Abstract:

School directors constitute the second most influential intra-school factor in students' achievement (Leithwood et al., 2004). Therefore, alongside the selection and assignment of school principals, their training is essential for achieving the purposes of education. In the Dominican Republic, Institute 512 has established a continuous professional development program for school directors, which has certified over 2,100 directors of public centers, academic coordinators, school counselors, district and regional directors, and technicians since 2014.

For this purpose, an agreement was established with Barna Management School, a specialized institution of higher education and the country's leading business school, to study the perceptions that public school directors had regarding the effectiveness of their roles. This led to the design of a certification in leadership and educational management, with linkage and support for the implementation in the field of what was learned in the training space. The case method has been used as the main learning methodology, as is the case in executive development programs for managers of companies and public institutions. The case discussions consider the school context in which the trained directors operate.

The certification in leadership and educational management lasts a total of 104 hours, in a hybrid format (in-person and virtual). The certification is organized into 6 modules, which include: leadership and managerial function in the school; strategic institutional management; operations management and school administration; impactful pedagogical management, internal relations management, and external relations management. Case discussions are complemented by workshops, film forums, lectures, and supplementary readings as part of the training strategies.

Participants in the program are supported throughout via WhatsApp groups and personalized attention through a help desk. Once the process is concluded, these groups remain active and are integrated into the Community 512, currently composed of more than 50,000 teachers, technicians, coordinators, counselors, and school directors participating in different professional development programs of Institute 512. Likewise, school principals who complete the program have access to other courses, which are part of the training offer designed to continue strengthening capacities and better address the needs of the educational centers they support and lead (e.g., certification on leadership in crisis situations in the school context; workshop for the development of school improvement plans; workshop for problem analysis in educational contexts).

According to program data, participants in the certification in leadership and educational management have a program retention and completion rate between 85% to 95%. Similarly, they mention in the evaluations conducted in each cohort the practicality of the program in terms of the immediate application of what they have learned in their work in schools, as well as the value it adds to their participation in competitive exams to occupy other managerial positions within the education system.

Keywords:

Leadership and educational management, professional development program, strengthening capacities.