
Leadership Units for School and District Leaders
A leadership unit (LU) is a credit earned by school-based or district office members of the Public School Administrators and Supervisors Association (PSASA), one of the district's bargaining units. They reflect leadership impact and professional growth, and support movement between intervals on career pathways.
PSASA members can earn LUs in three ways. As a reminder, principals no longer earn LUs.
When employee evaluations have Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory ratings:
Satisfactory rating = 12 LUs
Satisfactory rating with a newly initiated or continuing Performance Improvement Plan = 9 LUs
Unsatisfactory rating = 0 LUs
When employee evaluations have four-tiered ratings (such as for school leaders), they no longer receive LUs. Rather, salary impacts are:
Highly effective or effective rating = interval increase
Developing or ineffective rating = no interval increase
School leaders also have a negotiated one-time bonus based on earning a highly effective annual rating.
2. Member-initiated projects
PSASA members can earn LUs by completing projects that meet criteria for learning, application, and outcomes. Proposals for LU-bearing projects must be submitted and approved. Please contact psasa_jgp@bcps.k12.md.us for all LU request forms.
3. External partner and district-initiated projects
These experiences build leadership capacity through contextualized learning with real-world expectations focused on urban education. Proposals must meet criteria for learning, application, and outcomes and must also:
Demonstrate an approach to changing practice
Promote theories and practices supported by research
Contextualize learning with real-world expectations, measures, and laws
Connect to excellence in practice
Expect ongoing, real-world implementation and reflection
Download information about the proposal submission and approval process.