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The goal of the Michigan Principals Fellowship is to increase the capacity of the school principal and instructional leadership team in the following areas:

Leadership for change:
School improvement is difficult in part because people – individually and collectively – often resist change. Effective change leaders communicate clearly, compellingly and consistently a vision of improved teaching and learning. They marshal and allocate resources to support that vision, and find ways to remove or reduce the real and perceived barriers that inhibit change.
Changing the culture of a school to include internal accountability:
School cultures are based on underlying beliefs about students, the nature of teaching and learning, and the role effort plays in student and adult achievement. School cultures range from toxic to accountable – a culture in which the adults in the school hold themselves, their students and each other accountable for student achievement. MPF participants learn key strategies for confronting conditions that undermine learning by deepening their conviction, growing their competence and focusing on the surrounding conditions that can support or hamper a professional community's work.
Multiple sources and uses of data for instructional improvement:
Understanding and using and data is the surest way to improve student achievement. State data provides the information needed to identify school improvement goals. School data can focus the work needed to clarify and address a particular problem. Examining student work helps to inform instruction and using classroom data helps in monitoring student progress. MPF participants will use the Data for Student Success website and its Professional Development Modules and Inquiry Tools to support and sustain a culture of quality data.
Shared understanding about effective teaching and what it looks like in practice:
"One of the greatest barriers to school improvement is the lack of an agreed-upon definition of what high-quality instruction looks like…yet, time and again, educators meet to try to solve instructional problems without a common understanding of what they are trying to achieve in the classroom." It is essential that school improvement teams discuss and begin to share a vision of effective teaching in order for any instructional changes to happen in a school. MPF participants will learn how to define and identify effective teaching by viewing, describing and analyzing its elements.
The professional knowledge base for teaching:
The key concepts that exist in the professional knowledge base for teaching can be grouped into areas of performance, repertoire and matching. In successful teaching, there is a comprehensive awareness of all of the areas of performance. Skillful teachers are conscious of the repertoire of options they have in any given situation and choose appropriately in each area of performance to best match the needs of students, curriculum, and circumstances.
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Instructional program coherence:
Instructional program coherence describes a set of interrelated programs for students and staff that are guided by a common framework for curriculum, instruction, assessment and learning climate, and that are pursued over a sustained period. Schools characterized by instructional program coherence are more likely to show student achievement gains than schools undertaking multiple, unrelated efforts.
The instructional core:
The instructional core consists of the interactions of teachers and students in the presence of content. Increases in student learning occur only as a result of improvements in the level of content, the knowledge and skill of the teacher, and student engagement. Changing any one of these component parts requires change in the other two.
Models of effective turnaround practice:
Although there is no single turnaround model that will work for every school, all successful models share an emphasis on having a clear and focused direction. Three key areas to target include focusing on literacy, math, and discipline; achieving quick wins to boost confidence; and cultivating teacher teams.
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Work throughout the three-year cycle of the Fellowship focuses on creating and expanding the essential school conditions for improved student achievement. Rather than an off-the-shelf program, the Fellowship is designed to build the collective capacity of the adults within a school and its particular context.

The organization of the Fellowship work ensures that principals and teachers have the fundamentals to begin and sustain instructional improvement in their schools as well as the practical tools and skills to identify which changes will translate into significant gains in student achievement.

Year One: Beginning the Work Year Two: Deepening the Work Year Three: Sustaining the Work

Working as a team, the principal, school improvement coach (see below) and instructional leadership team work on:

  • Creating a culture of improvement, including an accountable professional community
  • Creating a collective vision of what is possible, including a shared understanding of instructional program coherence and the role students have in their own education
  • Understanding the data available to inform decisions about instructional improvement
  • Learning about the change process and how it impacts staff, students and families
  • Developing a clear understanding of effective instruction that leads to improved student achievement
  • Identifying effective organizational structures that support improved student achievement

The principal, coach and leadership team continue their growth by:

  • Expanding the capacity to implement effective instructional and leadership practice
  • Increasing skills in using data and in helping others become adept in data analysis
  • Continuing to learn how to manage complex change in schools
  • Using the school improvement plan, identifying an appropriate problem of practice and theory of action in order to provide focus for school improvement efforts that will leverage the greatest student improvement
  • Expanding the accountable professional community to include feeder schools and central offices

The principal, coach and leadership team work on institutionalizing a culture of accountable practice by:

  • Developing proficiency to implement the strategies that result in increased student achievement.
  • Demonstrating data proficiency in all aspects of the school’s work
  • Ensuring instructional program coherence across and between grade levels/subjects
  • Planning for continued progress
  • Continuing an emphasis on effective and efficient school organization

Participants in the Michigan Principals Fellowship are strongly encouraged to include a school improvement (leadership) coach as part of their reform plan and budget. Just as principals are the key mechanism for improving instructional quality in schools, leadership coaches are the key mechanism for providing on-site support that builds the capacity of school leadership teams.

Specifically, the role of a leadership coach is to increase the capacity of school leaders to develop and exercise skills and practices related to visionary, instructional and operational leadership, as well as the cross-cutting skills needed to exercise leadership in all areas. For this reason, schools are strongly encouraged to include a leadership coach in their SIG proposals and budgets.

The Michigan Coaches Institute, also developed by the MSU Office of K-12 Outreach Programs for the Statewide System of Support, has developed a cadre of highly trained leadership coaches focused on building the capacity of principals to turn around struggling schools.

Through the Michigan Coaches Institute, effective coaches have developed both a mindset—a way of approaching and thinking about coaching—and a skill set—specific competencies related to coaching practice—that equip them to help principals and other school leaders build the capacity to turn around troubled schools. They leverage their knowledge, skills, experience and demonstrated expertise in building the capacity of principals to lead systematic instructional improvements and turn around high priority schools.

A supportive community of learners is developed through active participation in a combination of residential summer institutes and ongoing seminars throughout the school year. Teams of six faculty/professional staff members and the principal work to create and sustain a common commitment to a shared understanding of what effective practice is and what practices need to change to produce improved student outcomes.

New schools in the Fellowship meet for four two-day seminars during the school year (eight days total). Continuing schools engage in a three-day summer institute and five one-day seminars (eight days total). All institutes and seminars are held on the campus of Michigan State University. All schools involved in the Fellowship have access to interactive online support and other program resources.

All schools are asked to create a school leadership team. Each team includes the school principal and six faculty/professional staff members. In order to build a solid foundation and facilitate continued growth, schools are required to maintain a minimum of four consistent members across the three-year Fellowship cycle. A leadership coach or other trained facilitator is required to attend all on-campus events.

A three-year school commitment is required for Fellowship participation. Once commitment paperwork has been finalized, annual invoices will be sent to the participating school.

The total fee for participation in the Michigan Principals Fellowship over three years is $165,165. Annual invoices of $55,055 will be sent at the beginning of each fiscal year. This fee does not include a school improvement coach. Districts should inquire about the availability of coaches through their ISD.

  • Four two-day seminars (eight total days on the MSU campus)
  • All meals
  • All required books, binders and support materials
  • Online support community
  • Access to discounted hotel rooms
  • Three-day Summer Institute (three days on the MSU campus)
  • Five one-day seminars (five days on the MSU campus)
  • All meals (only one dinner will be provided during the Summer Institute)
  • All required book, binders and support materials
  • Online support community
  • Access to discounted hotel rooms

Contact

Office of K-12 Outreach Programs

College of Education

Michigan State University

263 Erickson Hall

East Lansing, MI 48824

Phone: 517.353.8950

Email: nauss@msu.edu