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Centers and Institutes- The National Leadership Training Institute
The National Leadership Training Institute
In 1969, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) published a book entitled Teachers for the Real World, which was authored by Dr. B. Othanel Smith, a professor at the University of Illinois. The United States Office of Education (USOE) supported this publication and it became a blueprint for programs funded by the USOE.
In 1970, Dr. Smith joined the College of Education faculty at USF. He was recruited by Dr. Charles Manker, Associate Dean, and by Dr. Bozidar Muntyn, the Chair of the Educational Philosophy Department. Dr. Smith was asked by the USOE to help implement the ideas expressed in the book. As a result, a unit called the Leadership Training Institute for Educational Personnel Development (LTI), was created and located in the College of Education at the University of South Florida. Dr. Manker and Dr. Muntyn insisted that Dr. Smith include an associate director of the LTI to share the work that would be pursued. Dr. Don Orlosky, who had come to the faculty the previous year as a full professor, was selected to serve with Dr. Smith. The LTI was responsible for coordinating the following five national programs that were funded by the USOE: the Protocol Materials Program, the Competency Based Teacher Education Program, the Teacher Centers Program, the Elementary Models Program, and the Instructional Materials Program. These programs included 32 projects that were located throughout the United States at various universities and educational institutions. The coordination and supervision of these projects was provided by the institute’s director, associate director, and 15 of the organization’s panelists who collectively represented the best knowledge in the country on the projects and topics on which research, development, and dissemination was being implemented.
The LTI functioned under the auspices of the bureau within the USOE. As a result of this program, 162 films (protocol materials) were produced that portrayed classroom concepts for use in teacher training. The College of Education became the distributor of these materials through a National Resources and Distribution Center (NRDC). The NRDC published a catalog of films and support documents and sent these materials to over 3,000 users throughout the United States and 18 foreign countries. The other four programs under LTI direction also created numerous documents, research reports, and school reform recommendations. The Bureau for Educational Personnel Development ( BEPD ) sunset documents in 1978 when funding for the program ended. However, during the eight years it supported the LTI, a foundation was built and personnel were trained who continue to give leadership to the schools of today.