HD34 - Progress Report in Response to HJR 123: Alternative Licensure Route for Principals and Assistant Principals


Executive Summary:
The 2002 Session of the Virginia General Assembly established the Commission to Review, Study, and Reform Educational Leadership. The Commission then established the Task Force to Evaluate and Redesign Preparation Programs and Professional Development for School Leaders. The Task Force presented 12 recommendations to the Commission, which, in turn, submitted the 12 recommendations and two additional recommendations to the 2004 Session of the General Assembly. The General Assembly then approved House Joint Resolution 123 that requires the Board of Education to study alternative licensure for principals and other school leaders.

The study of an alternative licensure route for school leaders began with the Department of Education sponsoring an Institute for Virginia Professors of Educational Leadership (VPEL) and an implementation task force for school leadership. The focus of the two-day institute was a discussion on developing a two-tiered licensure system that would include an alternative route. The School Leadership Task Force will assist the Department of Education with the design and development of recommendations for an alternative licensure route for principals and other school leaders.

Accomplishments in response to HJR 123 include the following:

• Convened the institute on school leadership at the University of Mary Washington on October 21 and 22, 2004, Fredericksburg, Virginia;

• Held a follow-up task force meeting on December 2, 2004;

• Submitted a Notice of Intended Regulatory Action (NOIRA) to the Board of Education to revise Regulations Governing the Licensure of School Personnel, for approval at its January 12, 2005, regular meeting;

• Reviewed literature on alternative licensure programs developed and implemented by other states; and

• Awarded five competitive grants of $100,000 to each school division that demonstrated a partnership agreement with an institution of higher education or other entity for a defined leadership development training program.

Proposed licensure regulations, including recommendations to implement an alternative route to licensure, will be presented to the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure (ABTEL) for inclusion in the licensure revision proposal scheduled to be presented to the Board of Education by its April 2005 meeting.