Education Leadership
Virginia State Licensure Requirements
For leadership roles in K-12 education, there are minimum requirements that must be met to work in Virginia. The requirements are as follows:
Education. All candidates for the administrator position require a Masters degree from an accredited regional institution. There are no test scores required.
Experience. The candidate needs to have a minimum of three years of full-time experience working as instruction personnel in public or private school. The position requires a Virginia licensure. Experience is to ensure the administrator has the knowledge and understanding of the school environment and how to relate with the faculty.
Besides, the candidate needs to be through with the school leadership licensure assessment. Candidates who are after the initial administration and supervision endorsement and want to serve as the central office instructional personnel are not required to pass the school leadership licensure assessment (VBE, 2012).
To serve in both K-12 and public-school setting, both require higher education and an undergraduate in education. In addition, both require experience in working in a school setting. However, K-12 requires endorsements, while public schools require training from approved institutions.
The candidate needs to have one of the following additional requirements:
- The candidate needs to have completed training in administration and supervision from a regionally accredited higher institution and at least 320 hours of internship, providing exposure to multiple sites such as elementary, middle, high, agency, or central office (VBE, 2012). The internship also needs to be at places with a diverse population of students.
- For Virginia school division, the candidate needs to have trained in the evaluation of instruction, school law, and other areas as required by Virginia school superintendents employing the candidate (VBE, 2012).
- In addition to requirements in 2 above, the candidate needs to have additional training in school finance, special education, educational leadership, and other areas as required by Virginia school superintendents employing the candidate (VBE, 2012).
- The candidate seeking out-of-state administration and supervision endorsement needs a minimum of a master’s degree and a valid and current out-of-state license with an endorsement in supervision and administration (VBE, 2012).
Additional Qualifications
I believe the state’s licensure is the bare minimum requirement for school and district leaders and thus not sufficient for the role the officeholders undertake. They are there to filter out people who do not meet the criteria. Still, additional qualifications need to be checked before giving the work to any individual after achieving such requirements.
Other qualifications that I can add to the leadership requirements would involve background check on the leadership roles the candidate has undertaken in different lower levels of the candidate’s career. The candidate’s work also needs to have gained tangible positive outcomes. The measures used to determine if someone is qualified to lead a school include the performance of past roles. After meeting the requirements, the candidate needs to demonstrate the performance of their work and match the task that the candidate will undertake in the new position.
Some of the intangible attributes of an effective leader include emotional intelligence. Since all the candidates who apply for an advertised job already have the minimum education and professional requirements and have the required work experience, the differentiating factor is their emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence will also determine how the administrator will lead the institution or district with people from different backgrounds, opinions, and views and resolve conflicts between the individuals (Landry, 2019). An emotionally intelligent leader will know how to coach and mentor others (Landry, 2019).
References
Landry, L. (2019, April 3). Why Emotional Intelligence is Important in Leadership. HBS website. https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/emotional-intelligence-in-leadership
VBE. (2012). Advancing Virginia’s Leadership Agenda Guidance Document: Standards and Indicators for School Leaders and Documentation for the Principal of Distinction (Level II) Administration and Supervision Endorsement. Virginia Department of Education.