VCU, Richmond schools get grant for principal training

Richmond could need a fresh supply of school principals in the near future.

Educators at Virginia Commonwealth University think they know how to fill that need.

Thanks to a $5.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education that was announced yesterday, the two can begin working together on a novel approach to training school administrators.

The money "helps us develop a succession plan," said Superintendent Yvonne W. Brandon. "In the next five years, we're going to need a ready pool of qualified candidates."

The money will be used by the VCU School of Education, working with the school system and several other local programs that train area educators, to create a program to recruit, train and retain secondary school principals. Project ALL (Authentic Learning for Leaders) will be a year-round program that will offer intensive, research-based training and offer opportunities for participants to work with mentors and serve apprenticeships. The money will fund the program for five years.

The novel part -- and something that apparently hasn't been attempted anywhere nationwide -- is basing the training on a computer-based simulation, said Charol Shakeshaft, the project director and chairwoman of the VCU School of Education Department of Educational Leadership.

"This has been done in the business world, but it really hasn't been done in education leadership," she said.

The computer program, created at VCU, will allow potential principals to face a variety of problems in realistic, though virtual, settings.

The overall training also will include classroom training, 300 hours of in-school internships and mentoring, among other things.

"We have some very vibrant, exciting teachers young enough to want to take on the challenge" of running a school, Brandon said. "We want to make sure they understand there's a career ladder for them."

A third to a half of Richmond's four dozen principals could retire in the next five years. The training program could supply up to 30 candidates in that time.

Contact Zachary Reid at (804) 775-8179 or .