Addressing the emerging needs for school leadership: challenges and opportunities for public administration

Abstract

In the midst of evermore complex and demanding emerging social problems, Public Administration needs to be concerned with the institutions and organizations whose sole mission is to solve or alleviate them.

The inclusion of educational administration breaks with the tradition of public administration as a field exclusively dealing with public government and administration. Education as well as Health and the Non-Profit Sector bring important elements into the public administration field. Traditionally the training of educational leaders has been restricted to Schools of Education.

These schools, by design tend to focus primarily on issues of teaching and learning. Schools of Pubic Administration are in a position to bring a refreshing approach to the development of school leaders-one that is more aligned to the needs for stronger management and accountability in public education.

This paper provides an overview of the process for developing a specialized track for school leaders within the Department of Public Policy and Administration at Rutgers University.