LAUNCH¶
Product or Programme · All products and programmes
Evidence · 9 claims (7 for, 1 mixed, 1 against) · 3 studies (3 associational),q2· 0 of 3 report an effect size · 9 claims rest on one study
Description¶
A Chicago Public Schools professional-development programme that recruits, prepares, and supports aspiring principals through intensified leadership knowledge, skills, and experience.
Components¶
- LAUNCH principal development program (Leadership and Urban Network for Chicago): LAUNCH is "a professional development program created to accelerate, inten- sify, and deepen the knowledge, skills, and experience of principal candidates," designed to recruit, identify, prepare, and support aspiring principals in Chicago Public Schools. Begun in 1998, it had 160 completers by the time of the study, with 55 serving as principals. The report evaluates LAUNCH graduates' professional development activity, leadership ratings, and their schools' ITBS learning gains. (Penny Bender Sebring et al. (2004))
- LAUNCH principal preparation program: LAUNCH (Leadership and Urban Network for Chicago), begun in 1998, is a professional development program created to 'accelerate, intensify, and deepen the knowledge, skills, and experience of principal candidates' in Chicago Public Schools. It includes a four-week summer Leadership Academy at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management, a full-time yearlong internship with mentor principals covering both elementary and high school experience, monthly meetings with book studies and action research, and an ongoing Urban Network of retreats and workshops. CPS has invested $7,500,000 in LAUNCH since 1999. (Hart et al. (2006))
Claims¶
- LAUNCH elementary principals reported spending about twice as much time on professional development as veteran principals and more time on staff development than other principals [+W]
- Elementary schools led by LAUNCH principals showed statistically significant but very small reading learning gains over schools led by other new principals, similar to veteran principals [+W]
- Two LAUNCH elementary schools with NBCT clusters showed significantly positive differences on 8 of 16 school measures [+W]
- Elementary LAUNCH principals report significantly more data-driven decision making than comparable or veteran principals [+M]
- Elementary schools led by LAUNCH principals show higher teacher-parent interaction and more reformed literacy practices [+M]
- No differences in student learning gains found between LAUNCH or NLNS principals and comparable or veteran principals [~M]
- LAUNCH principals report greater satisfaction and confidence in their preparation while NLNS principals report less confidence in operational management [+M]
- Elementary LAUNCH principals' schools rated significantly lower on 5 of 12 measures compared to schools led by non-program principals [-M]
- NLNS and UIC elementary schools rated more positively than non-program principal schools on several measures [+M]
Related Products and Programmes¶
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Key Sources¶
- Penny Bender Sebring, Susan Sporte, Stephen Ponisciak, Elaine Allensworth. (2004). Principal and Teacher Leadership in Chicago: Early Evidence on Two Initiatives. Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/principal-and-teacher-leadership-chicago-early-evidence-two-initiatives
- Hart, H. M., Ponisciak, S. M., Sporte, S. E., & Stevens, W. D. (2006). Principal and Teacher Leadership in Chicago: Continuing Analysis of Three Initiatives. Evaluation Report prepared for The Chicago Public Education Fund, Consortium on Chicago School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/principal-and-teacher-leadership-chicago-continuing-analysis-three-initiatives
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
product |
id |
launch |
title |
LAUNCH |
description |
A Chicago Public Schools professional-development programme that recruits, prepares, and supports aspiring principals through intensified leadership knowledge, skills, and experience. |
status |
review |
moved_from |
element/launch-principal-development-program, element/launch-principal-preparation-program |
product_kind |
programme |
generated |
by process:sweep-kinds on 2026-10-10 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
2 — penny-bender-sebring-2004, hart-2006 |
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