Now more than ever, school leadership can affect student achievement. Research over the past ten years has proven that effective principals are one of the most important factors to improved student performance, second only to excellent teachers.

Extraordinary demands have been placed on today’s principals and assistant principals, and with these demands, robust support mechanisms for preparation, mentoring, professional development, and effective evaluation systems are needed.

NASSP is actively engaged with federal policymakers to ensure that there is strong federal investments in these support systems, and technical assistance to support school leaders in their ongoing work to increase student achievement and enhance instruction through preparation, professional development, and evaluation.

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Legislative or Policy Priorities

• Recruiting and Retaining Effective School Leaders Act (H.R. 3925)
  • NASSP News Release: Loan Forgiveness Bill Would Incent Great School Leaders to Work in High-Needs Schools, Principals Groups Say
• Educator Preparation Reform Act (H.R. 3636/S. 1694)
• Teachers Are Leaders Act (S. 1413)

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NASSP Resources

• Professional Standards for Educational Leaders
• Rethinking Principal Evaluation  
• NASSP/NAESP Joint Policy Brief on Teacher Evaluation
• Title II, Part A Factsheet
• NASSP Board Position Statements
  • Highly Effective Principals, Revised November 2013
  • Ethics for School Leaders, Revised November 2013
  • Teacher Supervision and Evaluation, February 24, 2011
  • Leadership Development for School Leaders, May 6, 2000; revised May 9, 2009
  • Professional Compensation for Principals, May 2, 2008
  • Principal Shortage, Revised March 2017
  • Alternative Preparation and Licensure of Principals, March 8, 2001; revised July 9, 2009
  • Teacher Leadership, November 7, 2017
• Participating Coalitions
  • Coalition for Teaching Quality
  • National Policy Board for Educational Administration
• Letter to House and Senate to Support Funding for the School Leader Recruitment and Support Program
• Letter to the U.S. Department of Education on Title II Data Collection
• Letter to House Appropriations Committee to Support Title II Funding
  • The House made an unconscionable decision yesterday to eliminate funding for Title IIA. With an abundance of research pointing to educator quality as the primary factor in student success, a budget that singles out support for educators as unworthy of federal investment sends the public a message that Congress does not care about the educators that serve over 35 million students in our nation’s schools. This decision is particularly painful given that this very same body passed the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) with new rules to narrow the uses of Title II funds to their intended purpose of developing teachers, principals and other school leaders. We strongly encourage members of Congress and the Senate to do better for our nation’s students and restore Title IIA funding to its authorized level of $2.295 billion.
• Senate School Leader Recruitment and Support Dear Colleague
• Letter to Appropriations Committees supporting Title II, Part A in FY 2019
• Dear Colleague to House Labor–HHS Appropriations Subcommittee
• New Leaders – Prioritizing Leadership
• LPI – Investing in School Leadership Under ESSA
• Rand – School Leadership Interventions Under ESSA
• CCSSO – Elevating School Leadership in ESSA Plans
• AAEF Letter on Teacher Diversity – 2019 Senate
• Teacher Diversity Coalition Letter