Program Overview

Residency Principal Program

The mission of this program is to prepare school leaders with the leadership and management skills needed to improve student learning in a variety of school environments. The program is delivered by WSU faculty members who have experience as school building and district leaders. It is closely aligned with aligned with Washington State Standards for the Residency Principal Certificate.

The program is offered at all four WSU campuses (Pullman, Spokane, Tri-Cities, and Vancouver) as well as in the South Puget Sound Region through the Vancouver campus and in Wenatchee through the Spokane campus. Requirements are common across all campuses, but the delivery format is somewhat different. The Spokane and Tri-Cities campus programs and the South Puget Sound Region program offer a “field-based” two-year program that integrates weekly seminars and internship activities, while the Vancouver and Pullman campus programs offer two years of course work followed by a one-year internship.

Prerequisite Experience & Academic requirements: Must hold or have held a valid teaching certificate or an ESA certificate with appropriate documentation of successful school-based experience in an instructional role with students.

Program Administrator Program

The Program Administrator program is a preparation program for beginning school administrators in a high-stakes accountability environment. It prepares school leaders with the leadership and management skills needed to improve student learning in a variety of school environments.

Prerequisite Academic requirement: Must hold a master’s degree from an accredited institution.

Superintendent Program

The mission of WSU’s Field-Based Superintendent’s Certification Program is to prepare school district leaders to meet the leadership challenges to be faced by school superintendents in the twenty-first century. The Field-Based Superinten­dent’s Certification Program is specifically designed to engage and mentor current building principals and mid-level administrators in the development of the leadership and administrative skills needed to lead their organizations for the improvement of student learning.

https://spokane.wsu.edu/academic/education/superintendent-certification/