PPEERS
Principal Preparation for Excellence and Equity in Rural Schools
A North Carolina Principal Fellows Program involves a partnership amongst 15 rural districts that struggle to find and keep effective principals for high needs schools and UNC Greensboro.
Rural schools face disadvantages when recruiting prospective principals, and rural schools receive significantly fewer applications than larger districts (Pjanowski, Hewitt, & Brady, 2009). With the challenges rural districts face in recruiting and retaining principals expected to grow more acute in coming decades (Cruzeiro & Boon, 2009), the development of rural principal pipelines is imperative (Wood, Find, and Mirecki, 2013).
Drawing on this research, Principal Preparation for Excellence and Equity in Rural Schools (PPEERS) – A North Carolina Principal Fellows Program involves a partnership amongst 15 rural districts that struggle to find and keep effective principals for high needs schools and UNC Greensboro. As a principal preparation program, we aim to provide equal opportunity and access to aspiring leaders who wish to make a change in their communities.
Completion of this program leads to NC Level I Principal License and MSA degree.
At UNC Greensboro, we prepare future principals to lead with excellence and equity in rural schools. The Principal Preparation for Excellence and Equity in Rural Schools (PPEERS) program is more than a master’s degree—it’s a transformative leadership experience.
Program Components
- Cohort-based program
- Strong support from Leadership Coach and Mentor Principal
- Full-time internship experience (11-month)
- Salary replacement to allow full-time study (Year 2)
- Strong productive relationship between districts and UNCG
Program Highlights
- Rigorous Coursework: 10 courses plus an 11-month internship (Year 2)
- Leadership Development: Summer institutes and leadership style assessments
- Special Topic Seminars: Deep dives into challenges facing rural schools
- Paid Yearlong Internship: Salary replacement and summer stipends
- Leadership Coaching: Twice-monthly sessions with experienced coaches
- Enrichment Experiences: Study tours to innovative rural schools
Skills You’ll Build
- Instructional leadership and data-driven decision-making
- Distributive leadership and team building
- Talent management and change leadership
- Creating positive school culture and promoting equity
Year Long Full-Time Internship
Based on lessons learned from previous programs, including the North Carolina Principal Fellows Program, PTLA, and the FTLP, as well as research about the importance of a sustained, authentic clinical experience (e.g., Darling-Hammond, et al., 2007), PPEERS includes a 11-month, full-time clinical internship (August 1, 2027- through June 30, 2028) at a high-needs, rural school.
The internship is the heart of PPEERS in that it is the opportunity for authentic, site-based learning as well as the application of what PPEERS candidates learn in their coursework, leadership development, special topic seminars, and enrichment experiences.
During their clinical internship, PPEERS candidates will typically meet twice monthly with their Leadership Coaches for approximately two on-site. Additionally, during their internship, PPEERS candidates will continue to take coursework and complete leadership assignments that engage them in a structured set of experiences linked to the national Professional Standards for Educational Leaders and North Carolina Standards for School Executives as well as the day-to-day leadership of the internship school.
PPEERS candidates will create an electronic portfolio of artifacts from their practicum and internship assignments that are aligned to the NC Standards for School Executives. Coaches, Mentor Principals, and UNC Greensboro Clinical Supervisors will examine entries throughout the program. The portfolio is the basis of conferring the Certificate of Competency for licensure, which is based on 21 expectations aligned with the NC Standards for School Executives.
Leadership Coaching
Principal Preparation for Excellence and Equity in Rural Schools (PPEERS) participants will typically receive twice-monthly structured, non-evaluative Leadership Coaching during their 11-month internship experience.
Leadership Coaches:
- observe and provide feedback to PPEERS candidates on an ongoing basis, especially with regards to instructional leadership, data use, school change, and managing talent, including team building
- serve as a Critical Friend to help problem-solve challenges
- monitor progress on candidates’ Leadership Growth Plans
- encourage reflection by participants, helping them to apply their learning from PPEERS in their internship leadership practices.
Each PPEERS candidate will meet with their Leadership Coach at the internship site twice monthly August, 2027 – June, 2028. Sessions typically last about two hours. Each session involves examination of instructional leadership practices, dialogue, review of site-based assignments/projects, reflection on lessons learned, and a check-in/check-out with the PPEERS Intern’s Mentor Principal. Each session also involves an accountability check of the candidate’s progress on their Professional Growth Plan.
Special Topic Seminars
Special Topic Seminars are held on 2 Saturdays during each semester and during intensive summer sessions in Year 1 and Year 2, to allow Principal Preparation for Excellence and Equity in Rural Schools (PPEERS) candidates to delve deeply into topics key to the success of principals in high-needs, rural schools. While these topics are also integrated into coursework, Special Topic Seminars provide opportunity to develop deep knowledge on these topics.
UNC Greensboro is recruiting highly committed instructional leaders for the Principal Preparation for Excellence and Equity in Rural Schools (PPEERS) – A North Carolina Principal Fellows Program. We are looking for those who are passionate about rural schools and who would like to participate in a fully-funded, intensive 42- credit hour Master of School Administration (MSA) two-year degree program.
The application process is open to all interested participants who meet the selection requirements, characteristics, and assurances, and submit all application materials as outlined. Each partnering district has a limited number of openings; as a result, the selection of participants is a competitive process.
Characteristics of Strong PPEERS Candidate
- Substantive (at least 4 years) teaching experience
- Strong instructional skills
- Experience using data to inform instruction
- Commitment to educational change
- Experience supporting the growth of teachers
- Strong social/emotional skills
- Commitment to equal access
- Commitment to serving in rural schools
- Value for belonging and inclusiveness
- Growth mindset
- Commitment to serving in their sponsoring district
- Resilience and persistence
- Strong collaborative skills
- Strong work ethic
- Solution orientation
Participant Assurances
For more details on specific dates, please see the event timeline document.
- Sign a Promissory Note with the State Education Assistance Authority committing to serving as a school administrator in a NC public school for four years (or two years at a high-needs school) within six years of program completion.
- Participant holds a teaching license in North Carolina and holds at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution;
- Participant will actively participate in and apply learning during the required 42 credit hour (10 courses and a 12-credit internship) program of rigorous UNCG coursework, earning a Masters of School Administration (MSA) degree and initial principal licensure;
- Participant will engage in Boot Camp in July and Internship Boot Camp
- Participant will engage in intensive week-long Summer Institutes in June
- Participant will take part in all PPEERS enrichment activities, including two Saturday Seminars each semester of the program
- Participant will actively participate in the Study Tour, Performance Learning Days, Mid-Internship Conference, and Mock Interviews as scheduled
- Participant will fully participate in the comprehensive, 11-month, full-time paid clinical internship August 1 – June 30 at assigned school and attend bi-weekly Thursday seminars during the internship.
- Participants will collaboratively work with Mentor Principal, Internship Supervisor, and Leadership Coach, enacting feedback to grow and develop in school-based leadership;
SELECTION PROCESS
Principal Preparation for Excellence and Equity in Rural Schools (PPEERS) candidates will be selected through a rigorous two-stage process:
Stage 1: District Application – Due 1/30
- Application & Current Résumé
- 3 confidential Letters of Support forms, one of which must be from your current supervisor (grade-level chair, peer, community member, etc.)
- 3 to 5 page personal statement that reflects commitment to education, experience with instructional leadership and data use, and commitment to being a change agent focused on fairness and inclusiveness
- Panel interview or video-recording (recording no longer than 6 minutes) of applicant responding to a district leadership scenario or a case study selected by the district selection team from the Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership.
PPEERS candidates who are selected by the District Selection Committee will move to Stage 2. Notifications will be made on or before 2/20 by the District Selection Committee.
Stage 2: UNCG Application – Due 3/13
- Formal Application to the UNCG Graduate School, which requires: 1) transcripts; 2) three recommendations (can be the same from stage 1); 3) current resume and 4) a written essay in response to a prompt.
- Attend Interview Day at UNCG on 3/14.
Final decisions will be made by UNC Greensboro in collaboration and agreement with each partner district on 4/13.
District Partners
If you have questions not addressed in our FAQs documentation please contact your District Point Person.
- Alamance -Burlington Schools – Dean Richardson, james_richardson@abss.k12.nc.us, Executive Director of Human Resources
- Asheboro City Schools – Gayle Higgs, ghiggs@asheboro.k12.nc.us, Chief of Human Resources & Support Services
- Chatham County Schools, Dr. Kelly Batten, kbatten@chatham.k12.nc.us, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources
- Davidson County Schools, Dr. Shon Hildreth, shonhildreth@davidson.k12.nc.us, Assistant Superintendent of HR
- Davie County Schools, Jinda Haynes, haynesj@davie.k12.nc.us, Assistant Superintendent
- Guilford County Schools, Dr. James Mark Seagraves, seagraj2@gcsnc.com, Senior Executive Director of Professional Learning and Principal Pipeline
- Lee County Schools, Patricia Coldren, pcoldren@lee.k12.nc.us, Executive Director of Human Resources
- Lexington City Schools, Bruce Carroll, bcarroll@lexcs.org, Executive Director of Human Resources
- Lincoln County Schools, Brian Clary, bclary@lincoln.k12.nc.us, Chief of Human Resources
- Montgomery County Schools, Wade Auman, Wade.Auman@montgomery.k12.nc.us, Assistant Superintendent for Learning
- Person County Schools, Lori Stacey, staceyL@person.k12.nc.us, Director of Human Resources
- Randolph County Schools, Andrea Foxworth, afoxworth@randolph.k12.nc.us, Assistant Superintendent of HR
- Rockingham County Schools, Dr. Charles Perkins, cperkins@rock.k12.nc.us, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction
- Stanly County Schools, Lydia Hedrick, lydia.hedrick@stanlycountyschools.org, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources
- Surry County Schools, Amy Samples, samplesa@surry.k12.nc.us, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources
SOE SCHOLARSHIPS & FUNDING
A variety of financial aid is available to our students, including scholarships based on academic merit and financial need. We invite you to explore the many scholarship and funding opportunities offered in the School of Education.