happens in schools making dramatic gains and reaching high graduation rates and proficiency levels. • The UEF drives the alignment of training, development, and support to ensure high levels of student achievement. • In order to reach these student achievement goals and bring the Urban Excellence Framework practices to life consistently in schools, we are executing on three priority initiatives: • Strengthen the Aspiring Principals Initiative to ensure that our Aspiring and First Year Principals have the knowledge and skills that we have learned are necessary given our analysis of what happens in dramatic gains schools • Support school-level transformation in schools led by New Leaders principals • Support system capacity and context necessary to help reach student achievement goals in schools led by New Leaders principals

16. The Urban Excellence Framework

17. The Effective Practice Incentive Community EPIC and the Urban Excellence Framework The Urban Excellence Framework identifies key leverage points that school leaders must address at different stages of a school’s trajectory, the actions they take to make changes, and the associated school practices that make a difference for student outcomes. The Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC) program drives student performance by rewarding educators in schools making student achievement gains for sharing effective practices aligned with key leverage points with colleagues in their own district and with other educators across the country. The UEF is refined annually by rigorous achievement analysis, fieldwork in high-gaining New Leaders’ schools, and what is learned in EPIC award winning schools – including validation of current UEF practices and identification of practices not yet included in the UEF. EPIC is a knowledge system and online community that provides real life examples of practices used by educators driving student achievement gains at different places on the proficiency continuum, aligned to the UEF. The UEF • EPIC.. • Is organized to the UEF • Provides the opportunity to capture and distribute practices identified as critical to school improvement by the UEF • Provides the means to inform refinement of the UEF by what’s learned in high-gain schools The UEF is refined by what is learned in EPIC award-winning schools – validation and or identification of practices not yet included in the UEF. EPIC

18. Our Results Initial results are positive, and we are working to accelerate this progress to reach our goal of transformation at scale. • RAND has found elementary and middle schools led by New Leaders for 3+ years outperform school systems by statistically significant margins. • New Leaders-led schools show higher graduation rates compared to their districts, and RAND found the difference to be statistically significant. • While most New Leaders outperform their district counterparts, a third of New Leaders’ principals have achieved breakthrough achievement gains of 20+ points a year. • 5 schools were the highest achieving or improved schools in their cities; 2 of these were the most improved in their states, and two others have received federal honors. • In one of these schools this past spring, 100% of seniors graduated and went on to 4-year colleges. • Seven New Leaders-led schools have been identified through independent assessments as EPIC award-winning schools for achievement gains