• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Grant Will Help Train East Feliciana School Leaders

Posted on: Sunday, 19 February 2006, 18:00 CST

By JAMES MINTON

Grant will help train East Feliciana school leaders

CLINTON The East Feliciana Parish school system is looking for 15 potential school administrators willing to hone their skills in a masters degree program at LSU.

A federal grant will pay tuition and other expenses for the educators selected to study for a masters degree in school leadership offered by the LSU College of Education.

The program is the brainchild of Amy Westbrook, an assistant professor in the College of Educations department of K-12 education and administration.

Westbrook secured a U.S. Department of Education grant worth $454,000 during a three-year period to support the leadership training. It also includes a series of workshops for East Feliciana school personnel already in administrative positions.

East Feliciana Parishs demographics, including its poverty rate, made it eligible for the federal funds.

The school system needs some additional assistance, she said.

Westbrook said she grew up in Morehouse Parish in northeast Louisiana, which has similar demographics.

I have a passion for trying to help really poor parishes, she said.

Westbrook, who was a teacher and principal in East Baton Rouge Parish for 17 years, said the grant addresses the body of research that indicates leadership is the most important aspect of effective schools and school reform.

The program began in August with monthly training workshops for administrators. Five mentor principals will be chosen from that group of administrators to work with the masters degree candidates.

The workshops, led by Westbrook, cover topics such as classroom management, community cultural understanding, special education law, curriculum planning and classroom monitoring and supervision.

The five mentors will be chosen in May. They will receive $2,500 for each masters degree candidate they mentor.

Also in May, the school system will choose the 15 candidates for the masters degree program, and they will begin school in June with their tuition and the cost of their books covered by grant funds.

School Superintendent Glenn Brady said he and other administrators have been considering candidates for possible nominations since August.

We want to be sure that they are our outstanding teachers, he said.

The four-semester program is scheduled to end at the close of the summer session in 2007.

The grant requires the School Board to pay the candidates serving as administrative interns at the rate of pay for an assistant principal during summer 2007.

The School Board also is obligated to consider the masters degree program graduates for administrative positions within one year after graduation.

Source: Advocate; Baton Rouge, La.

More News in this Category