FADSS
provides a comprehensive leadership development program for Florida
superintendents. Leadership development opportunities are available to
superintendents as soon as they are appointed or elected to the superintendency
beginning with the New Superintendent Orientation Program and continuing
throughout the superintendency with a progression of leadership development
activities.
The
following programs are included:
- New Superintendent Orientation Program – This program provides superintendents
opportunities to increase their understanding of their roles as the chief
executive officers of school systems, to acquire information needed to
successfully fulfill their responsibilities and to gain insights from
experienced superintendents on successful practices of the superintendency.
- Superintendent Mentoring Program – The intent of the Mentoring Program is to
provide support for each new superintendent during the first year in office to
bridge the gap between previous experience and the expectations of the
superintendent’s office. Mentor superintendents are successful, experienced
Florida Superintendents who have been specifically trained to be mentors.
Mentors can be of assistance in many ways such as providing an objective
perspective, providing feedback and serving as a resource for effective best
practices.
- Superintendent Special Certification Program – This program is designed to provide
superintendents with the managerial and leadership information needed to
successfully fulfill their responsibilities. The program includes training on
the following topics:
- Legal
Aspects of Leading a Florida School District
- Economic
Forces Impacting Education
- Employee
Relations and Collective Bargaining
- Superintendents
Leadership Role in Improving Student Achievement
- Core
Concepts of Leadership
- Chief Executive Officer Leadership Development
Program – This program is a
leadership development and performance compensation program that is comparable
to chief executive officer development programs for corporate executive
officers. The program includes two phases. Phase I is the
content-knowledge-skills phase which is a formalized training program that
focuses on information and skill development necessary for highly effective
superintendents. Phase II is the competency acquisition phase in which each
superintendent has a structured opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills
acquired in Phase I for the continuous improvement of the school district. Each
superintendent engaged in Phase II designs a Learning Project to address the
improvement needs of their districts and carries out the project for one-year.
During Phase II the superintendent maintains a reflective thinking journal as
he/she implements their Learning Project. The superintendent is also assigned a
Learning Partner to provide support and guidance during the Learning Project.