Delaware Association for Public Administration DAPA Public Service Reader
Improving Leadership in Delaware’s Public Schools
—by Audrey Bare Molnar | download PDF 
The Delaware Academy for School Leadership (DASL) provides professional development to Delaware’s educational leaders. By preparing and developing effective leaders, DASL aims to positively impact student performance in Delaware. DASL is affiliated with the University of Delaware’s College of Human Services, Education & Public Policy. Some recent DASL initiatives include the McREL Balanced Leadership program, Vision 2015 Executive Leadership Academy, and the Distributed Leadership project. For more information, visit DASL’s website.
Balanced Leadership Professional Development Program
DASL’s Balanced Leadership program seeks to increase student achievement by providing education leaders with the knowledge and tools necessary to develop and sustain change initiatives in their school. This training initiative is based upon 35 years of research about school leadership’s impact on student achievement. Training topics include:
- Balanced Leadership: An Overview
- Developing Purposeful Community
- Managing Change
- Choosing the Right Focus
More than 60 leaders from districts, schools and charter schools have participated in the training, including superintendents, central-office staff in charge of instructional activities, principals, and assistant principals. Training sessions occur twice a month at multiple times and locations to meet the scheduling needs of education leaders. Reflection and application activities are critical components of the program and occur between sessions. Frequent, interactive meetings contribute to the development of a statewide professional learning community among education leaders.
Successful, retired district and school leaders have been recruited as trainers for this program. They work alongside DASL staff members to facilitate training sessions.
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