Making the transition from a school setting into a district setting is something many educators want to do to advance their careers. A quality school district leader certificate program can help educators obtain the skills needed for positions in regional and district leadership as well as prepare them for the district certification.
The Bank Street School District Leader Program is designed to empower those pursuing educational leadership with the tools they need for “collaborative, compassionate, and humanistic change” at the district or regional level.
And because the leadership program from Bank Street Graduate School is offered online, it provides the needed flexibility for educators to attend school while holding a full-time job. Online degrees and certificates have made it more convenient to make the transition into educational leadership roles.
Why Become a School District Leader?
The need for well-qualified leaders in the field of education continues to grow. The New York City metropolitan area, for example, is one of the top employers of school administrators in the country, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, with 21,790 administrators in the area.
Educators impact learning no matter where they work—whether in the smallest elementary school classroom or in a packed college auditorium—the kind of difference district and regional leaders can make is a matter of scale. For some, the move into leadership is often driven by a desire to make a greater impact or address an important issue like access and equity.
In a panel discussion on educational leadership hosted by Bank Street College, Evan Jenkins, Achievement Director of High School Math at KIPP New Jersey, said that he moved into a leadership role because he wanted to “test what more I could do and who else I could reach and collaborate with.”
For Jenkins, becoming a leader has placed him in “the productive struggle toward making sure that all children have access to really joyful schools where teachers feel supported and where families are involved.”
How a Certificate Prepares You for Leadership
With Bank Street’s School District Leader certificate program, leaders obtain the skills they need to successfully make the transition. They are taught how to strengthen their decision-making skills, develop and initiate district-level policies, handle the challenge of collaborating with other adults, and manage practical issues like budgets and goal-setting at the district level.
At Bank Street, they also learn the skills needed to supervise and support school and district administrators with a progressive approach to education, including active learning structures and the social-emotional and culturally responsive methods that can transform the way teachers teach and students learn.
