A study of two school districts' practices in providing professional development for principals

This study sought to understand how district office administration supports principal professional development. Principal leadership matters in improving student achievement, but the responsibility for a principals' achievement also rests with district leadership. A case study, interview-based methodology with data collected from written materials, professional plans, and programs were used to explore the actions of two school district offices as they provided professional development to their principals. Major findings in this study were that the professional development activities that district administration provided aligned to best practices identified in the literature, including the Interstate School Leadership Licensure Consortium standards. The commonalities of the professional development for principals include setting a widely shared vision for learning, providing a professional culture and collaborative relationships, providing feedback on performance with formal and informal assessment, and focusing on aligned curriculum and teaching strategies. The practices of district-level administration in providing professional development for principals were similar in both districts and included book studies, meetings, and an induction mentorship program. The findings indicate that district-level administration emphasized the need to provide professional development that engages principals in job-embedded activities focused on teaching and learning, which are aligned with the district improvement needs. District administration did not spend the same effort in providing professional development that focused on principal leadership skills