Aspiring Minority School Leaders Program
North Carolina, like most states, faces the challenge of recruiting and retaining effective school leaders. In this age of increased accountability, research has taught us that school leaders are crucial to improving instruction and raising student achievement. Yet even with this changing landscape, one notable characteristic has remained intact: there is significant lack of school leaders of color. Leadership that represents the cultural and ethnic groups that make up U.S. society is important for all students because the world students will join as adults is richly diverse, and as schools become more culturally and ethnically diverse, there is a need to harness the untapped potential of diverse school leaders.
The North Carolina Advancing Charter Collaboration and Excellence for Student Success (NC ACCESS) Program in the Office of Charter Schools was excited to embark on the Aspiring Minority School Leaders Program in collaboration with Appalachian State University. The Aspiring Minority School Leaders Program was designed to recruit, support, and build a pipeline of minority school leaders prepared to meet the challenges of leading schools. North Carolina charter schools will benefit by having access to a cohort of school leaders of color who are exceptionally trained, ready to be part of innovative school reform initiatives, and ready to move into leadership positions with strengthened organizational and instructional leadership skills. The Aspiring Minority Leadership Program includes coursework, internship experiences, professional development, and mentoring.
The Aspiring Minority School Leaders Program engaged participants through an innovative and collaborative leadership development program selected the best and most motivated assistant principals, teacher leaders, and other aspiring administrators and provide them with practical and evidence-based training needed to lead North Carolina charter schools towards equitable student achievement. Through the project, North Carolina can not only meet the growing need for school-level charter administrators but will also build a pipeline of highly-qualified, well-prepared candidates of color capable of facing new challenges and inspiring change at the ground level.
NC ACCESS Program • Appalachian State
The NC ACCESS Program was privileged and honored to partner with Appalachian State University to offer the Aspiring Minority School Leaders Program. Candidates completed the online Master of School Administration (MSA) Add-on Licensure Program at Appalachian State University. The program is a 24-credit hour program. All candidates were required to meet the admission requirements for Appalachian State University to be considered for the program. Candidates completed their internship experience at their home-based school, with the school leader serving as the Mentor. Additionally, candidates attended the NC ACCESS Program’s yearlong ACCESS Fellowship. Upon completion of the Add-on Licensure Program and Fellowship experience, candidates earned a North Carolina School Administrator License.
What did it take to be eligible?
Applicants must:
Hold a master's degree with at least 3.0 GPA from a regionally accredited institution
Have at least three years of public-school teaching experience or equivalent experience in other settings (e.g., private school teaching; training in the private sector; etc.)
Have a North Carolina "A" or "M" teacher licensure or the equivalent from another state
Application Requirements:
Completed online application
Resume
Official transcripts must be submitted showing any completed degrees and transcripts showing any coursework completed at institutions other than Appalachian in the last five years
Three (3) references
Personal statement
ACCESS Fellowship Participation
In addition to the Appalachian State University Program, the program participants also attended the ACCESS Fellowship provided by the NC ACCESS Program to build supportive and collaborative networks, share best practices, and engage in critical conversations with state and national experts who have experience in leadership best practices developing, expanding and replicating successful high-quality schools, and/or working with educationally disadvantaged populations.
On, June 7, 2022, the Charter School Advisory Board recognized twelve educators from across the state who completed the program. During the recognition program Dr. Precious Mudiwa, Director of the MSA Program at Appalachian State University introduced her colleagues, Dr. Kimberly Money, and Dr. William Gummerson. She thanked Dr. O'Neal, the NC ACCESS Program Coordinator for choosing their program at Appalachian State University to start the first cohort of the Aspiring Minority School Leaders Program whose students were drawn from charter schools in North Carolina.
Dr. Mudiwa furthered stated that, “minorities are under-represented in all our programs. I can't over-emphasize the value of diversity, inclusion, and access in higher education. This partnership with charter schools and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction has increased racial diversity in our programs, enriched learning experiences for our students, and improved student and program outcomes. The charter school cohort brought alternative capital that we did not have as a program. I want to thank the students for working hard, under stressful conditions, and during the Covid-19 pandemic. We, the program faculty, are very proud of you and we extend our warmest congratulations to you. I want to thank our faculty who provided the guidance and mentorship to ensure that students were successful in this program.”
Lastly, Dr. Mudiwa reiterated that through the Aspiring Minority School Leaders Program, “NCDPI and the Office of Charter Schools demonstrated its commitment to addressing equity in school leadership by fully funding all students enrolled in the program. We are so grateful to the Office of Charter Schools and the NC ACCESS Program for this kind gesture, and we stand ready to work with you to prepare leaders who are committed to addressing equity issues in education. I just hope this collaboration between our university and partnering charter schools is going to be long-term and enduring.”