Jones Appoints School Leadership Board

Colorado education commissioner Dwight Jones today appointed members of the new School Leadership Academy Board, which was created by the General Assembly in the 2008 session.

The legislation authorizing the board requires the state to put in place a "School Leadership Academy Program," including a principal academy that would aim to improve the recruitment, training and ongoing professional development of school leadership in the state.

“We know there is a direct relationship between the knowledge and skills of the school principal and the quality of the learning environment," Jones said. "The members of this board will oversee the development of an important new resource for current and future school leadership.”

The leadership academy board's function is to advise the state Department of Education in overseeing the leadership academy program. Fourteen members will be appointed. Those confirmed to date are:

* Lynn Rhodes, Dean of Education, University of Colorado at Denver
* Floyd Beard, Executive Director, East Central Board of Cooperative Educational Services
* Bruce Caughey, Deputy Executive Director, Colorado Association of School Executives
* Jim Eck, Senior Director, McCREL (Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning)
* Linda Barker, Director of Teaching and Learning, Colorado Education Association
* Jane Urschel, Deputy Executive Director, Colorado Association of School Boards

Additional members will be appointed in the coming weeks.

The 14 board members will serve three-year terms. The board will set policies and procedures for the leadership academy program, monitor the program, define criteria for the department to use in selecting participants for the academy, determine curricular components of the program, and report annually to the Colorado State Board of Education.