Leadership Preparation
The IMPACT Arkansas Principal Fellows Program is an innovative school leadership preparation program provided by the Department of Curriculum and Instruction of the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions. The fellowship’s purpose is to prepare future leaders of low-income schools throughout Arkansas. Each Fellow receives a Master of Education in Educational Leadership upon completion of this 18-month program. IMPACT graduates have achieved a 100 percent pass rate on the School Leaders Licensure Assessment. Those accepted into the fellowship receive a scholarship which pays for 80 percent of all tuition and fees.
Individualized Online Courses
Throughout the fellowship, candidates take individualized online courses delivered by professors in the U of A’s Education Leadership program while also participating in relevant professional learning experiences. Fellows are supported and coached throughout the process by IMPACT Arkansas Fellowship staff while applying learned content to school-based initiatives aimed at improving collaboration and instruction.
Program Requirements
The IMPACT Arkansas Fellowship was designed to benefit low income schools throughout Arkansas by preparing future leaders. Applicants must have at least three years teaching experience and work for a school in which at least 70% of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch. Upon acceptance into the program, IMPACT Arkansas Fellows commit to staying at their school for two years post-graduation.
The application period runs from Sept. 1 to mid-January each year.
Use this button to help grow support for IMPACT Arkansas Fellows through the Educational Leadership Program in the College of Education and Health Professions. Every gift matters!
Nearly 150 IMPACT fellows across seven cohorts represent 122 schools in 81 districts and eight charter systems, impacting thousands of teachers and students in rural, high-poverty Arkansas schools. Here are some of their stories.
University of Arkansas News featured the program in the Nov. 27, 2023, article “Rural Eastern Arkansas Educators Gain Leadership Skills Through IMPACT Principal Fellows Program.”
IMPACT’s Vision: A Decade of Growth and Strength, Continuing to Shape the Future
John Pijanowski, a University of Arkansas professor of educational leadership and founder of the IMPACT Arkansas Principal Fellows Program, believes that schools can play a part in addressing just about any kind of problem a community is facing – from the economy and workforce to education and public health. School leadership, therefore, can often spark…Continue Reading IMPACT’s Vision: A Decade of Growth and Strength, Continuing to Shape the Future
New Cohort Welcomed This Summer
The IMPACT Arkansas Principal Fellows Program footprint now includes 60 percent of high-poverty school districts across Arkansas. As of this summer, the innovative program in the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions has been preparing future leaders for the state’s highest-needs schools for 10 years. Educators who show leadership potential and aspire to become leaders…Continue Reading New Cohort Welcomed This Summer
U of A COEHP IMPACT Fellow Is Beating the Odds for Student Outcomes in Little Rock, Arkansas
Stacie Breshears (’17) was a successful fifth-grade teacher at Wakefield Elementary School in Southwest Little Rock when her principal, Leslie Taylor, approached her about applying for the first cohort of the U of A IMPACT program. Breshears knew she had Taylor’s support as a mentor, so she was confident in preparing to join the leadership…Continue Reading U of A COEHP IMPACT Fellow Is Beating the Odds for Student Outcomes in Little Rock, Arkansas
U of A COEHP IMPACT Fellows Implement Collaborative Leadership Approach in Jacksonville
John Osborn (’21) and Anita Hart-McNair (’21) are reimagining what school leadership can look like in Arkansas. As Cohort 5 graduates of the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions IMPACT Fellowship Program, Osborn and Hart-McNair were on separate leadership journeys with Arkansas Lighthouse Charter Schools. Osborn had served as a school leader…Continue Reading U of A COEHP IMPACT Fellows Implement Collaborative Leadership Approach in Jacksonville