The Milwaukee School of Engineering will host a new MBA fellowship program designed to help school and district administrators be more effective in closing achievement gaps in education, according to an announcement made by MSOE today.
The program is launching in Wisconsin through a partnership between MSOE and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, a New Jersey-based nonprofit organization. The foundation’s MBA Fellowship in Education Leadership “seeks both to prepare leaders who can bring all American schools up to world-class levels of performance and to develop a new gold standard for preparing education leaders,” according to its website.
The fellowship is focused on both the achievement gaps between the country’s low performing schools and top performers and the gap between the country’s top schools and exceptional schools around the globe.
Through the fellowship program, to be facilitated by MSOE’s Rader School of Business, education leaders will complete a curriculum that combines clinical practice in schools with executive-style MBA courses. The fellowship will extend 13 months and will prepare participants to foster innovative school cultures, use more analytics and implement more evidence-based practices, drive student performance to international levels, and strengthen teaching quality.
Wisconsin and Indiana are the first two states to offer the Woodrow Wilson MBA Fellows in Education Leadership program.
The first cohort of MBA fellows in Wisconsin will come from Carmen Schools of Science and Technology, Elmbrook School District, Kenosha Indian Trail High School, Mequon-Thiensville School District, Milwaukee Academy of Science, Milwaukee College Prp-38th Street Campus, Milwaukee Collegiate Academy, New Berlin School District, Nicolet High School, Northpoint Lighthouse Charter School, Rocketship Southside Community Prep, Slinger Elementary, and Teach For America.
“As a nation, we must do a better job preparing our future school and district leaders,” said Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. “What we did in the past will no longer suffice. We need new approaches and new preparation that addresses where our schools and classrooms are headed. These Wisconsin MBA fellows are not only committed to improving education and closing the achievement gap in Wisconsin, but they will be leaders in a new national movement to dramatically improve how we prepare educators.”
Fellows were selected from a pool of nominations submitted by state school districts, choice and charter schools. Each MBA fellow will be awarded a $50,000 stipend to help cover tuition as well as executive coaching and travel opportunities to successful schools abroad.
In return, fellows will fill leadership roles in designated schools and school districts for a minimum of three years.
MSOE also has plans to partner with about a dozen area school districts that fellows can visit for in-school learning and mentoring.
“We are pleased to welcome the Woodrow Wilson MBA Fellows to MSOE,” said MSOE President Hermann Viets, Ph.D. “Our new degree program raises the bar in education standards, and these fellows are committed to improving student performance in Wisconsin. At MSOE we prepare our students to be leaders, and the fellows are no exception. They’re highly qualified school leaders who are going to be change agents.”
