What can a 20-something with a head for business bring to a public school?
Apparently a lot, judging by the growing number of city principals turning to graduate students at Columbia University’s Business School for advice on managing finances and academic priorities.
“They have a different perspective than educators, they come from a different world,” said Naomi Smith, the head of Central Park East II.
As the city has granted principals more authority over budgets and curriculum, principals from 30 schools have turned to Columbia’s Education Leadership Consulting Lab for help tackling issues like pooling resources with other schools in shared buildings to measuring students’ progress.
“I’m very wary of running a school like a business, but there are aspects of the education system that business principles could help us with,” Smith said.
Her projects include developing a data-driven system to assess and improve reading skills. The business students will help her decide whether to buy hand-held computers for teachers to help them record data more efficiently.
The course was created in 2005 in the belief that sharp Ivy League business students could lend financial and leadership expertise to rookie principals.
“The role of the principal in the city has changed,” said professor Donald Waite III.
“Because they have so much on their plates, they’ve got to act more like CEOs in terms of setting priorities.”