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Talvi Bandele

NIU alumnus Talvi Bandele had spent his career teaching history in high schools.

Yet, the lure of administration offered an intellectual challenge.

“Even as a teacher, I’ve always been the type of person who always wants to be learning, to always be evolving, to seeing what works best,” says Bandele, dean of the Production and Service academies at Auburn High School in Rockford, Illinois.

“As a principal, I see it as a puzzle,” Bandele adds, “not in a sense that everything can be solved, per se, but that you have these things that come your way. And, I think that I have the creative side to work with others to figure things out: ‘What can I do? How can I help?’”

Bandele is now one of 20 participants in the new NIU Principal Residency Program.

Launched this fall by the College of Education and the Rockford Public Schools, the partnership will develop school leaders to improve academic and social-emotional learning outcomes and post-secondary success in every District 205 school led by a partnership-prepared principal.

Students earn two-year master’s degrees in educational administration that are grounded in exceptional curriculum, professional practice, and strong mentoring, including Illinois Principals Association coaching.

RPS 205 Superintendent and NIU alumnus Ehren Jarrett, M.S.Ed. ’04, Ed.S. ’06, Ed.D. ’09, believes that combination produces unparalleled results.

“School leadership is such a powerful force in school achievement,” Jarrett says. “By having people actively in practice as assistant principals while they are doing their coursework, and being mentored by outstanding principals, this is going to be the best way to develop our leadership talent and to drive student outcomes.”

NIU College of Education Dean Laurie Elish-Piper calls the program a “fabulous way” to extend the concept of homegrown teachers into the next realm of homegrown principals.

“I started my career as a middle school teacher, and I know firsthand the difference an amazing, effective principal makes,” Elish-Piper says. “Principals are truly the core of their schools. They’re the ones who create the context and the climate. They’re the ones who create the support teachers need to support their students.”

On that ground stands Bandele and 19 others chosen to enroll with tuition paid by RPS 205.

Bandele, who earned his NIU bachelor’s in history in 1998, his master’s in history in 2000 and a law degree in 2004, said, “I try to hold myself to a very high standard, even higher than what people might expect of me.”