For Immediate Release: January 6, 2016

Contact: Renee Rybak Lang, renee.lang@nasbe.org, 703-740-4841

New Professional Standards for Educational Leaders Create Opportunity for States Implementing ESSA Accountability Provisions

Alexandria, VA – Most states base their standards for school leaders on the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards. These standards were updated last November. A new NASBE Policy Update compares the new standards, now called Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL), with the ISLLC standards and outlines what states will need to consider as they implement changes instituted by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

The most obvious change to the standards is structural, say NASBE’s Francis Eberle and Stephen Prociw, the report’s authors. PSEL expands ISLLC’s six principles to ten and clarifies how the standards can be met. For example, where ISSLC standards simply directed principals to collaborate, principals under PSEL are expected to engage family members and the community in “meaningful, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial ways.” But the new standards also reflect a change in emphasis, with greater attention to promoting student well-being rather than academic rigor alone. And it factors in principals’ abilities to provide instructional leadership.

The timing couldn’t be better for states to take a fresh look at their leadership standards, say Eberle and Prociw. “ESSA requires states to include at least one indicator of school quality or student success, such as school climate, in their accountability systems. The school principal is critical to developing and maintaining positive school climate.”

Read “Shift in Emphasis in New Standards for Education Leaders.”

The National Association of State Boards of Education represents America’s state and territorial boards of education. Our principal objectives are to strengthen state leadership in education policymaking, advocate equality of access to educational opportunity, promote excellence in the education of all students, and ensure responsible lay governance of education. Learn more at www.nasbe.org.

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