You can also access the below information in a pdf downloadable PDF.
Aspiring Leaders Program Expectations:
- Attendance at Institute #1 is mandatory to begin the program.
- Attend all institutes, seminars, and residency days. Be present. Arrive on time. Stay for the entire session. Follow the norms established by your cohort. If for some significant reason you cannot attend a seminar, you must make it up the following year when that seminar is offered.
- Engage fully in the lessons and activities, including pre-seminar and post-seminar work, such as assigned readings and bridging assignments.
- Engage fully in the Residency program.
- Notify your principal mentor of the bridging assignments identified by seminar facilitators prior to the corresponding residency day.
- Complete the residency log (see Section 4 and Appendix D) and all bridging assignments (see Section 5 and Appendix D).
- Successfully complete the ALP Culminating Assessment.
- In consultation with your ALP region/board contact, discuss and act on procedures and dates for funding, local PD fund protocols and deadlines.
Seminars/Summer Institutes
Summer Institutes are held in August - Summer Institute I in the first year of the ALP and Summer Institute II in the second year. Both are required program components.
Throughout the year, Seminars will be held with Friday sessions running from 1:00PM to 5:00PM and full day sessions on designated Saturdays. Seminar locations will be determined giving consideration to equitable travel distance for protégés and availability of sites.
Seminars held in November, January and February will be held on-line. The residency program will be held within individual regional centres/boards.
Residency Guidelines
Each protégé will complete eight days of residency experiences—one day after each of the seven seminars and one day after the second summer institute. The residency component is not job-shadowing, but rather a series of planned experiences that link to the seminars that precede the residency. Protégés will participate in a range of in-school leadership tasks, determined in part with their principal mentors. Residency days are intended to give protégés an opportunity to learn by doing and to apply what they are learning in the seminars.
Residency days include Bridging Assignments identified by seminar facilitators as well as other relevant school leadership experiences. Bridging assignment completion is compulsory.
Under the guidance of each ALP regional/board contact, ALP protégés will be matched with effective principals; ideally, with principals who are Nova Scotia Instructional Leadership Academy graduates. The residency component provides protégés the opportunity to learn under the mentorship of an experienced principal in the school setting.
Residency experiences and dates will be determined through discussions with the principal mentor before each residency day and then through regular check-ins with the mentor.
Bridging Assignments
An important part of the residency experience is the bridging assignment that protégés will complete under their mentors’ guidance. The bridging assignment provides a link (or “bridge”) between what was learned in each seminar and the residency experience.
The bridging assignment is a core task that protégés complete during the residency day that follows each seminar. The bridging assignment provides protégés with opportunities to learn by doing and to practice what they are learning in the seminars. Facilitators will assign and discuss the bridging assignment before the end of each seminar.
The bridging assignment provides a shared experience for all protégés and they are compulsory. Each protégé will share the results of their bridging assignment work at the beginning of the next seminar. Protégés are responsible for sharing the bridging assignment and discussing possible residency tasks with their mentors before each residency day.
The Culminating Assessment Overview
At the end of the program, each ALP participant will complete the Aspiring Leaders Program Culminating Assessment (CA).
The Culminating Assessment consists of a series of exercises and activities in which protégés will demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and dispositions acquired and honed through the ALP seminars, institutes, and residency experiences.
The Culminating Assessment Team: The culminating assessment will be coordinated and administered in each regional centre/board by a team consisting of representatives from Programs and Student Services and/or Human Resources and/or the Regional /Board Executive Director.
The Culminating Assessment Timeline:
- Scheduled by each Regional Centre /Board Culminating Assessment Team for a date before the end of October.
- The Culminating Assessment is a full-day event (8:30 AM-4:30 PM)
Components of the ALP Culminating Assessment (CA):
- Protégé-Mentor Culminating Conversation: Protégé and Mentor engage in a confidential culminating discussion and debrief about the protégé’s developing leadership skills, knowledge, and dispositions (beliefs). Discussion is grounded in the protégé’s strengths, areas for continued growth, and suggestions for future actions/next steps that will help the protégé continue to develop school-based leadership skills should take place.
- Protégé Culminating Reflection: The protégé reflects on what they have learned about school-based leadership, as well as their growth in the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of a leader. (Review the notes and handouts/ PowerPoints from each seminar and institute. Review the bridging assignments, residency experiences, and insights gained to produce a culminating reflection essay). (1000-1200 words). The culminating reflection is shared with the regional/board contact one week prior to the assessment day and will be referenced in the CA interview.
- Team-Based School Exercise: The team-based school exercise is based on a culmination of the skills taught and knowledge constructed and shared in the seminars and institutes, and reinforced through the mentoring experiences. In suggesting solutions to revitalize a difficult school situation, protégés will perform a series of interrelated tasks, including:
- seeking, reviewing, and interpreting relevant information from background material
- identifying priorities for change
- preparing and making an oral presentation that proposes a plan and key priorities for change
- participating in a team reflection process
Phases of the Team-based School Exercise: The team-based school exercise consists of three phases:
A review of the background information and preparation period.
A presentation to the RCE/Board Assessment Team in which each protégé is responsible for an equal part of the presentation.
A follow-up reflective session with the RCE/Board Assessment Team.
- Protégé Interview/Feedback: The interview will provide an opportunity for protégés to speak in greater detail about their acquired and honed school-based leadership knowledge, skills, and dispositions. The individual protégé interview will be conducted by one or more members of the RCE /Board Assessment Team within a 30-minute time frame. The protégé will be asked a series of questions by the CA team. The protégé will have not seen the questions before the interview.
Culminating Assessment Feedback: After the interview, the CA team will provide feedback on the protégé’s contributions to the team-based school activity, the interview, and the protégé’s reflection submitted the week before.
Protégés must successfully complete the Culminating Assessment to be eligible for the Aspiring Leaders Program Certificate.
- Culminating Assessment Closure: At the end of the Culminating Assessment Day, the RCE/Board Assessment Team will provide general remarks to the ALP participants.
Application Process:
Applications are submitted through each participating region/board. Applicants must provide three work-related references that includes their current supervisor. Personnel from each region/board will review applications and make selections based on identified criteria. All applicants will be notified following the selection process.
Short-listed applicants will be interviewed by personnel from each region/board. The interview panel will make the final selection of successful candidates.
*Applications for the ALP are typically submitted in April with specific due dates identified by each RCE/CSAP.
Certificate Ceremony:
Whereas ALP is a program supported by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, and facilitated by ELC, the EECD prepares the official certificates. The certificates are distributed by the EECD to the regions/boards.
Traditionally, ELCNS requests RCEs/CSAP gather the graduates of ALP together to honour them with a small "Certificate Ceremony" to show appreciation and to present their certificates. ALP Certificate notes are provided for region/board use as part of this recognition event.
