Northern Gets Administrative Endorsement
Winter 2003

Teachers in Northern Montana who want to become school administrators will now be able to achieve their goals, thanks to Montana Board of Public Education approval of a new Class 3 Administrative Endorsement at Montana State University Northern.

Last month, Montana Office of Public Instruction, on behalf of MSU Northern's College of Education submitted a proposal for action to the Board of Public Education at their January 10th meeting and it was approved. "The major impetus for this application is to assist teachers who live and work in the rural school districts and districts that serve Native American populations in North Central Montana," said Darlene Sellers, Dean of the College, "to make them eligible for the Class 3 license as K 12 school principals." School districts across Northern Montana are facing two great challenges besides lack of funding, a shortage of teachers and a shortage of administrators. Especially critical is the need to recruit Native American educators into administrative positions as principals in K 12 that serve tribal communities' schools. Montana's rural schools are particularly being hard hit because they cannot compete with more urban districts that are luring our trained professionals away with more pay and benefits to schools that are much less geographically and socially isolated. "With these shortages looming, it is imperative that higher education step in to develop programs that preparethe next generation of school leaders while helping them in the advancement of their careers," said Sellers.

Northern is also delivering a sitebased weekend Master's degree in Learning Development in Helena, Great Falls and Havre. Plans are underway to expand the delivery to other sites around the state. As part of the master's degree, students could take the additional credits that will give them an administrative endorsement. They could also use the elective credits in the degree program to earn endorsement or to perfect their classroom teaching skills. Teachers with a master's degree can also just pick up the endorsement classes.
  

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