NELA Overview
“There are virtually no documented instances of troubled schools being turned around without intervention by a powerful leader” (Leithwood, et al. 2004).
NC State’s Northeast Leadership Academy (NELA) serves the county school districts of Bertie, Edgecombe, Franklin, Granville, Halifax, Hertford, Martin, Nash-Rocky Mount, Northampton, Roanoke Rapids, Vance, Warren, Washington, and Weldon City but is nationally recognized for its innovation and quality. NELA was selected by the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) to receive its Exemplary Educational Leadership Preparation Program Award (one of only four programs nationally to have ever received this distinction). The UCEA is a consortium of the nation’s leading leadership preparation programs and is committed to advancing the preparation and practice of educational leaders. Its Exemplary Educational Leadership Preparation Program Award was established to celebrate exemplary programs and encourage their development. NELA, was envisioned as a solution to the stubborn problem of recruiting and retaining strong leaders for historically low performing rural schools. Since the first NELA cohort graduated in 2012, we have produced 17 Principals, 42 Assistant Principals and have an additional 8 graduates in other leadership roles. Our graduates go right to work because they are ready to “hit the ground running.” NELA graduates are making rapid school improvements.
NC State’s Northeast Leadership Academy (NELA) serves the county school districts of Bertie, Edgecombe, Franklin, Granville, Halifax, Hertford, Martin, Nash-Rocky Mount, Northampton, Roanoke Rapids, Vance, Warren, Washington, and Weldon City but is nationally recognized for its innovation and quality. NELA was selected by the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) to receive its Exemplary Educational Leadership Preparation Program Award (one of only four programs nationally to have ever received this distinction). The UCEA is a consortium of the nation’s leading leadership preparation programs and is committed to advancing the preparation and practice of educational leaders. Its Exemplary Educational Leadership Preparation Program Award was established to celebrate exemplary programs and encourage their development. NELA, was envisioned as a solution to the stubborn problem of recruiting and retaining strong leaders for historically low performing rural schools. Since the first NELA cohort graduated in 2012, we have produced 17 Principals, 42 Assistant Principals and have an additional 8 graduates in other leadership roles. Our graduates go right to work because they are ready to “hit the ground running.” NELA graduates are making rapid school improvements.
A Radically Different Principal Preparation Program
NELA’s program is radically different from traditional MSAs. The rigorous, research-based program requires participants to demonstrate their leadership skills through solving authentic school problems with the support of executive coaches. NELA teaches participants powerful mindsets and skill sets that are changing the trajectory of historically low-performing schools. Program experiences are customized to focus on turnaround principles for rural, low performing, high-poverty schools and communities. Classes and trainings are held at sites in northeastern NC.
Over $14 million dollars in external funding from a combination of philanthropic, state, and federal grants has been secured to support the work of NELA, of which $6.7 million from the USDOE is currently supporting the latest iterations of the project, NELA 2.0 and NELA-DST. In addition to the UCEA award, NELA has been recognized at the local, state, and national levels by organizations at the vanguard of educational leadership preparation as well as in in journal publications and by media
outlets including: The Wallace Foundation, Center for American Progress, National Association of State Boards of Education, Education Week, The University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), Journal of Planning and Changing, NC Public School Forum, and many others.
Over $14 million dollars in external funding from a combination of philanthropic, state, and federal grants has been secured to support the work of NELA, of which $6.7 million from the USDOE is currently supporting the latest iterations of the project, NELA 2.0 and NELA-DST. In addition to the UCEA award, NELA has been recognized at the local, state, and national levels by organizations at the vanguard of educational leadership preparation as well as in in journal publications and by media
outlets including: The Wallace Foundation, Center for American Progress, National Association of State Boards of Education, Education Week, The University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), Journal of Planning and Changing, NC Public School Forum, and many others.
In addition to the UCEA award, NELA has been recognized at the local, state, and
national levels by organizations at the vanguard of educational leadership preparation as well as in in journal publications and by media outlets including:
Education Week
The Center for American Progress
Planning and Changing
UCEA Review
national levels by organizations at the vanguard of educational leadership preparation as well as in in journal publications and by media outlets including:
Education Week
The Center for American Progress
Planning and Changing
UCEA Review
What makes NELA Unique?
NELA's intensive, Highly-selective cohort model combines coursework with supervised principal residency experiences and places an emphasis on connecting to the local community and data collection and analysis at the school level.
Strategic Recruitment and Performance-Based Selection
Multi-step selection process that includes a day long Candidate Assessment day full of experiential events in which candidates must demonstrate their skills, knowledge and dispositions.
Personalized Leadership Training and Action Pedagogy
Multiple diagnostic tools, including input from mentors and coaches, are used to identify areas for improvement and to create comprehensive action plans. An inquiry-action based approach and instructional rotations at all levels of schooling are used to examine developmentally appropriate teaching and learning.
Leaders of Literacy and Instructional Leaders in Digital Learning Environments
In partnership with NC State's Friday Institute, we are preparing principals who are instructional leaders in digital learning environments. We work with The Hill Center and literacy faculty to prepare our principals to be leaders of literacy.
Full-Time Summer Community Internship and Making a Difference Locally
Participants create a six-week internship in a community agency and develop and deliver professional development for teachers, create resources for parents and teachers and write grant applications to fund needed programs and connect the school to the community.
Executive Coaching and Mentoring
Fellows are paired with both a school-based principal mentor and an executive coach (retired expert principals and superintendents); Fellows are supported over the principal residency year and during the 1st and 2nd years of leadership practice.
Distinguished Leadership in Practice (DLP)
In partnership with NC's Principal and Assistant Principal Association, NELA Fellows and their principal mentors complete DLP to strengthen skills of practicing school leaders simultaneously with aspiring leaders.
Specialized Training
Fellows experience a variety of specialized trainings that are beyond a set of anchor courses (e.g., Facilitative Leadership, Crucial Conversations, Conflict Resolution, Understanding by Design, Common Core, digital storytellings, etc. ) Through a series of semester-long field-based projects, Fellows learn about child, adolescent, and adult developmental and cognitive psychology.
Full-Time, Yearlong Principal Residency
A yearlong, full-time principal residency in the second year is focused on a data-driven problem of practice. A logic model is developed to measure and evaluate strategies that are employed.
Early Career and Transitional Support
Graduates continue to receive executive coaching and convene post-job placement to continue learning, receive just-in-time support and build professional networks.
Staying the Course
As a land-grant university, NC State has a unique mission and commitment to serve the educational needs of NC by providing access to continuing education and professional development to transform lives and provide leadership to the state. Therefore, NELA has expanded and in addition to preparing aspiring leaders, NELA provides a summer Principal Academy to help current principals become instructional leaders in digital learning environments. NELA-DST provides both performance pay bonuses for principals and grants to SIG schools to help them meet their instructional needs. Finally, in 2015, NC State started an Ed.D. cohort for aspiring district level leaders in northeast NC.
Strategic Recruitment and Performance-Based Selection
Multi-step selection process that includes a day long Candidate Assessment day full of experiential events in which candidates must demonstrate their skills, knowledge and dispositions.
Personalized Leadership Training and Action Pedagogy
Multiple diagnostic tools, including input from mentors and coaches, are used to identify areas for improvement and to create comprehensive action plans. An inquiry-action based approach and instructional rotations at all levels of schooling are used to examine developmentally appropriate teaching and learning.
Leaders of Literacy and Instructional Leaders in Digital Learning Environments
In partnership with NC State's Friday Institute, we are preparing principals who are instructional leaders in digital learning environments. We work with The Hill Center and literacy faculty to prepare our principals to be leaders of literacy.
Full-Time Summer Community Internship and Making a Difference Locally
Participants create a six-week internship in a community agency and develop and deliver professional development for teachers, create resources for parents and teachers and write grant applications to fund needed programs and connect the school to the community.
Executive Coaching and Mentoring
Fellows are paired with both a school-based principal mentor and an executive coach (retired expert principals and superintendents); Fellows are supported over the principal residency year and during the 1st and 2nd years of leadership practice.
Distinguished Leadership in Practice (DLP)
In partnership with NC's Principal and Assistant Principal Association, NELA Fellows and their principal mentors complete DLP to strengthen skills of practicing school leaders simultaneously with aspiring leaders.
Specialized Training
Fellows experience a variety of specialized trainings that are beyond a set of anchor courses (e.g., Facilitative Leadership, Crucial Conversations, Conflict Resolution, Understanding by Design, Common Core, digital storytellings, etc. ) Through a series of semester-long field-based projects, Fellows learn about child, adolescent, and adult developmental and cognitive psychology.
Full-Time, Yearlong Principal Residency
A yearlong, full-time principal residency in the second year is focused on a data-driven problem of practice. A logic model is developed to measure and evaluate strategies that are employed.
Early Career and Transitional Support
Graduates continue to receive executive coaching and convene post-job placement to continue learning, receive just-in-time support and build professional networks.
Staying the Course
As a land-grant university, NC State has a unique mission and commitment to serve the educational needs of NC by providing access to continuing education and professional development to transform lives and provide leadership to the state. Therefore, NELA has expanded and in addition to preparing aspiring leaders, NELA provides a summer Principal Academy to help current principals become instructional leaders in digital learning environments. NELA-DST provides both performance pay bonuses for principals and grants to SIG schools to help them meet their instructional needs. Finally, in 2015, NC State started an Ed.D. cohort for aspiring district level leaders in northeast NC.