The Kentucky Principalship: Model of School Leadership Reconfigured by ISLLC Standards and Reform Policy Implementation

Abstract

This article provides perspectives about influences on the principalship following a state's 1998 adoption—without modification—of the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium Standards for School Leaders. Using literature about reconceptualizing school leadership as the framework, the paper summarizes changes in state-regulated administrator certification, state-approved preservice preparation, state-mandated first-year induction of new principals, and district-designed administrator performance evaluation that have occurred since adoption of the Standards. Perspectives about policy and contextual issues that challenge and enhance opportunities for Kentucky to achieve its goal of reshaping administrative practice are shared. Recommendations for future research about the implementation of the Standards include (a) studies about the practice of contemporary school leadership, (b) longitudinal and cross-case inquiries about implementation, and (c) explorations of the influences of school leadership on student performance through backward mapping to principal preparation.