California State University, Northridge for years has been at the forefront of a national effort 
to get teachers to reexamine what they do and 
explore ways to do it more effectively. But there’s only so much teachers can do without the support of their administrators.

Officials with Northridge’s Michael D. Eisner College of Education plan to change that. This spring, the college graduated the second cohort from its new Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership with an eye toward developing K–12 and community college administrators who are encouraged to think creatively and support innovative ideas in the classroom.

“Education reform does not start or end at the classroom door,” said Michael Spagna, dean of the Eisner College. “We know that we can produce the best teachers out there, but we also know they aren’t going to reach their fullest potential if they don’t have administrators who are willing to let them be creative and do their best work. We’re asking teachers to think outside the box. Well, we need administrators who can do that, too.”

Spagna said the 23 individuals who received their doctorates in 2011 along with the 21 who graduated this year represent the first wave of a new generation of education administrators who are willing to throw off the constraints of “this is how it’s always been done” and instead “look for and apply the best practices out there—which clearly include innovation and creativity—recognizing that education is a team effort with focus on the mission of helping students learn.”

Developing leaders

This new generation of education administrators includes Julie Fabrocini M.A. ’96 (Special 
Education), a senior program director with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Until last year, she was executive director of the CHIME Institute. Located in part at Cal State Northridge, the institute is a national leader in developing and implementing model educational programs and dynamic research and training environments to disseminate best 
practices in inclusive education. The institute also operates infant/toddler and preschool programs and 
a public charter K–8 school.

Fabrocini said what attracted her to the CSUN doctoral program was the knowledge that innovation would be an integral part of its curriculum. “Thinking outside the box, what’s going on with school choice and charter schools and national education leadership—all those issues are being discussed right now,” she said. “It was very important that I was part of a program that was not only aware of that discussion but was taking part in it.”

Northridge has always been part of the national education reform discussion. The university was one of four institutions nationwide invited in 2002 to launch Teachers for a New Era, a reform effort designed to identify best practices in education. Funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, with the support of the Annenberg Foundation 
and the Ford Foundation and assisted by the Rockefeller Foundation, the effort has now expanded 
to nearly a dozen colleges and universities across 
the country.

Separate tracks address needs

In 2005, when the California legislature authorized the California State University to offer an education doctorate, Philip Rusche, former dean of the Eisner College, decided to shape CSUN’s program so it addressed the educational needs of the greater urban Los Angeles area. He and other Northridge officials met with community college and K–12 leaders, members of the community, and CSUN faculty from across the campus for input.

What they heard over and over again was that the program needed to be divided into two separate cohorts; one that served K–12 administrators and another that served community college leaders.

“We are the only institution that offers two separate cohorts,” said Rusche, who played a key role in the Teachers for a New Era project. “While both systems, K–12 and community colleges, share some concerns, they also deal with some very hard issues that are unique to each system. By separating the two cohorts, though they do on occasion share a seminar, we are able to focus on the issues and problems that are relevant to them.”

Rusche said the students in the doctoral program, which officially launched in fall 2008, are drawn from the educational systems they hope to one day serve as administrators. Teachers, schools district administrators and other K–12 professionals are in the K–12 cohorts. Community college professors, administrators and other higher education professionals are in the community college cohorts. Nearly all the students work, and classes are offered in the late afternoons, evenings and weekends to accommodate their busy schedules.

Separating the cohorts by system allows for not only an acute examination of issues that are unique to each but also lively discussions as students share their various perspectives. A teacher, for instance, may see school district policy quite differently than a school administrator.

“In every class and every activity, we start with problems or challenges in education and ask the students to investigate those and come up with a course of action,” Rusche said. “The candid discussions and research that follows can address those issues in meaningful ways that will enhance student learning and education reform.

“When our students look at a problem or practice, we ask that they recommend a resolution that is very specific. It must address the problem or issue directly, not something that embraces historical practices or other theories alone. It must be based on real-world practices and provide real-world answers,” he said. “If that means going outside the classroom or classroom traditions to find the answer, then so be it.”

Real-world experience

It was that “liberation” from the classroom that 
drew Erin Studer to the program. Studer is a former administrator for the Oakwood School in North Hollywood who replaced Fabrocini as CHIME’s executive director. He, too, was part of the first 
doctorate of educational leadership cohort to graduate.

“I looked at other programs—at Cal Lutheran, USC, UCLA and the University of LaVerne—but when I found out CSUN was going to be offering a doctoral program, I was very excited,” Studer said. “I knew many of the people at CSUN and the caliber of its education faculty, and I knew that they would be doing a good job to prepare us.”

Despite the newness of the program, it managed to strike the right balance, Studer said. “We were 20 or so school leaders coming together every week and examining real-world issues in K–12 education—whether it was budget issues, student discipline or instruction. We brought our experience with us, but the classroom discussions didn’t dissolve into group therapy sessions. Instead, our joint experiences took the discussions to the next level.”

Rusche joked that “a little bit of learning can be a dangerous thing,” noting that people may be quick to offer education reform solutions based on their personal experience working in a classroom as an educator or as an administrator for a school district or college system.

“But if you take people with that experience and provide them with the tools and knowledge to build on what they know, and they have enough confidence in what they know, then you have people who are willing to take informed risks,” he said. “The type of risks that are needed if we are truly going to make a change in education.” —Carmen Ramos Chandler

— -

---