Texas Education Agency Awards $3 Million Grant to APQC for Leadership Program

HOUSTON - Up to 300 principals from Texas schools will receive extensive professional development and mentoring. The pilot program is being launched with a primary goal to transform school leadership and, through this process, to improve student achievement, graduation rates and teacher retention in their schools.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has awarded APQC, a non-profit global resource for process and performance improvement, a grant for $3,314,501 to develop and implement a School Leadership Pilot Program (SLPP) for principals over the next 15 months. APQC will collaborate with the University of Houston-Victoria to deliver the program. The TEA grant requires the involvement of a business school at an institution of higher education to develop program course work that focuses on management and business training.

Working with principals of both academically acceptable and unacceptable schools, the program is designed to develop the leadership skills of existing and aspiring principals to affect organizational change, implement best practices and transform the learning community of a school to sustain continuous, measurable improvement. All principals of academically unacceptable campuses are required to attend the program. In addition, any principal or person interested in becoming a principal may apply for the program.

“APQC and UHV are uniquely qualified to deliver the School Leadership Pilot Program. Our plan employs a holistic approach to leadership development. The program will impart best practices in business and education; blend practical, theoretical and clinical experiences with classroom instruction; and incorporate active learning processes such as peer coaching and case studies,” remarked APQC CEO Dr. C. Jackson Grayson. “We intend to work with principals and stakeholders to create change of the magnitude that will result in better outcomes for all - raised student achievement and graduation rates and increased teacher retention.”

“We are excited about partnering with APQC to enhance the quality of school leadership statewide,” said Charles Bullock, Dean of the UHV School of Business Administration.