Administrator Academies

New Professional Development Quarterly Available

Download the PDF here

Access the online calendar here

Effective June 30, 2004, Public Act 093-0679, and subsequent Public Acts thereafter, changed the administrative license renewal requirements for Illinois public school administrators who hold positions that require administrative certification. Based on these changes, public school administrators are now required to complete the following for each fiscal year (July 1 – June 30) of the license’s registration period (if the administrator is serving in a position that requires an administrative license):

• One Administrators’ Academy course (which must be completed within each fiscal year in which the administrator is working) totaling at least 6 hours, and
• Professional development hours totaling 100 hours in a full five-year cycle.

Effective September 1, 2012, any individual who evaluates licensed personnel must successfully also complete an initial evaluator pre-qualification program approved or provided by the Illinois State Board of Education and an approved retraining program at least once during each license renewal cycle (5/24A-3).

Administrator Academies

An Administrators’ Academy is a program in which Illinois school district administrators participate to meet legislated requirements for continuous professional development. The academy provides a means of offering opportunities for high-quality professional development. Through the Administrators’ Academy, practicing administrators with differing needs, interests, and schedules may increase their knowledge and skills in instructional leadership.

The Illinois State Board of Education approves the administrator academies that are developed by those state entities who have been granted authority to develop and manage this learning. IPA is one of the approved state entities for administrator academies.

The Illinois Principals Association offers three different formats for administrators wishing to earn credit for this annual professional development requirement: face-to-face workshops, online workshops are scheduled dates/times, and online workshops that are available on demand. Each course meets the minimum six-hour requirement specified by ISBE through either face-to-face time, course engagement, course activities and/or completion of self-guided study.

IPA offers day-long face-to-face workshops that carry administrator academy credit. The Association publishes a catalog of these sessions with locations conveniently located throughout the state. Participants register online (or via fax), travel to the workshop location for the training, and complete an application/dissemination plan (often before departure from the training location).

Explore our face-to-face course listings via our academy calendar.

 

For administrators who prefer participating in an administrator academy workshop from the convenience of their home or office, IPA offers scheduled online courses throughout the year. Participants register online (or via fax), complete pre-course activities, log into the online session (at a specific date and time) via Adobe Connect, participate in the interactive, instructor-led online session (typically three hours other than online book studies which may be broken into several sessions), and complete an application/dissemination plan within 72 hours following the conclusion of the session.

Explore our online course listings via our academy calendar.

Administrators now have an opportunity to earn their administrator academy credit in an on-demand format. The self-directed learning allows the participant to complete the course online at a time, location, and pace that is most convenient for them. Participants register online (or via fax) and are assigned the course through the Ed Leaders Network platform. A course guide with embedded, written activities and reflections, help guide the learner through the course. Video segments scripted and delivered by content experts engage the participant throughout the learning. Additionally, participants become part of an online learning community with other individuals completing the same course and can network with each other as well as the course presenter. The ELN platform saves the progress of the participant, allowing him/her the ability to stop the course and pick it back up again at another time without losing progress that has already been made. Individuals desiring to complete their annual administrator academy credit via an on-demand course must complete all course requirements by May 30 of the year in which they desire to receive credit. This allows time for the course presenter to review the submitted application/dissemination plan and verify to ISBE before June 30 that the workshop was completed successfully by the learner. Individuals who do not meet the May 30 deadline for submission of course requirements may submit them after that date; however, administrator academy credit for successful course completion will be granted in the subsequent school year.

Review and register for on-demand online academy courses.