Demonstrate Your Technology Leadership Expertise

Demonstrate Your Technology Leadership Expertise

As technology continues to shape our schools in new and unfamiliar ways, how can you feel confident you're serving and protecting your organization as comprehensively as possible?

Earning the Technology Leaders in Independent Schools (TLIS) credential can help you gain recognition for your expertise as a professional who consistently demonstrates experience, competency, and commitment to serve independent schools in the technology leader role with strength and excellence.

I knew I had the support, experience, and capability to be a technology leader in an independent school. Still, now I could take an exam to prove myself and earn an ultra-focused and relevant credential to highlight this. -Afandie Winter, Director of Technology at Children’s Day School

Why TLIS?

Independent schools are uniquely structured, which means that the role of a technology leader in one of these institutions requires a unique skill set, combining ed tech, IT, leadership, strategy, and more. The TLIS certification is designed specifically for independent school technologists who have the experience and wisdom to perform the job at a high level. 

“The pace of technology evolution over the past few years has stunned all but the most optimistic technophiles. With the advent of AI, quantum computing, cloud-based workspaces, and many other breakthroughs, schools today face an incredibly complex teaching and learning environment. Technology leadership is required to guide institutions through this reality and leverage utility from the noise,” said Jason Curtis, TLIS, chief technology officer at Thaden School. “The TLIS certification not only means that I understand how technology is progressing in the world but that I can also apply that understanding to the independent school ecosystem to improve the experiences of our community.”

The certification exam covers a wide range of topics within four key domains essential for technology leadership in K-12 independent schools:

• Independent school governance and leadership, which covers topics like developing and implementing policies and procedures, technology visions, department structure and staffing, equity, access, and more.
• Operations, which includes topics like evaluating technology systems and tools, user support strategies, onboarding and offboarding, and implementing systems.
• Professional development, which covers determining and implementing professional development strategies for the school community.
• Technology for teaching and learning, which includes topics like evaluating ed tech tools and learning space technology, streamlining ed tech tools, and more. 

When I was going through the materials, it felt like it was for me, and it felt like it wasn’t this scary thing that I was going to have to somehow go and figure out how to do a bunch of coursework alongside a full-time job. It was really just recognizing the on-the-job skills that I’ve developed over the past 17 years. And that felt really good and affirming. -Lane Worrall, Middle and Upper School Educational Technologist at Greenhill School  

Eligibility:

Eligibility requirements are explained in detail in the TLIS Candidate Handbook. In general, the requirements are:

• At least five years of experience working in an independent school setting;
• At least two years of experience working in roles related to IT, educational technology, and leadership;
• Candidate must attest to have earned 60 hours of TLIS-related professional development credit earned over the three-year period leading up to the application.

For me, the timing of the opportunity to earn the TLIS was right in line with the story arc of my professional career... there is not a better time for technology professionals to demonstrate that we have the unique knowledge and experience necessary to successfully lead our teams and guide our schools through what lies ahead. -Kevin Warenda, Director of Information Technology Services at The Hotchkiss School  

Application process:

The application window is open to take the exam during the Fall testing window of November 7-20. The application form is available on the ATLIS website. The deadline to apply is Friday, November 1. 

Take advantage of this opportunity to demonstrate your technology leadership skills.

To learn more about the certification process, please visit the ATLIS website, or email certification@theATLIS.org with questions.