The Principal Principle

After three years of teaching Spanish at Waco’s Midway High School, Stephanie Zamora ’06 was ready to consider taking on more of a leadership role. Zamora earned her undergraduate degree in Spanish and then acquired alternate teacher certification. She considered pursuing a master’s in Spanish, but when she heard about Baylor’s new Master of Science in Education and Principal Certification Preparation Program, she knew that was the path she should take.

Zamora (pictured) began the program June 8 with a cohort of fellow students who will stay together throughout the program. They will complete twelve hours of classwork this summer, take another six hours in both the fall and spring semesters, and then study full-time again next summer to finish in fifteen months.

Zamora chose Baylor for many reasons, she said. But the face-to-face approach of the program was one of the biggest draws. While many Texas schools are expanding the online aspect of their principal-certification programs, Baylor’s includes an ample dose of classroom experience.

“For me, actually attending class makes a big difference,” Zamora said. “The smaller classes at Baylor are a big plus. There is more opportunity for discussion and interaction with both peers and professors.”

Baylor’s coordinator of the program, Dr. Mary Ann Manning Jordan ’70, said that many of the students in the program chose Baylor over its competitors for that reason. But for most of them, she said, the overwhelming reason for choosing Baylor is the school’s stellar reputation in educator preparation. “The biggest selling point is that it’s a Baylor education,” she said.

When Jordan arrived on campus last fall, she was charged with revamping the master’s program—which had been discontinued several years ago—to make it more competitive with degree plans that had sprung up at other universities. Jordan streamlined Baylor’s program, which requires only thirty-six instead of forty-two semester hours to graduate, and added new courses to address newly mandated state or national standards.

Scholarship dollars available through Baylor also made a difference in student recruitment, Jordan said. Baylor has a dedicated scholarship fund, the Fred Hale Scholarships, for students in the principal certification program, and the university has committed additional funds to provide financial help to every student in the program.

Jordan came to Baylor after fourteen years as an elementary principal and even more time as a teacher. Her administrative stint was at Eastland’s Siebert Elementary, one of only twenty-six Blue Ribbon campuses in Texas. “That’s something I’m really proud of, and I can use that experience on a daily basis in teaching classes,” she said. Jordan is teaching classes this summer, along with veteran teachers in the School of Education.

The master’s program was one that Baylor’s School of Education had operated for approximately twenty-five years when it was discontinued. Before the program’s hiatus, its graduates regularly had a 100 percent pass rate on the principal certification exam, according to Dr. Robert Cloud, professor of educational administration. He said that the program, along with two doctoral programs in educational administration, met its demise “under a previous dean and administration” and that he is thrilled to see it back.

“Our programs personified the very best of ‘Pro Texana’ in Baylor’s motto, because we prepared men and women to meet some of the most dire needs of the state in public education,” he said. “In my opinion, that’s God’s work just as much as what’s done in Truett Seminary.”

Cloud added, “It is our intent and our hope that the momentum generated by this master’s program will lead to the rebuilding of our doctoral programs also.” Baylor previously offered two EdD programs in educational leadership, with tracks in K-12 education and in higher education. “Our graduates are now superintendents of some of the biggest districts in the state and are serving as presidents of colleges,” he noted. But Cloud said it will take time, especially in a difficult economy, for the doctoral programs to re-emerge.

So far, things might be going exactly according to plan. Master’s candidate Zamora said that she’s already considering pursuing a PhD. And for her, Baylor is always at the top of the list.