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Arkansas Leadership Academy outlines school‑support work under Act 222; says coaches visit schools one day a week
Summary
The Arkansas Leadership Academy briefed the Senate Education Committee on its Act 222 school support program, describing performance coaches, three‑year leadership team training, progress monitoring and that the school support program is funded at about $300,000 of the Academy’s statewide $600,000 appropriation.
Dr. Clint Jones, Dr. Tom Bennett and Jennifer Medeiros presented the Arkansas Leadership Academy’s school support program to the Senate Education Committee and described how the program meets eight legislative mandates established under Act 222 and earlier Act 129. The Academy said its model centers on building leadership capacity through four performance coaches who average about one day per week on site with contracted schools, three‑year leadership team development, strategic planning and iterative needs assessments.
The Academy told senators it uses multiple progress measures — staff surveys (LEADS optional staff survey), principal and teacher efficacy instruments, organizational health inventories and student achievement/ESSA trend indices — to monitor progress. The presenters said their schools participate at high rates in required instruments and that cohort trend data shows modest improvements in principal efficacy after three years, with some year‑to‑year variation attributable to leadership turnover.
Budget detail: presenters said the Arkansas Leadership Academy is legislatively funded and gave a high‑level breakdown: total Academy funding roughly $600,000; the school support program was listed at approximately $300,000 and administrative overhead was described as roughly 5%.
Dr. Tom Bennett summarized the program goal: “We want to know that when we've worked in a school and we've left that school, what we're doing is sustainable.” Committee members asked about coach recruitment and qualifications; the Academy said coaches are former principals (minimum three years) and receive ongoing professional development.
Next steps: the Academy offered supplemental materials and said it will continue contracts with districts under year‑to‑year agreements and three‑year commitments for deeper implementation.
