UM Program Builds Female Workforce in Educational Leadership

By Kat Franchino, UM News Service

MISSOULA – National stats show women make up nearly 80% of public school teachers but account for just 35% of Montana superintendents.

It’s a gap that the University of Montana’s Phyllis J. Washington College of Education works to bridge with its Women in Educational Leadership master’s degree program.

Launched in 2025, the one-year, 37-credit program has already graduated its first class and produced Arlee’s newest superintendent, Kendal Baldwin.

“As educators, we ultimately need to prepare kids to enter the world,” Baldwin said. “The Women in Educational Leadership program gave me important knowledge, frameworks and exposure to the many different parts of leadership. Perhaps the most important thing it made me do was figure out what kind of leader I want to be.”

Baldwin spent more than two decades in Montana classrooms before making the switch to administration. While the Women in Educational Leadership program served as her launchpad to the superintendent role, Baldwin’s deep interest in education started in childhood.

Raised in Montana, Baldwin attended schools in Wolf Point and Melstone before moving to Alberton as a teen. A lifelong music lover who performed her first solo at age 3, Baldwin served as Alberton High School’s choir director starting her junior year of high school. Then she graduated and headed to nearby UM with her eye on a career in music.

“At the time, my degree options were vocal performance and music education,” she said.

Baldwin leaned on her childhood experiences to guide her decision. Her role as choir director – a position she continued to hold during college – had given her a taste of teaching. Her biggest influence, however, was her father, Jim Baldwin. He started out as a teacher before transitioning into educational leadership roles. Her father’s work gave Baldwin a front-row seat to what a career in education could look like.

Inspired by her father and her experience directing, Baldwin graduated from UM in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in music education. In 2005, St. Ignatius Middle and High School reached out. Its music teacher, Erica Allen, was leaving. Would Baldwin be interested in the position? For Baldwin, it was an easy “yes.”

Over the next 21 years, Baldwin invested deeply in the St. Ignatius community, forming strong relationships with students, families and other staff. She filled her spare time as well, starting St. Ignatius’ Special Olympics program, officiating volleyball and completing a master’s degree in music education through an online program.

“I’d initially considered a master’s in administration, but ultimately stuck with music education,” she said. “Looking back, that was the right choice. I didn’t have the experience at the time to be the administrator I would have wanted to be.

“Music brought me into education, but the students and relationships are what kept me there,” Baldwin added. “It’s what drives schools.”

She taught students about notes and rhythm, organized concerts and performances, and found time on the side to coach volleyball and cheer. Through it all, the idea of an administrative role stayed with her. In 2024, Baldwin started seriously considering whether administration could be the next step in her career.

“I ended up calling the college of education’s assistant dean, Dr. Mike Perry, who is a former superintendent,” she said. “(UM) was starting its first Women in Educational Leadership cohort. There were a few days left in the application period, and Dr. Perry was adamant that I apply.”

Baldwin got off the phone and threw herself into the application. She was accepted two days before the program started.

“The first week of the program was a whirlwind,” confessed Baldwin. “I was living in Missoula, commuting an hour to St. Ignatius to teach, officiating volleyball, raising a teenage daughter, and suddenly I was trying to figure out graduate-level coursework on top of everything else. I was so overwhelmed at first.”

After years of being the person who students reached out to for help, Baldwin found herself back in the student seat and wondering if she would be able to manage the course load while working fulltime. As she wrestled with this, Baldwin got a phone call. Dr. Patty Kero, a professor teaching one of the program courses, was on the other line. Dr. Kero had noticed Baldwin and reached out to offer assurance that she could succeed in the program.

“Dr. Kero knew I had things to say and that I needed help with how to say them,” Baldwin explained. “To have an educator reach out like that was really eye-opening. We do it all the time for our students, and it was a reminder for me that adults also need this type of support.”

Over time, Baldwin found her groove. As an asynchronous online program, the Women in Educational Leadership program allows students to shape the workload around their schedules. For Baldwin, that meant teaching during the day and dedicating her evenings to the program, which includes courses on school law, finance and strategic planning.

Students in the 23-person cohort relied heavily on the program’s online forums and Zoom calls to discuss assignments and bounce ideas off one another. These avenues also gave Baldwin a chance to befriend other students, many of whom were also women juggling full-time jobs and family responsibilities.

While the program is open to students of all genders, it’s designed to increase the number of women in educational leadership roles. The program is taught exclusively by successful Montana female leaders, all of whom hold doctoral degrees, and it’s directed by Dr. Erica Allen, Baldwin’s predecessor in St. Ignatius.

“Educational leadership in Montana can be a lonely place for women – especially for those serving in the superintendent role,” Allen said. “Women bring unique approaches and characteristics to leadership, and their leadership experiences often differ from those of men. This program meets all the same standards as our regular (Master of Education) one, but is taught from the women leader’s perspective. Additionally, it was designed to help students build a collegial network that could make the women’s leadership role less lonely.”

“Women have historically been underrepresented in educational leadership,” Baldwin said. “There are so few women in leadership roles, and I didn’t realize it at first. Having female professors doing this work and provide different perspectives was eye-opening.”

After a year of running full-throttle, Baldwin’s hard work paid off. In December 2025, she crossed the stage as part of the program’s inaugural graduating class, then completed four additional courses in July 2026 for her superintendent’s license. She immediately landed a job as Arlee’s newest superintendent.

It’s a responsibility she doesn’t take lightly.

“Having been a classroom teacher for 21 years gives me a unique perspective,” Baldwin said. “I think a lot about what type of administrator I’d have wanted when I was a teacher. It’s easy to write a paper about leadership philosophy, but it’s much harder when you’re sitting in the chair and making decisions.”

Baldwin’s not tackling it alone, though. She has the support of her fellow cohort students and former professors, as well as Dr. John Matt, chair of the UM college of education’s Department of Educational Leadership, who serves as a sounding board while Baldwin navigates her first year as superintendent.

In September 2026, Baldwin kicked off her 22nd school year as an educator and her first as a superintendent. While she’s made the leap from the classroom to administration, she continues to center her work around students, families and teachers.

“Schools are about the people,” she said. “If we lose sight of the human in front of us, whether that’s a student or an adult, I think we’ve missed the point.”

Baldwin and her cohort are now in the field applying what they’ve learned, and the Women in Educational Leadership is already preparing to welcome its second cohort class in January 2027.  

“It is an honor to work with exceptionally talented and dedicated current and future women educational leaders,” Allen said. “Being a part of Kendal and others’ leadership journeys has been a great gift. Recognizing and valuing the complementary perspectives and skills of both women and men can strengthen school leadership in Montana, and that is our goal.”

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Contact: Kat Franchino, marketing and communications manager, UM Phyllis J. Washington College of Education, 406-243-4959, kat.franchino@umontana.edu.