The Challenge
Embedded in the Center for Educational Innovation and Improvement (CEii) at the University of Maryland’s College of Education, the School Improvement Leadership Academy (SILA) was created to ensure learning experiences at CEii translated into practice. Ultimately, SILA aimed to strengthen leadership pipelines across Maryland by equipping principals and assistant principals to lead sustainable, systemic improvement.
To make that vision real, SILA needed more than a solid curriculum. It required a structure that could transform learning into day-to-day leadership actions. Traditional professional development approaches couldn’t capture the applied nature of the CEii leadership model. The SILA fellowship needed a competency-based system that recognized real-world application, documented growth, and could scale across diverse district contexts without sacrificing rigor or relevance.
The Response
In partnership with Mira Education and Learning Forward, CEii developed five micro-credentials focused on applying improvement science and leading for equity, high-quality instruction, and school improvement. These Micro-credentials were designed to assess participants’ ability to implement these concepts in their schools.
Together, Mira Education and CEii built a sustainable model for competency-based professional learning that aligned with the academy’s mission: to strengthen school leaders’ capacity for systems-level change. Mira Education provided consulting, design, and implementation support, helping to establish assessment systems, calibrate evaluators, and train seven practitioners to serve as certified assessors.
To maintain quality at scale, Mira Education facilitated initial training and ongoing calibration sessions to ensure every micro-credential was assessed consistently and reliably. This infrastructure became a foundation for the broader approach to improvement leadership from CEii through SILA, anchored in evidence, reflection, and continuous feedback.
The Impact
The results speak for themselves. As of April 2025, 116 SILA Fellows earned 136 micro-credentials, achieving a 100% completion rate despite fluctuations in funding. Participants demonstrated measurable growth in instructional leadership, improvement science, and equity-centered practice.
Beyond the data, the benefits of competence-based professional learning showed up in schools. Below is a snapshot of the impact on the school improvement process that Fellows reported as a result of their participation in SILA.
- In Anne Arundel County, Assistant Principal Allison Johnson utilized tools from the SILA micro-credential experience to address chronic absenteeism, increasing attendance from 70.1% to 83.1% in just one year.
- At Oxon Hill Elementary School, Principal S. Lipford-Transou developed a stronger understanding of what it means to be an equity-focused leader. Using that inspiration, they were inspired to emphasize equitable access to educational resources as part of their staff practice.
- In Prince George’s County, Principal Erin Cribbs describes SILA as a turning point in her leadership journey, one that expanded her capacity to lead systemic change and foster stronger teaching and learning cultures.
These outcomes reflect more than individual growth; they represent a shift toward collective problem-solving and sustained improvement. SILA’s model—supported by Mira Education’s micro-credential framework—has created a replicable system that strengthens leadership capacity statewide and offers a blueprint for competency-based educator preparation nationwide.
The Takeaway
CEii’s success through SILA reinforces the power of competency-based professional learning to meet educators where they are and elevate what they can do. By focusing on demonstrated skills, rather than seat time, and by aligning individual learning with system-level priorities, Mira Education, CEii, and Learning Forward demonstrated that personalized, practice-based professional learning drives real change, one micro-credential at a time.