New Leaders (formerly New Leaders for New Schools) is working to address the national crisis in urban public education by selecting and preparing outstanding leaders and supporting the performance of the urban public schools they lead across the country. Since 2001, New Leaders has trained more than 800 principals and vice principals who now serve more than 250,000 students in urban public schools nationwide. Principals trained by New Leaders fundamentally improve school and student achievement through innovative and results-based leadership.

Preliminary findings indicate that students in elementary and middle schools led by New Leaders principals for at least three years make academic achievement gains faster than their peers by statistically significant margins. In addition, New Leader-led high schools graduate students at higher rates and increase the percent of graduates by wider margins than other schools.

A Training Program Grounded in Hands-On Experience
New Leaders rigorously recruits aspiring principals and provides them with hands-on training, school performance support, and a network of innovative educational leaders to call upon throughout their career. Selected educators participate in an intensive four-week training institute to further develop their instructional and organizational leadership skills before beginning a year-long, paid residency at an urban public school. Working alongside a mentor principal while simultaneously completing intensive academic studies, individuals gain vital experience in school leadership and student performance. After successful completion of the program, graduates, who are called "New Leaders," are placed in positions within partner schools where they become directly responsible for raising student achievement.

"The New Leaders model of training better prepared me for the real work of a principal," said David Kovach, a New Leader principal from Chicago. "This is practice that is real...Although the theory I learned from New Leaders during our cohort classes was vital, the residency learning prepared me to be the principal of a school. No substitute can replace the experiences of doing the work."

While all recruits must have prior teaching experience, New Leaders principals also hail from successful backgrounds in the military, government, corporations, nonprofit organizations, and foundations. Each recruit must demonstrate an unyielding sense of urgency and belief in the potential of every student, a relentless drive to lead a high-performing urban public school, and exceptional leadership in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Using Leadership to Improve Student Performance
By attracting and training outstanding leaders who foster a high level of performance at urban public schools, New Leaders is working to promote high academic achievement for every student. Since co-founding New Leaders, CEO Jon Schnur has led the development of the organization's strategy, management team and board, core values, partnerships, and fundraising. As New Leaders progresses toward its goal of widespread educational impact, Schnur has set an ambitious benchmark—by 2014, 60 percent of schools led by New Leaders principals will be on track to having 90-100 percent of students achieve proficiency in core academic subjects by the principal's fifth year.