326 K-12 LEADERSHIP PRACTICES
Central office personnel generally managed the ongoing licensure process and applied for
the licensure renewal on behalf of the administrator. The candidates themselves did not
manage this process. The level of support from the district varied. One district relied on a
computerized system to tally approved CEU activities. The other district relied on a yearly
manual tally of activity. Both systems notified building-level administrators (as well as their
teaching staff) of their earned CEUs to date on a regular basis. As one human resource
director noted, “I help monitor licensure, or get one if needed. I track CEUs for all personnel,
including principals. I serve as the person who is responsible for licensure in this district.”
While the other human resource director functionally described the same role, she was clear to
note, “Licensure is a personal responsibility. We help them meet their requirement, but it is a
personal responsibility.”
Administrators had little to no understanding of the state role in ongoing licensure
renewal. Administrators noted:
“We have to send contract hours to the Board on an annual basis. I do not know what
happened to it from there”;
“Great question”; and,
“I have no knowledge of state involvement.”In part, this is related to the structure of the state policy itself. The state policy specifies
continuing education units needed in specific content areas, but provides flexibility to
localities to make decisions regarding content. This also reflects the limited state involvement
in monitoring the process. As one human resource director noted,
I make sure each file is complete, make sure the people attended the sessions; I keep
their certification on file. I monitor the district. I have to turn the files into the state
for review when the certificates are ready to be renewed. I add internally to the file,
and then when the person is ready for renewal, I send the renewal to the state. For
new teachers, I will be audited next year. It’s a regular five-year cycle along with
Title I and special education. I have the information [for ongoing renewal], but no one
has ever come. I am ready if we are audited. (5th year human resource director and 20
year veteran of the district)Administrators knew when their license expired, but not what was required to renew the
license. And, in this context, the myths abounded. Principals named completing 50 hours in 5
years; completing 5 hours in administrative professional knowledge. While one administrator
noted that renewal required ‘so many credits in reading, so many in technology,’ another
administrator replied that there were “no real state goals and [w]e just have to get the number
of state credits.”
For administrators, the focus was on professional development. Administrators valued
professional development and licensure renewal was viewed simply as a by-product of that
activity. As one administrator noted, “It’s a hoop to jump through, but you get to draw your
own hoop.”
Administrator Ongoing Professional Development
Building administrators were closely focused on professional development for the
purposes of supporting teachers, school improvement, and personal development. The context