FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

7/25/05
Bill Doncaster
(617) 349-8525
wdoncast@lesley.edu

Lesley University Launches New Ph.D. in Educational Leadership for School Principals

New National Partnership Focuses on School Improvement/Student Achievement

Cambridge, MA -- Lesley University has launched a new Ph.D program to prepare principals nationwide with the skills and knowledge needed to transform the schools they lead and improve student academic performance. In partnership with the National Institute of School Leadership (NISL), the Ph.D. in Educational Leadership combines executive-level professional development with Ph.D. level courses on management, organizational change, educational theory and practices, and strategies for changing school cultures to improve student achievement.

“This is a unique program that meets an urgent national need,” said Lesley University President Margaret McKenna. “The change needed in our classrooms can't be undertaken without a new generation of leaders prepared in fundamentally new ways. This program focuses on the knowledge and skills necessary to lead for school success in an era of unprecedented educational challenges.”

NISL is a national initiative founded by the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) to provide leadership training to America's Principals. The culmination of a six-year, development and field testing effort, NISL brings best practices used to train corporate CEO's and battlefield commanders to the education field. With $10 million in investment from foundations, NISL seeks to train over 100,000 principals in this education program.

“We spent six years researching, designing, and developing a world-class curriculum that helps school leaders nationwide transform their schools into high-performance organizations,” said Marc Tucker, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy. “The degree program combines NISL's unparalleled research-based curriculum for principal training with Lesley University's unique strengths in graduate-level professional education, distance learning, and leadership development. We believe this will be the most innovative and powerful advanced degree opportunity in school leadership available nationwide.”

Lesley University is combining NISL's research-based approach to principal training with the University's strengths in graduate-level education, leadership development, and distance learning to create the new Ph.D. program. Students successfully completing the NISL program will earn 24 of the 60 course credits needed to complete the Ph.D. in Educational Leadership. To earn the Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, students must complete the required number of courses, and complete a qualifying paper and dissertation related to their NISL and Lesley University studies.

“By integrating theory, practice, research and policy the program offers an unmatched research-based approach to preparing leaders for the front lines of urgently needed school change,” McKenna said.

To learn more about the Lesley program, contact Dr. Isa Zimmerman, Director of Professional Education, ikzimmer@lesley.edu,617-349-8642; fax 617-349-8169.

Lesley University (www.lesley.edu) is a 12,000-student, multi-site university for women and men, is one of the nation’s largest providers of graduate professional education opportunities to K-12 educators. Anchored by a strong liberal arts curriculum, Lesley offers undergraduate and graduate programs in education, the arts, human services and the environment at its Cambridge and Boston campuses, online, and in 150 locations in 21 states. Lesley's four schools include the School of Education, the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences, The Art Institute of Boston, and Lesley College, an undergraduate residential college. Lesley University prepares individuals for lives and careers that make a difference, and serves the evolving needs of students and a diverse society through innovative programs and pedagogy, high quality instruction, scholarship, advocacy, and outreach.