An Analysis of State and University Policies on Principal Preparation Programs

Abstract

Principal preparation and principal leadership programs has become crucial issue since the beginning of the past century. National and state policies have been enacted to improve the principal’s competence as well as to prepare principals for leadership roles. In this dissertation, I sought to analyze state policies and university-based program policies related to principal preparation. This dissertation was designed in journal article format and is structured in five chapters. In the first journal manuscript, I explored the literature systematically to address policies and programs related principal preparation since No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was enacted. I focused on the second journal manuscript by comparing quantitatively university-based programs in the states with high leverage policies and states with low leverage policies. This journal article was built upon the University Council of Educational Administration’s (UCEA) research-based rubric; therefore, the emphasis of the second peer journal article was to address the statistical differences between the university preparation program policies in states with high leverage policies and states with low leverage policies. The results of the analyses guided me to conclude that there are significant differences between the two groups in terms of the admission and the internship for the preparation programs. The focus of the final journal manuscript is on the internship as a mandated requirement in university-based preparation program. The findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between the university-district partnership and the internship policies.between the university-district partnership and the internship policies.