Creating Partnerships in Developing School Leaders: Florida State University's Specialist Degree Program in Educational Leadership

Abstract

During the decade of the 1980s, the Department of Educational Leadership at Florida State University became proactive in its orientation to legislative efforts to improve the quality of school-based leadership throughout the state of Florida. The department's early initiatives set the foundation for creating a variety of partnerships with school districts, other universities and national organizations that would refocus the department's vision for leadership development of school personnel. What might have been the onset of reduced credibility and influence for the department and the university, became instead a window of opportunity for productive collaboration and program restructuring. This paper presents an abridged documentation of the restructuring that has occurred in the department's program of Educational Administration during the late 1980s and early ‘90s. It describes from a faculty member's perspective the historical context for the department's initiatives, the creation of a variety of partnerships with other organizations and the installation of a new field-based specialist degree program in educational leadership. Finally, the paper addresses a few of the key lessons learned about collaboration during the evolution of partnerships and program.