School Leadership

Middle School Leader Internship (MSLI)

The Middle School Leader Internship (MSLI) is a five-week, full-time professional internship designed to provide teachers with the knowledge, skills and experiences necessary to enter into or advance their careers in school-level leadership, with a specific focus on middle schools.  MSLI helps teachers build their leadership capacity by combining school-based, hands-on experiences with a theoretical leadership framework focused on pillars of transformational, instructional, and organizational leadership to drive dramatic gains for students.  All of this is accomplished through a cohort model built to support interns along their developmental path.

MSLI is designed with three primary goals:

  1. To inspire participants to pursue leadership opportunities within DOE middle schools
  2. To create a leadership learning opportunity that will enable participants to accurately assess their own professional learning trajectory and their development along the school leader competency continuum
  3. To serve as a springboard towards leadership pipelines to fill critical talent gaps across our City's middle schools

To meet these goals, the internship is structured around three key experiences: 1) school-based mentoring with a high-performing principal, 2) weekly school leadership seminars, and 3) creation of a culminating project and presentation.

Eligbility:

  • Tenured, with at least three years of successful teaching experience in the NYCDOE, preferably in sixth-eighth grades
  • At least one year of successful adult leadership experience, including formal and informal roles
  • Acquisition of school leadership certification/placement in one to five years
  • Interest in serving in New York City public middle schools

What can Leader Interns Expect?

  • Work directly with a mentor principal four days of the week for five weeks during summer school
  • Engage with a leadership curriculum aligned to the Quality Review Indicators

Skills gained:

  • Leadership, with a focus on leading and developing adults
  • Critical thinking
  • Data analysis and data-driven decision-making
  • Familiarity with the Quality Review

Key dates:

  • Information Session - Late Fall/Early Spring 2013
  • Application deadline: March 1, 2013
  • Program: five weeks during summer school (July-August 2013)