1. Best Practices in Teacher Preparation. What Principals Need for 21 st Century Middle Level Leaders: Lessons from the Field Nancy Bell Ruppert Handouts for this session can be found on the AMLE2015 app

2. 47 Principals - 27 Schools to Watch - 11 others with School or Excellence, Blue Ribbon, or State Recognition States Represented: California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, NC, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia Years of Experience as a Principal STW Non-STW < 5 8 13 6-10 13 4 + 10 6 4 Number of Principals with Middle School Degrees STW - 8 Non-STW - 7

3. “Being in the middle is a great place to be. You can make the most difference in students’ lives in the middle.”

4. The Most Important Aspects of a Principal’s Job

5. “I love my job and I am grateful every day to be able to work with wonderful people. It is not without challenges and with each year, I am able to face those challenges more easily. Middle school student are the best age! “

6. Challenges Principals Face

8. How Principals Recognize their Teachers

9. “Enjoy the ride with the kids - for however long you remain in the field of education.” I receive recognition daily from my students. The thing that brings me the greatest joy is to walk down the hall or into the cafeteria or into a classroom and have the students say hello to me. In return, I try really hard to learn as many names as possible.

10. How Principals are Recognized

11. “Several times a week, I just sit on the front steps of the school, by myself for five minutes and think about what we are doing right. If I need a longer time I check my email out there. Usually a student or parent comes by and I get to start up a conversation that has nothing to do with discipline or grades and we just get to chit-chat.”

12. How Principals Deal with Stress

13. “I get up and go into work on weekends, or stay even later to get the job done at an A level. That makes me feel good. …Any principal not working 60+ hour weeks is leaving things undone, but they're probably getting away with it.”

14. Advice for Those Who Want to be a Principal

15. “When I learn this I will let you know. As a principal you must stay composed at all times. You have to have an outlet to communicate your thoughts away from school. In my district we have outside coaches for principals to help with this.”

16. Advice for Principals to Advocate for APs

17. “Middle level is the best kept secret. I would never want to change organization levels as I love this age:).“ Nancy Ruppert is the middle grades coordinator at UNCA. She conducted this research as an exploration in getting administration added to her certificate. Her focus and passion is middle level education. She is currently on leave from her position at UNCA, teaching 8 th grade math at West McDowell Middle School in Marion, NC. Contact information: nruppert@unca.edu nruppert@unca.edu 828-606-7446 (cell)

18. Session Evaluation 20001 Let us know what you thought of this session. Complete an evaluation electronically on the conference app, or complete the paper evaluation located in the back of the program book. CEU Code: WB - 37 CEU Code WB 37 Earn Continuing Education Units (CEU) to maintain your teaching certification. Write down the CEU Code for every session you attend on the CEU card located in the back of the program book.