Ritchie Program for School Leaders
K-12 school leaders used to be considered managers charged with carrying out directives from the district level. Plans, priorities, policiesmost were developed in isolation.
Under this model, some students thrived while others, particularly students in urban schools, fell through the cracks.
Today, schools, and school leaders, are expected to ensure that all students achieve, regardless of race, economic background or ability. School leaders must build community, work collaboratively, empower others and dig deeply to create organizational change.
In response to this paradigm shift, the Morgridge College of Education partnered with Denver Public Schools to create the Ritchie Program for School Leaders.
"School leaders can't just orchestrate things, making superficial, technical changes," says Associate Professor Susan Korach, who helped develop the Ritchie Program in 2003. "They need to figure out why kids aren't learning. They need to diagnose their schools and recognize that they are part of whatever needs fixing."
Emphasizing hands-on learning that immerses participants in the school environment, the Ritchie Program strives to develop leaders who openly and honestly communicate, hold themselves and others to high standards, are action-oriented, value diversity and create equitable learning environments.
Participants in the yearlong programall of whom must be DPS employeescomplete 32 quarter hours, moving through the program in a cohort of their peers. Ritchie Fellows are mentored by practicing principals, and attend classes and seminars one day per week. They also complete an internship with projects that allow them to apply what they have learned to real leadership situations. An impressive number of the 70-plus Ritchie Program alumni currently work as principals, assistant principals or in some other leadership capacity within DPS.
"We're looking for people with a capacity to learn," says Korach of the program's rigorous admission process. "We want people with a passion to lead and to make a difference in the schooling of urban kids."
Since the program's inception, the number of fellows in each cohort has increased. "We've been told by DPS officials that they want more Ritchie Fellows in the system," Korach says. "I think that speaks loudly of the positive effect this program is having on the system as well as on the individual level."
The Ritchie Program has caught the attention of leaders in other districts. Recently, the Morgridge College partnered with Adams County Schools to launch another Ritchie Program for School Leaders there.
"We look at DPS and Adams County as partners but also as customers," Korach says. "We make sure what we're doing through the Ritchie Program really helps them, or we don't do it."