Where is the quality professional devel-
opment that Silberberg speaks of? One new example is the curriculum
being offered through Leading Edge Alli- ance. The Alliance is a group of educational leaders who came together under an idea put forward by Mike Lawrence, executive director of Computer Using Educators. He felt strongly we should look at what is on the horizon, and what we are doing to prepare our teachers and administrators for these changes in our schools. Responding to this challenge, the Alliance was born. This group of outstanding educators has
been working for the last few years to de- velop trainings and certification programs for teachers and administrators on many of these new areas that are not being taught in our traditional credentialing programs. The Alliance has developed a certification program for teachers of blended and online classrooms, which has received raves and was featured in Education Week, as well as many other publications. In July 2012, the certification program for administrators was launched. The training and certification program
for administrators took more than a year to develop, field test and pilot. The six- to eight-week curriculum has the most up-to- date resources available anywhere, and was developed by outstanding leaders across the state. The majority of the Leading Edge Certification training is done online, which allows you to work it around your schedule. The participant-to-trainer ratio is very low, which allows for a lot of one-to-one help. Nobody needs one more thing to do. So
why should you spend your precious time going through this program? Besides the certificate and the impressive electronic badge you will receive, the skills, expertise and credibility you will develop and employ will help you lead your school or district much more effectively, and ultimately help your students excel. Even though the program began this
summer, many have been following its cre- ation and helped in the development and fine-tuning of the certification. In a recent conversation, Bob Price, su-
perintendent of Empire School District and recipient of ACSA’s Marcus Foster Award,
Tim Landeck, a technology leader for
many years and the director of technology for Pajaro Valley Unified School District, took the training this summer. I was re- ally curious how someone with his skill set would view the certification program. Tim was one of the first participants to sign up and said after completion of the course, “I found the coursework to be relevant and in- triguing, and it opened my eyes to a variety of ways to further support the integration of technology into the K-12 environment.”
Hands-on tools for staying current Sandy Miller, leader of the ACSA Tech-
nology Academies and a summer graduate of LEC said, “The Leading Edge Certifica- tion Program for administrators provides the latest information, as well as hands-on experience for today’s educational leaders. Most importantly, it provided me with the tools for staying current with technology and working with principals and teachers.” Staying current is important to all of us.
With the Common Core Standards, we will be expected to have many things in place in
ter experience than what is now available through Leading Edge Certification. “ACSA acknowledges that the world is
changing and kids are different. Our schools must meet these changes or quickly become outdated. For this to happen, school leaders must keep their skills and knowledge at a high level.” He added, “Every administrator needs to ask himself or herself: Are my skills keeping up with these changes?”
How to get involved If you are looking for a way to obtain a
new certification in technology, or just look- ing for some new ideas for your school or district, this may be the training for you. You can view the public domain curriculum at
https://sites.google.com/site/lecfta/home. To find out more about how to get involved in the certification program for administra- tors, visit http://leadingedgecertification. org. n
Rowland Baker is director, Technology
Information Center for Administrative Leadership. November/December 2012 29
said, “Today’s leaders need to be more than just tech savvy – much more. They need to have leadership skills, to know how to use data to drive decisions and understand digi- tal citizenship. Leading Edge Certification can provide site and district leaders with the skills they need for effective 21st cen- tury leadership. The certification is proof of a skill set that leaders can bring to an em- ployer to ensure demonstrated proficiency.”
our schools to ensure success of our students when measured against these standards. Superintendent Kevin Silberberg ex-
plained, “Learning, teaching, assessment and technology infrastructure are four areas targeted nationally and within our state for major changes. This certification program is designed specifically to equip the leader to be a successful ‘navigator’ in the new paradigms of learning. I can’t think of a bet-
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