PRINCESS ANNE – (May 27, 2011) – A $1 million federal grant to train “Great Principals for Maryland” will be used by two public universities to collaborate in offering classes at a new Lower Eastern Shore School Leadership Institute.
A four-year Race to the Top grant has been awarded to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Salisbury University, sister institutions in the University System of Maryland. The institute begins operation in August.
Planners say aspiring principals who enroll in the institute will learn strategies to lead public schools and help students reach annual performance goals. A focus of the training is closing the achievement gap between student groups.
The institute will partner with county school systems in Wicomico, Worcester, Somerset, Dorchester and Talbot to identify potential candidates.
“Receiving this grant is another indicator of the close cooperation between the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Salisbury University,” said Charles Williams, UMES’ vice president for academic affairs. “This leadership institute will further our efforts to serve and support the public schools on the Eastern Shore.”
The TIAA-CREF Institute honored the two universities in 1998 with a Theodore M. Hesburgh Award in recognition of a joint effort to establish an undergraduate dual-degree program in environmental/marine science and biology at their respective institutions.
“Salisbury University and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore have had a distinguished history of collaboration,” said Diane Allen, SU’s provost and senior vice president of academic affairs. “Our mutual commitment to education and teacher preparation makes this leadership institute a natural and welcome partnership between our two institutions.”
The institute will partner with New Leaders for New Schools, a nationally recognized non-profit organization that recruits and trains principals to be highly effective in managing low-performing schools. NLNS is providing expertise and support in selecting participants as well as helping with their professional development.
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