Bally’s Atlantic City hosted the NJ Charter School Association annual conference for all charter school personnel. This year the overall turnout was not as strong as it has been in past years. Yet the programming was as robust as ever and the sessions were extremely meaningful according to the participants that stopped by the Seton Hall University (SHU) booth (#202).
Speakers that were featured included the Director of Charter Schools, Detroit Public Schools Kish Verdusco and Kim Guadagno, Lt. Governor who both spoke about the growth of the charter movement both nationally and in the State of New Jersey.
The SHU Department of Education Leadership, Management and Policy was represented by Drs. Melvin Katz and Al Galloway who led a highly interactive session about the qualities of charter school leadership. Dr. Katz directed the discussion with a comparison of the daily challenges that charter school leaders are faced with compared to most traditional public school leaders. His presentation rapidly generated a bevy of comments about exactly what charter school leaders must do to navigate the shortage of staff, working without a central office to call upon for assistance while simultaneously cultivating the talents of teachers.
Dr. Katz began by asking all the participants for self-introductions. During the session about 20 participants wandered into the session and ironically most of those in attendance were administrators. Having a room full of experienced leaders fueled a discussion that allowed those with differing approaches to share their experience. It also helped those who were aspiring to leadership to ask questions about how to proceed.
One of the recent graduates of Seton Hall’s Charter School Cohort for aspiring principals attended and made a point that the discussion was rooted in the curriculum that is provided during the 22 month degree program, which is offered in SHU’s Education Leadership, Management and Policy (ELMP) program. The ELMP program recently graduated a cohort of aspiring charter school leaders in August 2014. Focusing on the goals of great school leaders the program was tailored to the needs of the charter schools in New Jersey. For more information about the program contact us Education Leadership, Management & Policy, 133 Jubilee Hall, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ 07079. http://blogs.shu.edu/edleader/about/
