Blazing New Trails - Connexions

310 CRITICAL ISSUES IN EDUCATION LEADERSHIP PREPARATION
guide their resentment (So & Brush, 2008). Irrespective if the resistance is necessary or
worthwhile, or whether it continues, educational leadership preparation programs have
reached a crossroads. Advances in technology are causing educational leadership preparation
programs to at least begin the dialogue to reconsider the design and delivery of their
programs. Nationally, these programs are beginning to find creative and innovative ways to
ignite practical considerations in a design that showcases an attractive and systemic approach
to not only content and processes, but delivery as well (Condie & Livingston, 2007; Allen &
Seaman, 2008).
This phenomenon caused us to begin a dialogue to initiate changes in our educational
leadership preparation program. The advances in technology, coupled with Lamar’s initiative,
began to drive our programmatic preparation decisions in preparing our future educational
leaders. The purpose of our research was to share our design and to investigate this systems
thinking model as it relates to producing educational leaders who are prepared to handle the
duties and responsibilities of the job of educational leaders. This chapter reports on a case
study of one university’s experiences including changes and results in the initial year of
implementation. This case study was not intended for generalization. The intent of the study
was to compare the changes from face-to-face to an online experience and to contribute to the
dialogue within the profession concerning changes in the preparation of educational leaders.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The notion of providing an online educational leadership preparation program is not
new. Solid rationales have been provided for offering a nontraditional program. Prensky
(2001) suggested the need to move to design and delivery systems that support the working
conditions and habits of the digital natives. According to Prensky (2001), we are beginning to
educate the digital natives who have never known a world without technology as opposed to
the digital immigrants who did not grow up with technology.
Today's programs of educational leadership preparation are facing three major
challenges: (1) Questions as to the rigor and appropriateness of the program (2) Pressure to
increase enrollment as state dollars that fund higher education decrease, and (3) Competition
from radical innovations in the delivery models of the program. The first two challenges are
long-standing. Over the past 20 years, numerous groups have questioned the quality and
appropriateness of principal preparation programs offered throughout the United States
(Sherman, Gill, & Sherman, 2007). One of the most recent comes from Arthur Levine in his
2005 report Educating School Leaders. A common thread through all these challenges is the
focus on the "how" of educating school principals to be effective leaders and change agents.
In other words, should we have professional models (Baugh, 2003), or academic studies
models (Sergiovanni, 1988) or, perhaps, a clinical studies component (Daresh, 2001)?
As departments of educational leadership grapple with program design and
implementation, colleges and universities are struggling to provide the resources to support
quality programs. Financially, many universities have to do more with less. According to the
State Higher Education Executive Officers report in 2005, state funding for higher education
is at its lowest levels in 25 years. State legislatures’ attempts to fund social programs, prisons
and K-12 education frequently have resulted in reduced or level funding for universities. This
dwindling resource base leads to pressure to have higher student credit hour (SCH) levels and
increased student fees.
It is the third challenge, the entry of innovative delivery methods that is shaking the
very foundation of traditional university programs. Research from the business community