Issue
Recent LEADS Human Resource workshops have identified administrator recruitment and retention as a significant challenge in actual hiring for vacancy and to the administrative skill sets to advance school improvement initiatives. The number of external candidates is alarmingly low. This challenge has been identified in three recent administrative hiring processes. It is now clearly apparent that Lloydminster Catholic School Division must develop leadership from within the organization. The "National Staff Development Council's" leadership program has been identified as a means of developing the talent of current administrators.
The NSDC Academy is an extended and profound learning experience that models the Council's vision for professional learning and teamwork in schools. Academy members work collaboratively to learn about and solve significant student learning problems that occur within their school, district, or organization. Through immersion in a model of inquiry-based and problem-based learning, participants gain solutions to the problems they and others bring; experience a model of professional learning that exemplifies NSDC's Standards for Staff Development; and construct knowledge and develop skills necessary to transform their learning, their work, and their organizations.
Academy members include district administrators, principals, teachers, and personnel from local, state, and national educational agencies, as well as university faculty, independent staff development providers, and leaders from nonprofit educational organizations.
