Minnesota Principals Academy Final Report: 2015-17 Northwest and Twin Cities Cohorts

The Minnesota Principals Academy (MPA) is an 18-month executive development program designed to enhance the performance of school leaders and improve educational outcomes for students. MPA uses the National Institute for School Leadership (NISL) executive development program, to provide principals with research-based information that they can use in their schools.

The purpose of this evaluation was to describe and understand the MPA as a resource and training program for school and district leaders. Our evaluation is designed to answer the following questions:

1. To what extent have participants gained knowledge in the areas covered by the Minnesota Principals Academy (NISL) curriculum?
2. To what extent do the supervisors of Minnesota Principals Academy participants see a change in participants’ knowledge in the areas covered by the Minnesota Principals Academy (NISL) curriculum?
3. To what extent have student outcomes (e.g., scores on statewide reading and math tests) in participants’ schools changed as a result of participation in the Minnesota Principals Academy?

This report provides information on the first two evaluation questions for the two cohorts who just completed the program. The third evaluation question cannot be addressed until after the participants have had time to make changes in their practice (e.g., it may be useful to analyze test scores after spring 2018 statewide testing). The Northwest (NW) Cohort began their work in July 2015; the Twin Cities (TC) Cohort began in October 2015. Both groups completed the MPA in June 2017.