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PROGRAMS

“Participating in the Digital Leadership Institute for Superintendents provided me the opportunity to learn from national and regional technology experts. Authentic learning opportunities are often rare, but the program provided us with time, talent and experience to continue our focus on digital literacy.”

Dr. Lory D. Morrow, Superintendent

LINCOLN COUNTY SCHOOLS, NORTH CAROLINA

FOR All SCHOOL ADMinistrators

Science Materials & Professional Development Center

Supporting public schools with science materials and professional development for the effective teaching of inquiry-based science.

Partnering with the North Carolina Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Center, this program works to support and promote the integration of the science curriculum in our public schools. The Science Materials & Professional Development Center is designed to provide kit-based science materials, professional development for teachers and school leaders, and the development of a curriculum materials hub, reaching thousands of students in North Carolina to date. 

Aspiring Superintendents Program 
Preparing current school leaders to become effective superintendents who will lead North Carolina school districts in the future.

The Aspiring Superintendent Program  is designed to foster continuous improvement in the Public Schools of North Carolina by providing training and leadership development experiences for professionals who aspire to become school district superintendents. Through multi-day personalized leadership effectiveness training and executive coaching, the aim of the program is to enhance the leadership effectiveness of its thirty-eight participants. The primary objective of the program is to provide participating educators who aspire to the superintendency with information, knowledge, and skills that will support and assist them as they lead and manage school districts in North Carolina as district superintendents, with the ultimate goal of enhanced student achievement.

The Aspiring Superintendent Cohort will learn about the leadership roles that predict success via the Franklin Covey model. Special detail and conversations are planned on the topics below:

• Inspiring trust
• Creating vision
• Executing strategy
• Coaching potential

Action plans and self-assessments will be utilized to prepare graduates for their future roles as a superintendent. As the program content is constructed around the contemporary leadership challenges facing school superintendents in the 21st century, a variety of strategies will be utilized in the delivery of program content. The diversity of delivery methods and of speakers will help learners move from knowledge to application of that knowledge in current and future job roles. Each participant will review data about themselves and review data pertaining to their district. To model this expectation, daily reflections and surveys are given to all participants for use in program design and continuous improvement.

Another integral component of the leadership experience is peer learning, which takes place through sessions on important topics led by current superintendents. Special topics for the 2025-26 program will include navigating leadership challenges; curriculum and instruction; superintendent and school board relationships; superintendent entry and learning plans; interviewing for a superintendent position; artificial intelligence; strategic planning; STEM engagement; and the budgeting process. The combination of leadership research with embedded viewpoints from current practitioners will provide a more robust experience for those that participate.

For SUPERINTENDENTS

Executive Coaching for Beginning Superintendents
Building Transformational Education Leaders
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​To ensure that each student in North Carolina has a highly effective district leader, our mission is to grow executive capacity through evidence-based programs that are aligned to North Carolina and national standards.

If North Carolina hopes to achieve its postsecondary education attainment goal as identified by myFutureNC, it will require deep transformation of our schools. Sustainable school transformation requires district leaders with the capacity to initiate, support and enhance dramatic change. Numerous studies highlight the connection between attributes of effective superintendents and improvements in student academic achievement. Effective superintendents demonstrated instructional leadership by:

• Articulating a vision for children’s education and weaving that vision into the mission of the districts;
• Organizing support for that vision through personnel moves, shared decision making, board member involvement and use of key instructional strategies; and
• Evaluating and assessing personnel and programs.

NCASLD launched the North Carolina District Leaders Institute in 2020 to provide high quality induction support to new superintendents. This program supports superintendents’ capacity to galvanize change that leads to each student graduating with the credential necessary to successfully enter postsecondary education or the workforce. When considering student achievement and growth, district leadership matters. McREL, an education research organization, conducted a 2006 meta-analysis of research on the influence of school district leaders on student performance. The analysis found a positive and statistically significant correlation between the length of superintendents’ service and student achievement. Moreover, the study cites these positive effects manifesting themselves as early as two years into a superintendent’s tenure.

Nowhere is this capacity-building more needed that in low-income areas of the state in which student outcomes tend to be lower. The goal of the North Carolina District Leaders Institute is to stabilize superintendent leadership in the most economically disadvantaged communities in the state. While there is little research on why superintendents leave their positions, we know that being a superintendent means balancing intense, and often competing, pressures. There are political minefields to navigate and harsh financial realities to manage. The COVID pandemic has exacerbated these challenges. During these uncertain times, effective district leadership is even more important. Like teachers, the greatest challenge is surviving the first year. Laying the foundation for success in this first year is critical. The first five cohorts of the North Carolina District Leaders Institute have come to rely on their executive coaches to help them navigate the ever-changing education landscape.

The superintendent turnover rate in North Carolina was 20% in the 2020-2021 school year, 23% for 2021-2022 school year, 30% for the 2022-2023 school year and 22% for the 2023-2024 school year. North Carolina currently has 14 superintendent vacancies for the 2025-2026 school year and 80 superintendents with 5 years or less of experience. To respond to turnover in the superintendency, the NCASLD supported over 100 superintendents with an executive coach over the past four years.

Addressing the systemic challenges in education, including achieving our collective postsecondary attainment goal, will require bold and stable leadership. To help superintendents address these systemic changes, we will leverage executive coaches to guide new superintendents on promising strategies to increase student postsecondary attainment, such as universal FASFA completion, expanding dual enrollment strategies, etc. Over the past decade, the use of leadership coaching services has grown in the education sector. Coaching has been shown to lead to increased effectiveness of educators, but it is often only provided to teachers and principals. Since district leaders often put the needs of their teams ahead of their own, district leaders rarely feel justified in spending dollars on their own professional growth. This is especially true in low-wealth and rural school districts.

Through the program, in addition to executive coaching, superintendents will participate in a cohort-based professional learning program provided by the NCSSA that will incorporate the promising practices of peer networks. The North Carolina District Leaders Institute provides tools and resources that enable superintendents to come into their roles ready to lead. During these sessions, new superintendents will focus on the North Carolina Essential Leadership Competencies of a School Superintendent; visioning and goal setting; superintendent/school board relationships; leading for improved teaching and learning; human resource leadership; and systems leadership. Learning will be enhanced and reinforced through coaching sessions with an experienced superintendent and executive coach.

The program is designed to guide superintendents as they reflect on and improve their effectiveness as district leaders; focus the personal leadership goals of the superintendents and link personal goals with district and state goals; and guide and facilitate the professional development of superintendents toward advanced levels of executive leadership as defined by the North Carolina Standards for Superintendents.

Program benchmarks include:

• 800+ executive coaching sessions in 2025-2026 and 2026-2027
• 100% participation and engagement at group sessions
• Growth in confidence and skills based on results from participant pre- and post-assessments
• At least 25 participants per in the cohort

To determine program impact, RTI International will implement superintendent pre-and post-assessment on their ability to lead their district and manage their school board. Our aim will be to see a statistically significant difference in superintendents’ perception of their ability to lead their district and effectively engage with their school boards at the conclusion of the program. RTI will also collect additional data to support program improvement and identify the program’s effectiveness.

Superintendent Executive Leadership Program
​The NC Superintendent Executive Leadership Program will support NC school superintendents in a six-month peer learning network. Superintendents will be engaged in discussion and reflection to facilitate their professional growth and engage in peer problem-solving aligned with the NC Standards for Superintendents. Cohort XIII will have 88 superintendents in attendance. They will meet face to face in conference style format over the course of three convenings.

 The program design includes several overall objectives:

1. guide superintendents as they reflect on and improve their effectiveness as district leaders
2. focus the personal leadership goals of the superintendents and link personal goals with district and state goals
3. guide and facilitate the professional development of superintendents toward advanced levels of executive leadership as defined by the NC Standards for Superintendents
4. create and facilitate a peer network of superintendents for thought partnership

The theme of this cohort is goal execution and multiplying leadership impact. Utilizing The Four Disciplines of Execution and Multipliers, superintendents will have the opportunity to analyze goals, action steps, scoreboards and systems of accountability to ensure maximize results in real-time. As the year progresses, the program will move leaders into the multiplier effect to assist with maximizing the intelligence and potential of their team members.

In addition to the Four Disciplines of Execution and Multiplier, participants will discuss special topics relevant to the current NC policy environment, including STEM engagement.

As a part of the Program, each superintendent will be provided a veteran superintendent as a thought partner to reflect and share ideas related to the course content and will be briefed on current legislative topics from the professional associations most relevant to district operations (the NC Association of School Administrators),

As the education landscape continues to change in NC, the NC Superintendent Executive Leadership Program is an important conduit for the professional growth of the superintendents who are at the forefront of that change.

President/Superintendent Convening

The North Carolina Alliance for School Leadership Development and the North Carolina School Superintendents' Association are partnering with the North Carolina Association of Community College Presidents to host a joint convening on February 25-26, 2026. The meeting will foster collaboration between leaders of our educational institutions. During the convening, leaders will discuss collaboration and steps needed to develop a talent pool ready to address North Carolina’s growing workforce demands. Education leaders will focus on improving outcomes for students and preparing them for the workforce.

The agenda for the convening will feature the following topics:

Winning Generation Z Over: Attracting and Retaining the Youngest Population of Employee and Customers
Overcoming the Challenge of Connecting with Our Opportunity Youth
Beyond the Hype: Leading AI with Purpose
Community College Summer Programs for High School Students

Attendees will explore how Generation Z’s values and expectations are shaping today’s schools, colleges, and local workforce, and what education leaders must understand to engage, support, and retain Gen Z students and young employees as they prepare for the future workforce in North Carolina. Then, attendees will engage and discussion and best-practice sharing around connecting with opportunity youth. The convening will also explore how districts and colleges can design policies and programs that build community-wide AI literacy, enhance instruction and learning, and prepare students for an AI-driven future. Finally, participants will hear how community colleges have provided new opportunities and increased their visibility with students and their families through summer programming for high school students.

As always, the convening will reinforce the importance of relationships and collaboration between district and community college leaders.

For PrincIpals & Assistant Principals

Distinguished Leadership in Practice (DLP)

Where you find a great school, you will find a distinguished leader  igniting a passion for meeting the needs of all children.

Using a non-traditional professional development model, this program, developed and delivered by the N.C. Principals and Assistant Principals’ Association and now funded by NCASLD, allows participants to critically examine the meaning and application of “Distinguished” school leadership through a problem-based, real-world approach. In DLP, practicing North Carolina principals are provided as models of exemplary school leadership allowing participants to study the behaviors, attitudes and competencies that define a “Distinguished” school leader. Throughout the year-long experience, participants are led and coached through a proven continuous improvement approach. Participants engage in a series of authentic activities designed to build the capacity of their schools and their own capacity as “Distinguished” school leaders. The year-long program will be delivered in a blended format in two locations. 

Future-Ready Leadership (FRL-Brunswick County)
Igniting the continuous pursuit of highly effective leadership and life-long professional learning.  
Future-Ready Leadership is a leadership development program for practicing assistant principals. The program, developed and provided by the N.C. Principals and Assistant Principals’ Association and funded by NCASLD, is aligned to the performance evaluation standards adopted by the State Board of Education for North Carolina’s school leaders. Through this year-long cohort-driven model, assistant principals will participate in six face-to-face sessions offered in two locations and engage in assignments, projects, and readings designed to build the capacity of their schools and their own capacity as “Future-Ready” school leaders. 

AP Accelerator Program

Through funding from the Belk Foundation, NCDPI, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and NC Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Center, NCPAPA has established the AP Accelerator Program, a statewide leadership initiative for rigorously selected Assistant Principals with a high potential for being fast-tracked into the principalship.  Assistant Principals, who typically spend 3-5 years in the role, will enter the AP Accelerator Program and receive targeted leadership development and coaching from proven practitioners in the field.  Using a concentrated curriculum of leadership development experiences and coaching, the program will accelerate the readiness of selected assistant principals to lead and turnaround high-needs schools.  Participants in the program are nominated by their district superintendent. 

Early Career Principal Academy

The Early Career Principals Academy (ECPA) is a 3-year leadership development program for early-career principals. The ECPA is designed to meet the needs of school leaders in a blended format of in-person meetings each year followed by virtual meetings, all facilitated by trained, exemplary school leaders. The in-person sessions, designed to motivate and inspire participants to focus on the conditions they must control to achieve optimum school environments that meet the needs of every student, will be led by a combination of NC-proven leaders and national leadership experts.  Follow-up virtual sessions will provide a curriculum designed to build the leadership skills and competencies necessary to effectively control the conditions required for student success. In the third year of the program, participants will complete NCPAPA's Distinguished Leadership in Practice (DLP) program.

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