RICHMOND, Va., (Aug. 17, 2007) - The University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University have established a partnership to improve K-12 school leadership, instruction and student achievement in greater Richmond.

The partnership, called EduLead, will offer an expanded number of leadership programs to four groups of public school leaders, aspiring principals, principals of academically struggling schools, first-year principals and principals of highly successful schools. The partnership also will follow up with impact studies.

A pioneer grant by the Genworth Foundation, the charitable giving arm of Richmond-based Genworth Financial, Inc. will enable EduLead to begin research on the impact of its programs and the development of outcomes for programs that are being designed. Other local corporations have expressed interest in providing funding.