South Carolina Principal Leadership Network Improves Leadership Capacity and Coaching Skills
February 23, 2024
Principals play a pivotal role in school improvement and student success. Effective principals foster a school culture of high standards, trust, professional development, and supportive structures where both teachers and students continuously learn. To develop effective leaders in South Carolina schools, a partnership was formed between the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET), the University of South Carolina (UofSC), and the Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity (BranchED) in 2020. The partnership, named the South Carolina Principal Leadership Network (SCPLN) and funded by the federal Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant, provided school leaders with evidence-based training, on-site coaching, and networking opportunities via communities of practice (CoPs) over a two-year period.
Since its inception, the SCPLN has impacted over 170 school leaders from 78 schools in five high-poverty districts across the state—Laurens County School District 55, Orangeburg County School District, School District of Pickens County, South Carolina Public Charter School District, and Spartanburg School District One. By the end of the grant, survey results revealed the following impact among responding school leaders:
· 95% reported improved coaching skills.
· 92% reported improved leadership capacity.
· 86% reported increased opportunities to network and collaborate with other school leaders.
· 91% indicated their capacity to lead and strengthen programs to develop positive relationships among students improved.
· An 18-point increase in the percentage of responding school leaders reporting being confident in leading and strengthening STEM programs.
Learn more about the SCPLN here.
