The National Center for the Evaluation of Educational Leadership Preparation and Practice is
a UCEA Program Center that makes available valid and reliable evaluation research tools, methods and
training materials and strategies for leadership preparation programs
There is no doubt that high quality leadership preparation is essential to educational reform and improved student achievement. As a result, significant attention has been directed to research-based innovation and best practice in university-based leadership preparation programs. However, few of the 500 or more graduate leadership preparation programs have developed the capacity to ascertain program effectiveness and impact on the 16,000 masters’ degree graduates they produce annually. In large measure this is due to the limited access to valid, reliable methodology and infrastructure for technical assistance, data sharing, and guidance in collecting, interpreting and using evaluation data for program improvement and enhanced leadership preparation.
Through this center, UCEA fosters:
- The collection and analysis of survey evaluation research data for program benchmarking and in-depth multi-program analysis of program features and graduate career and leadership practices outcomes.
- The creation of a systematic process for collecting and analyzing state data on degrees and certification by institution, and career advancement and school progress by graduates and institutions.
- The provision of evaluation training provides technical assistance and support for leadership preparation programs and establishes regional train-the-trainer opportunities to increase evaluation technical assistance capacity locally.
- The creation of a sustainable system for on-going evaluation research to support the on-going evaluation and improvement of leadership preparation programs.