The Principal Leadership Institute (PLI) trains and supports a diverse group of individuals committed to the principles of academic excellence, equity, and integrity as a way to maximize achievement and opportunity for students in urban schools. The Principal Leadership Institute at UCLA has designed a rigorous 15 month program aligned with the California Administrative Professional Expectations (CAPEs) that will prepare the next generation of urban school leaders. The program grants a Master’s degree and completion of the courses required for the California Tier 1 Administrative Credential. The program is designed to attract outstanding educators who have administrative interests and recognized potential. The PLI utilizes the Reciprocal Learning Partnership Equity Framework.
We are social justice leaders.
We are committed to a Beloved Community built on justice, equity, and unconditional love.
We understand that connection requires recognition of names and faces— that’s when it becomes personal.
We nurture the capacities of individuals and we leverage the assets of communities.
We are social justice leaders.
We recognize that learning is social.
We value student voice and celebrate the whole student
We challenge “deficit ideology” and “labeling” systems put into place by the dominant culture.
We are social justice leaders.
We approach our communities with unconditional love.
We see the assets and “funds of knowledge” in the various cultures and backgrounds of the families we serve.
We position the school as a social center, committed to democratic education and the common good of the community.
We are social justice leaders.
We understand that the fight against racial oppression is enduring and long lasting and that “every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle.”
We will provide a space of radical resistance for those from the margins.
We will identify and confront inequities that exist within the school system and community to bring about equitable change.
We are social justice leaders.
We believe in education for liberation.
PLI established a framework of empowerment to help me become a true agent of change in the community I serve. I firmly believe that the arsenal of progressive educational theory, execution of thoughtful practice, consistent reflection, and continued support from the PLI team has developed my skills to truly become a transformative leader.
Tommy Welch
Associate Superintendent, Boston Public Schools
My experience in the UCLA PLI program helped establish the foundation by which I serve as a social justice leader in urban public schools and communities. Unlike other traditional administrative programs, the PLI faculty and staff helped me transform my philosophies of education by sharing tools and insights that would allow me to evolve into a democratic leader whose goals are to establish school reform by creating collaborative opportunities for all stakeholders within the learning community.
Qiana O’Leary
Founder/Executive Director, Lancaster Youth Development Foundation