DFC | Current Events

Excellent LSCs Create Excellent Schools! Learn More about How To Collaborate With, Evaluate, and Select Your School's Principal
270 Chicago Principals May Be Hired or Re-Hired This Year -- Ensure That Your LSC Makes the Most Informed Decision Possible

To Be Announced

The research is clear. Chicago Public Schools that have raised student achievement in the last decade have both strong effective Local School Councils and strong effective principals.
• Excellents LSCs have an active working relationship with their principal. Excellent LSCs hold their principal accountable, but also respect their principal’s areas of authority.
• Excellent LSCs evaluate their principal fairly.
• Excellent LSCs select their school’s principal with great care.

During this year, almost 270 school principal positions are up for renewal. This total includes:
• About 200 principals whose contracts will end in the 2001-2002 school year;
• About 70 interim principals whom LSCs may replace or give regular contracts at any time.

If your principal's contract expires in 2002, you must conduct an evaluation this fall!

Take these critical steps now:
• Learn how to develop a stronger working relationship with your principal.
• Learn how to evaluate your principal carefully and fairly. If your principal’s contract expires in June 2002, your LSC must do another quality evaluation of your principal by February 1, 2002.
• Learn how to select the best possible principal — if your principal position becomes vacant or if you decide not to renew your principal’s contract.

To become an excellent LSC, you need to:
• Understand your legal rights and responsibilities in principal evaluation and selection.
• Understand how to work with your principal to improve the quality of teaching and learning. Are you recruiting, assisting, and recognizing first-rate teachers? Are you involving parents and community members in the educational process? Are you building the best school environment in which children can learn?

Learn about these and other key standards for evaluating and selecting the leader of your Chicago public school.

For more info, please call Victor or Valencia at
312/236-7252, ext. 241.

Co-Sponsored by the Center for School Leadership, College of Education, University of IL at Chicago