Principal Registered Apprenticeship Program hopes to grow future school leaders

Research has shown that school leadership and student outcomes are strongly related: the better the leaders, the better the student outcomes.

But as school districts struggle with teacher retention in the aftermath of COVID-era  lockdowns, school divisions are facing a drought in their hiring pools for school leaders. Now, they’re looking for ways to rebuild those pipelines.

George Mason University, in partnership with Alexandria City, Arlington County, Stafford, Loudoun County, and Franklin City school divisions, received more than $150,000 from the Virginia Department of Education to pilot the Principal Registered Apprenticeship Program. This initiative is part of a nationwide expansion of Registered Apprenticeship programs supported by the U.S. Department of Labor.

“School leaders have an incredible impact on the culture and climate of the school, and this grant acknowledges that it is equally important to invest in school leaders as it is to invest in teachers,” explained Farnoosh Shahrokhi, associate professor of education leadership in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) and coordinator of the grant.

Apprenticeship programs are critical to the development and retention of educators across various levels, including school leadership.

“It’s one thing to know that something will be part of your job, and another to do it,” said Corey Kapelski, director of professional learning at Arlington Public Schools. “School leadership is such a wide-ranging job, and the apprenticeship gives them the opportunity to really dig deep into all the different roles a school leader has to fill.”

As such, principal apprenticeship hours are a core part of the curriculum for leadership certificate programs: the means by which educators receive their endorsement, which opens the doors for them to apply to leadership positions in school divisions.

While apprenticeship is critical to the experience, one major roadblock is the time and cost. Along with the cost of tuition, books, and other expenses, educators must complete 24 credit hours and at least 2,000 apprenticeship hours. Usually, this requires them to leave their full-time positions for a year and thus sacrifice their annual salary.

The grant provides full funding to those selected by their school divisions to participate in the certificate program, removing those barriers and giving more individuals the opportunity to advance their careers in education.

In this first grant cycle, 12 participants were selected from the five school divisions. And in thinking about long-term sustainability of school divisions, the program has the potential to solidify a leadership pipeline.  

“Because Alexandria City Public Schools is a small school division, the leadership pipeline is important. We like to build strong candidates from within,” said Pierrette Finney, chief academic officer of Alexandria City Public Schools. Finney graduated from George Mason in ‘06 with her MEd in education leadership.

George Mason’s Education Leadership Program is well-established as a top-tier program for aspiring leaders in education. In addition to Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), the coursework is aligned with National Educational Leadership Preparation (NELP) standards and holds Specialty Professional Associations (SPA) accreditation for high-quality standards by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration. Other hallmarks of George Mason’s program are the inclusion of improvement science pedagogy and tools in its curriculum, its faculty that span a wide range of professional backgrounds, and its coordination with an advisory board that represents its partnered school divisions, Shahrokhi said.

“George Mason has been a long-standing and trusted partner of Loudoun County Public Schools in leadership preparation. Their programs combine rigorous academic study with practical, job-embedded experiences that align with our district’s vision for leadership development,” said Tanisha Holland, director of human resources and talent development for Loudoun County Public Schools. “Their program emphasizes reflective practice, equity-centered leadership, and systems thinking, all essential for success in today’s schools.”

Out of the six Virginia universities that received a portion of the grant money, George Mason is collaborating with the most school divisions for the grant. That speaks to the university’s and CEHD’s intentional and sustained investment in the local community and commitment to building strong, lasting partnerships with school divisions, as well as serving as a hub for collaboration amongst educators and leaders across the region.

“The wealth of knowledge and collaboration with other school divisions only fosters a greater partnership and makes us stronger as a school, stronger as a school system, and stronger as a region,” said Finney.