(FRANKFORT, Ky.) – Seven Kentucky schools will participate in a pilot project designed to help school principals focus their attention on curriculum, instruction and assessment and spend less time on daily management issues.
The pilot is directed by the State Action Education Leadership Project (SAELP) and funded by the
Wallace Foundation. Principals in the seven schools will learn how to be certified instructional leaders, and day-to-
day school management tasks will be handled by School Administrative Managers (SAMs).
The seven schools in the pilot are:
* Athens-Chilesburg Elementary, Fayette County
* James Lane Allen Elementary, Fayette County
* Millcreek Elementary, Fayette County
* Wingo Elementary, Graves County
* Abraham Lincoln Elementary, LaRue County
* Hodgenville Elementary, LaRue County
* Mullins Elementary, Pike County
The pilot will run for three years, beginning with the 2006-07 school year and lasting through the summer of
2009. SAMs, who are school district employees, will take over many of the managerial duties of the principals,
including budgeting, student behavior management, student supervision, scheduling, cleaning, maintenance, food
service, transportation, before- and after-hours use of the school and supervision of non-instructional staff.
In turn, the principals will use the additional time to work with teachers on instruction and student
achievement, which should improve relationships with the instructional staff and lead to increased student
achievement.
All of the schools in the pilot participated in the SAM Leadership Academy, which was conducted by
SAELP and the Kentucky Department of Education in July 2006. During the academy, principals, SAMs, data
collectors and district contacts received rigorous training to prepare them for implementation of the pilot. Jefferson
County's Leading Education Achievement in Districts (LEAD) project provided data collection and time task analysis
training during the academy.
The State Action for Education Leadership Project (SAELP) is a partnership between the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the Wallace Foundation. SAELP develops and supports effective educational leaders and strives to change the conditions of leadership at all levels to improve student achievement.
The Wallace Foundation is a private foundation that provides financial and other support to nonprofit organizations throughout the United States. The foundation's mission is to support and share effective ideas and practices that will strengthen education leadership, arts participation and out-of-school learning.
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