Developing School Building Administrators to Lead the Next Generation

A Partnership between Pittsburg State University and Greenbush Education Service Center

By Dawn R. Martin, Pittsburg State University

In this edition of Perspectives, the author Dawn Martin examines the “pipeline” for future education leaders via a research project involving a University-ESA partnership.

Kansas, along with the rest of the United States, is experiencing increasing turnover in building administrators. The pipeline to supply qualified individuals to serve in these roles is currently inadequate. The shortage is even more severe in rural districts, including many in Kansas. Pittsburg State University and the Greenbush Education Service Center collaborated on a hybrid leadership academy design to help address this problem. Kansas superintendents and Leadership Academy participants were surveyed to learn their perceptions of the shortage and preliminary and potential benefits of this collaboration.

Included in the article is her literature review; description of the University-ESA Leadership Academy and the partnership; data about the project’s impact; discussion, conclusions and next steps. She also includes the survey tools she used.