New collaboration with UW-Madison lets 3 Wisconsin school districts grow their own principals (2024)

When two assistant principals in the Lake Mills School District announced plans to leave their jobs last summer, district administrator Tonya Olson immediately knew two current teachers who would be perfect candidates for the jobs.

They both had previous leadership experience, great relationships with staff and were grounded in the Lake Mills community. But without master’s degrees, they lacked the level of education required for assistant principals in Wisconsin.

None of the external candidates for the job were the right fit, either, Olson said, but she knew she had to fill the positions as soon as possible.

“It’s like, you have the ideal candidate right here in your district, but yet they don’t have the license,” she said. “It forces you to look outward of your district, and I don’t think that’s a great retention strategy.”

While Olson found a creative solution to fill the openings on short notice, she knew it wasn’t a permanent fix for the barriers that prevent educators from working as principals and assistant principals, notably, the cost and time commitment of master’s programs.

A new collaboration between the UW-Madison School of Education and three Wisconsin school districts — Madison, Lake Mills and Middleton-Cross Plains — proposes a solution: Through the District Leadership Preparation Pipeline, a group of Wisconsin teachers will earn their master’s degree from UW-Madison for no cost. In return, they commit to working in their home school districts as a principal or assistant principal for at least two years.

Teachers get to further their education and increase their salaries, and districts get to expand their pool of qualified leaders.

“Pre Act 10, when teachers took credit for master classes, the compensation was there to pick yourself back up on the pay scale, so it made sense to go back for a master’s degree,” Olson said, referring to the 2011 law that effectively ended most public sector labor unions in Wisconsin. “But now, I think with teacher compensation not keeping pace with inflation, it has become increasingly difficult for teachers to go back to school for any type of master’s degree.”

Sasha Casper, one of the Middleton-Cross Plains teachers who is participating, said colleagues have frequently encouraged her to consider moving into leadership roles.

“I started to pay attention. People are saying that for a reason,” Casper said. “I need to pay attention to what they are seeing in me as well and honor that.”

Filling a gap

School districts are increasingly looking to their own communities to recruit new educators. Through “grow your own” programs, higher education institutions partner with school districts to train and hire staff from a specific geographic region.

Research on these programs suggests that homegrown teachers have higher rates of retention. Research also shows alternative teacher preparation programs recruit more people of color into teaching jobs.

In the Madison School District, grow-your-own programs have been available for years for teachers looking to get licensed in special or bilingual education, or in mental health training. Statewide, the UW-Madison Teacher Pledge pays tuition for education students in return for a commitment to work in a Wisconsin school for three to four years.

Despite the current offerings, master’s programs are often still out of reach for teachers who want to move into leadership roles.

“We’re very concerned about the shortage of people who are credentialed to be building leaders and principals,” said Diana Hess, the former dean of the School of Education at UW-Madison. Hess stepped down from her role as dean to return to a faculty position this summer.

“We know principals are one of the biggest reasons why a school is successful,” said Jen Schoepke, director of special projects for the Madison School District.

The two teachers from Lake Mills, Brad Smith and Justin Annen, are among those participating in the new leadership development program. Three teachers from Middleton-Cross Plains and 20 teachers from the Madison School District also are part of the first cohort.

A grant from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development for $291,000 is funding some of the tuition for participants.

The Madison School District set aside $100,000 of its proposed 2024-25 budget to fund its share of the program, while the UW-Madison School of Education committed $125,000 in scholarships for the 25 participants.

Program details

The 25 teachers begin the 14-month master’s program this month. The bulk of the work will take place over the next two summers.

During the academic year, teachers also will take courses on Fridays and Saturdays, and complete a field placement experience with a participating principal.

Many of the teachers said they have wanted to return to school for a master’s degree for years.

In Middleton and Madison, interested teachers had to apply for the program. There were about 50 applicants in Madison, Schoepke said.

Madison teachers have a three-year service requirement in the district after completing the program. They will likely work as a principal, assistant principal or instructional coach.

In Lake Mills, Smith and Annen were identified as future school leaders before the leadership pipeline program became available. They are set to become assistant principals, Olson said.

“I think that being able to communicate with other districts and collaborate with them and bounce ideas will definitely be beneficial for us,” Smith said.