NCPFPTP3-102220-03 ECU Principal Fellows Grant Year 6 Grant uri icon

abstract

  • Abstract The PIRATE Leadership Academy (PLA) at East Carolina University will prepare effective Principals from eastern NC, for eastern NC, who Innovate, Revitalize, Advocate, and Transform Education for all students, families, and teachers. The PIRATE Leadership Academy will build on ECU's nationally accredited principal preparation program (NPBEA, 2013) as it collaborates with superintendents and principals across eastern North Carolina to recruit and identify the best teacher leaders in schools who have a desire to lead and serve their communities as school principals. The PIRATE Leadership Academy's Design The PLA will provide four cohorts of 16 PIRATE Fellows over the course of the five-year grant, for a total of 64 PIRATE Fellows by 2025. PIRATE Fellows will complete a two-year transformational principal preparation program, including a first-year Leadership Residency, and a second year 10-month, full-time internship. PLA faculty and leadership coaches will travel to the rural school sites to deliver leadership training and provide leadership coaching. During the first year of the program, the PLA will provide a $45,000 stipend to each PIRATE Fellow to allow them to "take a leave of absence" from their current role and immerse themselves into "retooling" for the principalship, while they complete the first year of their Leadership Residency and MSA program at ECU. During the second year of the program, PIRATE Fellows will receive an internship stipend from the State of North Carolina which will be the equivalent of a first-year assistant principal's 10-month salary. The PIRATE Fellows will complete a 10-month, full-time internship in their partnership school. Finally, the PLA will provide PIRATE Fellows the training and support they need to become highly qualified instructional leaders, who can work effectively with diverse rural school communities. The PIRATE Leadership Academy's Mission and Benefits to High-Need School Districts in Eastern North Carolina The PLA will prepare Principals from ENC for ENC. The PLA will recruit and prepare principals in ENC by identifying and nurturing the best future principals who have demonstrated a history of service to, and a strong commitment for their schools in rural eastern North Carolina. The PLA will also Innovate to "Tap" and Access the Best Talent in ENC. The PLA will collaborate with superintendents and district leaders to identify and "tap" the best teacher leaders who have not seriously considered entering the principal pipeline due to potential financial costs related to graduate school and the inconveniences (i.e. time, travel commitments, maintaining a work/life balance) of retooling to become an effective principal for their school and community. The PLA will Revitalize and Retain Leaders who can Revitalize ENC Schools. The PLA will train and revitalize future principals, who understand and promote restorative and vitality practices for themselves and others. The PLA will also prepare principals who are effective Advocates for All Students, All Families, and All Teachers, for the purpose of advocating to break the generational cycles of student burnout, student dropout, and student poverty. The PLA will prepare Transformational Leaders who Build Leadership Capacity in ENC, who are becoming transformed as they grow and learn "best leadership practices," and who in turn, take what they have learned, and share these "best leadership practices" with others. Finally, PLA will prepare principals who have an Educational View of ENC today and ENC in 2030, who are optimistic, hopeful, and look to the future, and who can review and analyze today's school data and determine the organizational trends and supervise strategic improvement plans to ensure student success, with an understanding of where we hope to be as a school in one year, two years, five years, and in the year 2030.

date/time interval

  • July 2025 - June 2026