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The author identifies 10 phases of the principal development pipeline, some of which are seldom acknowledged and many of which are inadequately addressed. The author argues that various stakeholder groups should collaborate to provide continuous professional development to future and current principals through each phase of the pipeline. Examples of leadership development and stakeholder collaboration for each phase of the pipeline are also provided in this article.

We reviewed the scholarship on capacities for educational leadership for the past decade of the pre-reform era (1976-1985), as well as a recent decade of the reform era (2005-2015), and compared scholarship from both decades with the current Professional Standards for Educational Leaders. We found that scholars in the past decade of the pre-reform era wrote most often about technical management and the application of behavioral and social science, the greatest priorities of scholars during a 10-year period of the reform era were school improvement and instructional leadership, and the capacities most often represented in the Standards were school improvement and technical management.

Although research has established links between the principal's instructional leadership and student achievement, there is considerable concern in the literature concerning the capacity of principal preparation programs to prepare instructional leaders. This study interviewed educational leadership faculty as well as expert principals and teacher leaders to determine their perceptions concerning applicant screening; content to be taught, including functions, knowledge, skills, and dispositions; teaching and learning strategies; field experiences; and induction support. The researchers found considerable agreement across the three groups.

This study describes how a culturally responsive school leader promoted equity in a racially and linguistically diverse school. The authors shadowed Faith, an assistant principal, and did follow-up interviews with her after each day of shadowing. They observed teachers in their classrooms, conducted multiple interviews with teachers and parents, and gathered artifacts from administrative offices, classrooms, and common areas. The authors found that Faith practiced culturally responsive leadership on three levels: personal, environmental, and curricular. Faith's culturally responsive leadership included six themes: caring, building relationships, being persistent and persuasive, being present and communicating, modeling cultural responsiveness, and fostering cultural responsiveness among others. (Contains 1 figure.)