Partnering With a State Dept. of Education for Leadership Development to Drive Positive School Outcomes

Client Profile & Challenge

A few years ago, the South Carolina Department of Education found itself facing a dilemma. Personnel statistics showed nearly half the state’s principals would be eligible to retire within just 5 years. That meant the department soon would face an unprecedented demand for new school leaders who could perform at the top of their game across the system, which serves over 700,000 students in 1,100 public schools in 85 school districts.

State executives turned to our experts in educational leadership and the government and nonprofit sectors to help them address the looming challenge. Together we created a 2-year School Leadership Executive Institute (SLEI) that has trained hundreds of K-12 principals and school superintendents since its inception in 2000.

Featured Solutions

Government Leadership Development

CCL understands that leadership in government is driven by service, and provides a range of resources to support the challenges of government leaders.

Education Leadership (K-12)

Build more effective educational leaders in your school, district, and community. Explore our school leadership training programs today.

The Institute became a year-long program delivering a powerful, 3-pronged curriculum: leadership development training from CCL, instructional excellence training from the state’s Department of Education, and management skills training from the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business. Quarterly, 3-day sessions brought together between 25 and 30 principals and superintendents from diverse backgrounds, schools, and school districts.

Solution & Results

As a result of the Institute’s work, South Carolina has a new cadre of leaders creating a student-centered environment and improving outcomes in schools across the state.

Surveys show program graduates are putting lessons learned into practice. They are taking an entrepreneurial approach to their work and promoting collaboration and consensus-building. They are strong problem solvers, navigate systems effectively, and know how to create a culture of ethics. They communicate their own excitement about learning and focus attention on student achievement.

In fact, the program is developing the level of public school leadership that research demonstrates is linked to student achievement. Importantly, the gains in leadership effectiveness seem unrelated to years of service. So early-career principals and superintendents are performing at the same level as those with far more experience, helping the Department of Education maintain high competency levels as senior educators retire.

Program Impact

Follow-up studies at 2 elementary schools led by SLEI graduates confirm the positive — and tangible — impact of the program. Students are performing at higher levels, discipline problems have plummeted, and teachers are far more satisfied in their work. Strong, effective leadership is helping principals achieve results that matter.

Participants Say