CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS

State Certification for School Building Leaders

Imagine being the principal at a New York City public school in today's climate, reading about the failure of public education in the morning newspaper, then returning home to receive another dose of criticism from the nightly news. Be sure that a day would not pass without a reminder of your shortcomings and a disregard for many of your positive accomplishments. In this very rough climate of little support and lots of scrutiny, there is a great need for exceptional educational leaders. These individuals must possess the confidence and passion to lead our schools, and, even more importantly, they must be prepared to weather this climate and to continue to lead effectively in spite of it. Our rigorous program, coupled with our supportive faculty, can help you meet that challenge.

The Scaffolded Apprenticeship Model (SAM) is a School Building Leadership certification program that integrates leadership skill development into the work of school improvement.

What makes SAM an apprenticeship model is that the learning is embedded in the work participants do in their schools:

their schools are the subject of study
professional literature is used to shed light on and augment craft knowledge
action research links theory and practice and
success is measured based upon participants’ capacity to lead improved student outcomes in the schools in which they work.

scaffolded

Developed in 2003 through a grant by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, SAM’s core principles and structures have formed the basis of the New York City Department of Education’s Children First Initiative inquiry team process as well as credentialing programs and school reform efforts in Boston, Massachusetts and the Bay Area in California.

Findings from ongoing longitudinal evaluation of the SAM program support SAM’s theory of change. Specifically, research findings suggest that SAM is a powerful model for improving outcomes for struggling students and for developing ongoing capacity for continual school improvement.

Since 2004 SAM has been offered exclusively to teams of practitioners working in selected New York City public schools.

For the first time the School of Public Affairs at Baruch College is pleased to be able to accept applications for the SAM program from individuals (as well as teams) working in any New York City public school.

The 24 credit School Building Leadership certification program will begin in Spring 2011 and conclude in Fall 2012 and include:

14 weekly 4 hour seminars per semester
One all-day school site visit per semester
4 day intensive each summer
Regular individual coaching

Additional Requirements for SBL Applicants

Please contact the Office of Graduate Admissions for additional application requirements and information about suggested essay topics and letters of recommendation.

In addition to the overall Admissions requirements, each applicant must have earned a Master's Degree since this is a post-Masters program. A 3.0 minimum GPA earned on in the graduate degree and 3 or more years of full-time teaching and/or school-based work experience is mandatory. Applicants without a Master's degree must complete the MSEd before being recommended for SBL or SDL certification.