The RLA programs actively recruit talent, are highly selective in admissions, emphasize practice-based training, engage closely with the districts and schools where their graduates are ultimately placed, and track their data to ensure that their graduates are effective in strengthening school and student outcomes.

The purpose of A New Approach is to provide a vision for making principal preparation programs more systematic and rigorous, and it offers a new path forward using illustrations of RLA approaches. Our goal is to help principal preparation program architects—including districts, states, institutions of higher education, and nonprofits—learn from the collective work and thinking of the RLA members.

The job of school principal may be one of the toughest in our nation—and one of the most valuable. High-quality school leaders are in great demand and there are strong calls for principal preparation programs to meet the need more effectively. If we want to turn around our schools and improve student achievement for all children year after year, we must address this leadership challenge.

It is our hope that A New Approach to Principal Preparation will be informative in assisting programs in strengthening their own practices and in producing a new generation of school principals who are ready to tackle the challenging and rewarding work of improving and running our nation's neediest schools. Effective leaders are essential to accelerating and increasing student achievement.

Click here to download A New Approach Executive Summary.