Professional Development

Summer Leadership Institute

The Summer Leadership Institute is designed to enable Fellows to effectively link leadership and instructional theories to their practice. It is an intensive two week program grounded in two cornerstones: the study of leadership across organizations and the study of leadership at the school level. Through this program, Cahn Fellows have the opportunity to reflect on their own leadership and create a vision of leadership for the future. While in attendance at the Institute, Fellows are required to develop and submit an action plan addressing an Individual Challenge they are facing in the leadership of their schools. The Individual Challenge work facilitates learning across the cohort as Fellows engage with one another on a review of their challenge.

Week One – Leadership Across Organizations

The first week of the Summer Leadership Institute places a strong emphasis on experiential learning theory and involves visits to non-educational organizations to engage Fellows in a study of leaders across sectors. Through an experiential learning component that provides for exposure to leaders in a variety of organizational settings, Fellows are encouraged to reflect on their own leadership strengths and weaknesses. Fellows receive a solid grounding in organizational change theories.

During this week, Fellows are taken out of the City to engage in seminars and conversations on broad-based leadership topics including organizational change, organizational culture and strategic visioning with non-educators and educators alike. This interchange of ideas promotes new learnings for the presenters and the participants.

Week Two – Leadership in the School

For week two of the Summer Leadership Institute, Fellows return to Teachers College, Columbia University to examine specific challenges facing urban school administrators and potential solutions to those challenges. Each year, the Program focuses on different aspects of school leadership.

Please click below for a program schedule from a past Summer Leadership Institute:

2009 Summer Leadership Institute Highlights

2006 Summer Leadership Institute

2005 Summer Leadership Institute

2004 Summer Leadership Institute

2003 Summer Leadership Institute