Licensing leaders.

Frederick M. Hess seems obsessed I with the need to establish a "deregulation" route to identify and prepare school leaders ("Lifting the Barrier," Forum, Fall 2003). His model seems to suggest that just about anyone with a master's degree, preferably in business administration, can provide leadership to schools and districts. This is truly a flawed concept in that a business executive, while having the requisite management and financial skills, has basically no knowledge of the learning process, adolescent psychology, curricular programs, and instructional strategies. Schools need leaders of instruction who have a broad repertoire of pedagogical skills that have been built through extensive school-based experiences.

GERALD N. TIROZZI

Executive Director

National Association of

Secondary School Principals

Reston, Virginia 

University-based programs in educational administration have been far too unselective in whom they admit and "train" for leadership roles. Those same programs, it should be pointed out, are too often undercapitalized and are expected to generate credit hours without many of the resources needed to foster quality programs. I agree that far too many programs in educational administration are disconnected from the real world of education practice. One simple illustration is the absence, in many programs, of any substantive work on assessment and accountability and of helping administrators learn how, in Marc Tucker's words, to "recognize the elements of sound standards-based classroom organization and practice."

Frederick Hess, however, sounds like far too many critics who suggest that the flee-market approach is the answer. It seems so right to suggest that if you deregulate credentialing for administrators, they (the bright, the better educated, and the managerially savvy) will come. The authors even have anecdotal evidence to prove their point from places like Seattle and San Diego. But basing public policy on a broad deregulator idea ignores the important difference between the education of our children and other public pursuits. Deregulation of such things as the telephone industry has brought more options, but has also engendered lots of problems. The consequences of broad deregulation of education are potentially more deleterious and far-reaching than may be evidenced in other public-and private-sector endeavors. I am convinced that the byproduct o f deregulation via the Hess route will be further mediocrity with instances of excellence, which we already have.

THOMAS J. LASLEY II

Dean, School of Education

University of Dayton 

Dayton, Ohio

Frederick M. Hess responds: Neither I nor any responsible reformer imagines that private-sector candidates are saviors or in possession of unique skills. The point is only that they ought to be judged on their ability and not blocked out by statutes or regulations. Gerald Tirozzi asserts the continued need for traditional courses in educational administration, despite the absence of evidence that these courses teach useful or necessary skills. He acknowledges the promise of performance-based licensure, but then calls for a continued regime of mandatory coursework. Such required seat time, of course, is the antithesis of licensure based on how well administrators serve children.

If we agree that educational administration programs don't provide the leaders we need, and if three decades of reform haven't made much difference, why is Thomas Lasley so confident that minor adjustments in courses or programs will produce substantial change? If potential new applicants are less suited to school leadership positions than current leaders or are likely to "do harm," why does Lasley presume that they will be hired over conventional candidates? If he believes that district hiring officials are unwilling or unable to gauge ability, then we have identified a need for much more fundamental change in educational administration.