There’s still time to sign up for ACSA’s Clear Administrative Credential Program. HR administrators and other leaders in charge of leadership development — make sure your late-hires know about this opportunity to clear their credential through ACSA’s induction program.

Often new administrators start the job after the school year has begun and were not eligible until after the deadline for the program’s fall cohort. ACSA makes it possible for them to start the program in January.

“We are one of the few clear credential programs that offer a winter cohort,” said George Manthey, Ed.D., who has provided oversight to ACSA’s credentialing program this year. “We do this because we believe that it’s to the candidate’s (and district’s) benefit to have coaching early in their administrative career. We’d hate to make them wait 10 to 12 months to begin the program.”

ACSA’s Clear Administrative Credential Program pairs new administrators with highly trained ACSA Leadership Coaches who provide one-on-one guidance and support. Candidates are matched with coaches in their area who understand their specific leadership role. Learning is personalized and integrated with school and district goals.

ACSA’s innovative induction program is considered the gold standard throughout the state. The heart of the program is job-embedded coaching provided by certified ACSA Leadership Coaches who become trusted friends and confidants throughout the two-year induction period. The induction program design and implementation provide support and guidance grounded in the California Professional Standards for Education Leaders in the three designated areas, chronicled in the Individual Induction Plan: coaching, professional development and assessment.

“The standards for our program are high. CACP is designed to ensure that participants develop their skills in each of the California Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (CPSEL),” Manthey said. “ACSA takes that responsibility seriously and takes pride in supporting new leaders out in the field.”

Earlier this year, ACSA welcomed Tamerin Tooker, Ed.D., as its Credential Program Director. She said one of the strengths of ACSA’s program is that professional development for participants is determined by the coach and the candidate based on the candidate’s needs.

“Professional development for participants can be through courses, district workshops, ACSA seminars and workshops, book studies, job shadowing. Every participant selects different activities based on an assessment of their mastery of the CPSELs,” Tooker said. “One-on-one coaching is job embedded and personalized to each candidate’s specific needs.”

Tooker comes to ACSA after having served as a full professor of education for 13 years. She was instrumental in the design and successful launch of a doctoral program in Organizational Leadership and was the sole faculty developer of a master’s program in Educational Leadership. She has also served in several key leadership roles including chair of the Educational Administration program, chair of the doctoral program in Organizational Leadership, instructional designer and program developer. For this work, she was named School of Education Faculty Member of the Year in 2013 and won this prestigious award yet again in 2016. She was also the California Educational Research Associations (CERA) Institutions of Higher Education Leadership award winner in 2014.

Prior to going into higher education, Tooker served as an elementary and middle school teacher, middle school student advisor, high school assistant principal, and middle school principal for over a decade.

A genuine passion for leadership has led Tooker to serve as a mentor to hundreds of new and aspiring administrators through her work at the university, professional organizations and consulting. Tooker has been an ACSA member since 2006. She was one of ACSA Region 19’s first mentors and was later trained as a master mentor trainer. Tooker is also a successful writer and co-authored “92 Tips from the Trenches: How to Stay in the Game as an Educational Leader.” Most recently, she co-presented at the Model Schools conference on the topic of Equitable Grading Practices and Competency Based Education with her husband Jeffrey Tooker, Ed.D., superintendent of Placer Union High School District.

“I am honored to be able to support ACSA’s mission to inspire the next generation of great leaders and participate in the development and empowerment of equity-minded educational leaders,” Tooker said.

Jump start your career with ACSA Professional Learning.