Illinois has been working at the forefront of innovation and improvement in principal quality for quite some time.  Recognized for bold policy initiatives involving principal preparation and development, the State of Illinois has received national awards and recognitions.  For example, Illinois was selected by the Education Commission of the States as the recipient of the 2014 Frank Newman Award for State Innovation.  Nominated by the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), Illinois was recognized with this award for the collaborative efforts of the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE), and the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University (CSEP) to engage a broad group of stakeholders in the development of rigorous program requirements for principal preparation.  These efforts led to the creation of a new P-12 Principal Endorsement enacted in 2010 through Illinois Public Act 96-0903 that mandated that all preparation programs throughout the state apply for program approval under the new requirements. Illinois’ work has been covered by several national organizations.

The key elements of Public Act 96-0903 intentionally correlate with the evidenced-based practices for effective leadership development found in Darling-Hammond, LaPointe, Meyerson, Orr, & Cohen (2007), including: 1) rigorous and targeted recruitment and selection; 2) cohesive program aligned with leadership standards that emphasize instructional leadership; 3) faculty who are knowledgeable in their subject areas – both university professors and practitioners; and 4) well-designed and supervised administrative internships that allow candidates to engage in leadership responsibilities for substantial periods of time under the supervision of expert mentors.

The statute represents a substantial overhaul of leadership preparation requirements in Illinois and includes the following key elements:

1. Termination of programs leading to a General Administrative Certificate that had prepared a wide variety of administrative positions, but had proven insufficient to meet the increasing demands of the principalship;
2. Creation of a Principal Endorsement designed specifically to prepare principals capable of addressing the challenges faced by today’s schools;
3. Formal university/district partnerships that require faculty to collaborate with school district officials in the design, delivery, and continuous improvement of the principal preparation programs;
4. Selective admissions criteria requiring aspiring candidates to submit a portfolio that includes evidence of positive impact on student growth, previous leadership experiences, and exemplary inter-personal skills which will also be evidenced through participation in face-to-face interviews;
5. PK-12 licensure structure that requires coursework and internship experiences be aligned to local and national performance standards and provides development across the PK-12 grade span and with specific student subgroups (special education, English Language Learners, gifted students, and early childhood);
6. Year-long, performance-based internship designed to provide the candidates with authentic leadership experiences intended to increase their proficiency in areas shown to improve student learning;
7. Competency-based assessment system aligned to both the Interstate School Leadership Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) Standards and the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) 13 critical success factors;
8. Collaborative supervision and support of candidates by a faculty supervisor and a mentor principal, requiring both supervisors to have a minimum of 2 years of success as school principals demonstrated by evidence of positive student growth; and
9. An 8-hour Principal as Instructional Leader Exam administered by the state.

These key elements represent a paradigm shift for preparation programs from “candidate as consumer” to “district as consumer.”  Moving beyond the simple outcome of program graduates securing administrative positions, the new requirements focus much needed attention on the impact principal preparation ultimately has on school improvement and student outcomes.

In 2013, the U.S. Department of Education awarded CSEP a School Leadership Program grant of $4.6M over 5 years.  The grant currently supports the Illinois Partnerships Advancing Rigorous Training (IL-PART) project, which represents a collaborative aimed at improving the way in which principals are prepared and developed according to P.A. 096-0903.