School Leadership

Program Description

Principal Licensure Strand

Mary Grassa O'Neill, head of the Principal Licensure strandThe Principal Licensure Strand at the Harvard Graduate School of Education prepares educators for effective school leadership through a rigorous cohort-model program combining challenging coursework with a supervised, year-long practicum at a Boston-area school site. Students in the Principal Licensure Strand build what is required of effective school leaders, while gaining licensure to practice as administrators in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Students in the program, both during the year and after graduation, are able to capitalize on the unique resources of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and The Principals' Center, the first such professional development organization in the country. The program is supported by dedicated licensure and career offices, and has a long history of placing graduates in administrative positions in schools and districts worldwide.  

Specifically, the Principal Licensure Strand has the following objectives:

• to provide experiences and build skills that stimulate the ongoing development of effective school leaders;
• to celebrate the role and the influence of the principal on the learning community;
• to create and refine a specific strand of courses and field experiences designed to help aspiring principals obtain the skills, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors required of effective school leaders; and
• to provide courses and experiences necessary for school leaders to meet the requirements of the Massachusetts State Department of Education and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

View Principal Licensure Strand Frequently Asked Questions