Developing Leaders for Urban Schools: The Baltimore Experience

Baltimore has developed an innovative academy that prepares and develops public school leaders with the assistance of area corporations, not-for-profit businesses, and institutions of higher education. Much of the activity that led to the creation of Academy for Educational Leadership was done largely though the visible and facilitating leadership of Baltimore's superintendent and leaders from the Greater Baltimore Committee, a strategic planning and problem solving organization with longstanding ties to Baltimore and its business community. This article outlines the core leadership domains adopted by the Baltimore City Public Schools, reviews mechanisms used to deliver quality professional development to school leaders, and discusses educational accountability challenges facing Academy for Educational Leadership participants.