Announcing the First GW/DCPS Equity-Centered Leadership Cohort


November 3, 2023

Circle image with the words "The George Washington University Educational Leadership and Administration" along the outside ring, "Equity-Centered Leader" in the center and "Dispositions,Knowledge & Practices" in the middle.

The GW Graduate School of Education and Human Development (GSEHD) is honored to announce the launch of the Educational Leadership and Administration (ELA) program’s first equity-centered leadership cohort with the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) this fall 2023. DCPS, in partnership with GW, Howard University, and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, was one of eight districts nationally to receive funding from the Wallace Foundation to form a District Partnership Team that is designing a comprehensive, aligned, equity-centered principal pipeline.

The 18-month program will prepare DCPS educators for future administrative roles as assistant principals and principals who are equipped to enact equity within their school communities. These aspiring leaders will continue in their current roles in DCPS while earning an Education Specialist (Ed.S.) or Master's (M.A.) degree in Educational Leadership and Administration at GW.

GSEHD faculty members, Drs. Rebecca Thessin, Leslie Trimmer, Jennifer Clayton, and Abebayehu Tekleselassie, along with other faculty colleagues, DCPS staff and leadership, other district partners, and program alumni, collaborated on a comprehensive two-year ELA program re-design effort funded by the Wallace Foundation. All aspects of the program were examined and updated to ensure that students graduate with the knowledge, dispositions, and practices of equity-centered leaders. "The GSEHD community is extremely grateful for the opportunity to partner with DCPS to prepare highly-skilled, informed, and responsive leaders who can make educational equity a reality," said GSEHD Dean Michael Feuer.

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