NC State University’s Durham Leadership Academy
Sponsor: NC Alliance for School Leadership Development
Project Total: $998,553
Description:
NCSU’s Master of School Administration (MSA) is a non-traditional, award-winning, nationally recognized principal preparation program focusing on solving the problem of recruiting and retaining effective leaders for historically low-performing schools. The research-based program is a model of preparation, early career support, and continuous professional development for leaders committed to leading high-need schools. Addressing Durham Public Schools’ (DPS) high number of low-performing schools, NCSU’s MSA program is partnering with DPS to create the Durham Leadership Academy (DLA). The DLA will deliver a customized two-year MSA program with the graduates making a three-year, post-degree commitment to work in local high-need schools, thus providing a robust leadership pipeline and succession plan for DPS and positioning the school system to make rapid improvements in historically low-performing schools.