October 20, 2021

Lewis & Clark Graduate School Named Partner Recipient of $8.2 million Grant to Build Equity-Centered Principal Pipeline

Partners include Portland Public Schools (PPS), Portland State University, Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC), the Oregon Educator Advancement Council (EAC), and local community organizations.

Partners include Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling (GSEC), Portland P... Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling is pleased to announce it is a partner recipient of an $8.2 million, five-year grant from the Wallace Foundation to build an equity-centered principal pipeline. Partners include Portland Public Schools (PPS), Portland State University, Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC), the Oregon Educator Advancement Council (EAC), and local community organizations. Together, the partners will work to prepare a strong equity-centered leadership pipeline to work and serve at PPS, while providing an important demonstration that could inform statewide efforts.

“The graduate school’s primary focus in the partnership will be collaborative design of educational leadership programming to prepare aspiring leaders of color as leaders for racial equity within the Portland Public School district,” said Mollie Galloway, chair of the Graduate School’s Department of Educational Leadership and lead Lewis & Clark contributor on the grant. “The Educational Leadership faculty look forward to working alongside our partners to provide leadership preparation centered on racially conscious approaches to practice. We are committed to working collectively to support leaders to transform school cultures and curriculum to be culturally affirming; eliminate exclusionary and colorblind policies and practices; equitably distribute resources and learning opportunities; and authentically engage with families and communities of color.”

Grant recipients were identified through a rigorous, competitive process, with the partner K-12 school district having at least five high-needs high schools, more than 48,000 students, and evidence of strong support for the effort from local stakeholders, university partners, and the relevant state education agency.

In a statement from PPS, Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero said: “This initiative will allow the district to both train and recruit more culturally and linguistically diverse principals, and help ensure that every PPS school is equipped with leaders who have the skills and preparation needed to put our equity commitments into action. Adding more diverse voices and lived experiences to the pool of PPS principals will benefit the entire PPS community.”

The Wallace Foundation will conduct research on grantee strategies and successes as part of the grant to help inform and add to the growing national dialog on how to improve equity leadership in public education.

“We are very pleased to be working with our colleagues to build innovative pathways for the preparation of school leaders who will promote racial equity in the culture, policies, and practices of our schools,” said Scott Fletcher, Dean of the Graduate School. “The extraordinary support provided by this award from the Wallace Foundation will allow our team to collaborate deeply and over a significant period of time to achieve these goals.”

Seven other U.S. school districts and their partners also received the grant, including Baltimore City Public Schools (MD), Columbus City (Ohio), District of Columbia Public Schools (Washington, D.C.), Fresno Unified School District (Calif.), Jefferson County School District (K.Y.) and San Antonio Independent School District (Texas).