The "School-to-Central" Leadership Transition

Abstract

Each role in education, whatever its placement in a school system’s hierarchy, requires a different set of knowledge and skills. This Capstone will focus on the "school-to-central" leadership transition by challenging the assumption that what makes leaders effective as school principals also makes them effective as central office leaders. The Review of Knowledge for Action cites evidence from New York City Department of Education (DOE) focus groups as well as out-of-sector research on organizational advancement to confirm the hypothesis generated by this Capstone: the "school-to-central" leadership transition requires an intentional shift on the managing others to managing self continuum, as well as the hard skills to soft skills continuum--essentially, the higher one advances, the more relevant soft skills and the ability to manage self become. This exploration studies the design and implementation of the Advanced Leadership Institute in the New York City Department of Education--a leadership development experience for high-potential leaders interested in exploring advanced roles, the majority of whom are current principals. Of the four quadrants identified by this Capstone as critical for the "school-to-central" transition--I) adaptive leadership, II) systems thinking, III) relationship building, and IV) project management--only quadrant II) systems thinking was incorporated explicitly into the program design. This Capstone will analyze the implications of the Advanced Leadership Institute as it relates to the findings as well as explore the potential impact of creating supports for the "school-to-central" transition in the New York City Department of Education and the education sector writ large.