The Albanian-American Development Foundation and the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth presented the beginning of the activity of the Center for School Leadership in Albania as well as the launching of the nationwide Needs Assessment study.

The needs assessment study that will evaluate the needs for professional development of school principals, which is expected to publish the final findings and recommendations in April 2019, aims to review and revise the latest Standards of Evaluation for School Principals in Albania and other related documents to school principals’ role; Provide a situation analysis and recommendations for professional development needed to achieve agreed standards, considering the following stages of capacity development: Academic knowledge offered by university providers, Pre-service training, Continuous professional development; and Assess and provide recommendations on hiring, performance evaluation and firing process of school principals in Albania. Assessment and recommendations should also include the need for professional development of all stakeholders involved in the above processes.

The event was attended by: Mr. Alexander Sarapuli and Mr. Martin Mata, Co-Executive Directors of AADF; Mrs. Besa Shahini, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth; Board members of the Center for School Leadership; representatives from Educational Directories/ Offices all over the country; school principals and representatives of public and private universities. The selected team to conduct this study is composed of international and local experts in the field of educational leadership. During 2019, the Center for School Leadership will develop the training curricula; will determine the duration of the training and the criteria for persons to be trained and certified; as well as training of academic staff of Higher Education Institutions that will provide training service in different cities of the country.