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.

1. Performance evaluation

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.