Professional Learning & Collaboration

Being a true leader is not just a title, it involves taking action. If you find yourself in the position of leading a team at your school for the first time this year, these strategies will help you get comfortable in your new role.

Building strong relationships between K-12 leaders and administrators fosters trust, collaboration, and psychological safety. Discover strategies to proactively develop these essential connections, ensuring a successful partnership that drives student achievement and school improvement.

New assistant principal? Discover four strategies to excel in your first year and build a strong foundation for success.

Are you, or do you know someone who is, starting their career as a principal this school year? Check out our best strategies for ensuring your first year is a success.

As summer continues, we’re back with another set of six strategies to help principals and other K-12 leaders relax, refresh, and get ready for the school year ahead.

Summer is a great time for reflection—both about your school community and your own leadership needs. Here are some questions—and accountability strategies—to get you ready for next year.

The summer offers K-12 leaders much needed downtime and a chance to charge your batteries after a whirlwind school year. Take time for yourself and your leadership with these actions.

Wondering whether the principalship is in your future? Explore your principal readiness through these 10 self-reflection questions.

If you’re a K-12 education leader, you’re most likely always wishing for more time—especially as the end of the year approaches. We’ve outlined several strategies to help you get some precious hours back, both right now and in the long term.

Assistant principals drive instructional leadership, manage school operations, support teachers and staff, ensure student wellbeing, and much more. Here’s how to balance—and embrace—the diverse responsibilities that come with the role.

Thinking about moving into school leadership? Or know someone who is? Here are ten essential mindsets and professional learning insights—along with ten popular blog posts—to support your path forward.

Cultivating a school- or district-wide growth mindset happens through design, not by chance. Consider these growth-building strategies as you’re bolstering the learning and leadership of your teachers and staff.

One of the most important characteristics of a great school leader is that they’re committed to developing future leaders. Here are four actions that strengthen that commitment.

Our Fellowship is the focus of a case study by the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Learn how the Fellowship came to be and how we are developing transformational school leaders.

School leadership does not have to be lonely. Here’s how one New Leaders alum and principal relies on her New Leaders cohort for support and guidance—and how you can too.

Discover how one district, in partnership with New Leaders, developed leaders of teams, leaders of schools, and leaders of systems in tandem—and is driving instructional excellence and equity at scale.

The best leaders are those who prioritize continuous learning. We’ve put together a list of everyday strategies to keep you learning, even when you’re short on time.

Our nation’s schools need well-prepared leaders. Leaders at every level in the K12 education ecosystem have a role to play in supporting the next generation of principals. Here’s how.

From teacher to assistant principal, learn how one New Leaders Fellowship alum stepped into school leadership to be for her students what was missing in her education journey.

Job-embedded leadership coaching can deepen your impact this school year. Discover how it works and why leaders and educators at every level find it beneficial to achieving ambitious goals.

Recommitting to your passion as an education leader—and to pursuing your own professional learning—are the building blocks for success in this new school year. Here are resources to help.

Investing in solid onboarding not only helps new school hires feel supported from the start, it also creates long-term belonging, which is key to retention. Level up your school onboarding with these strategies.

Meaningful professional development is a key reason principals stay in their roles. Here’s what that looks like in Vancouver Public Schools—and how it is motivating one principal to keep growing.

Want to do more for the students in your community? Here are tried-and-true ways K12 educators and leaders can explore opportunities to step into more leadership roles and amplify their impact.

This spring, over 50 New Leaders alumni and current New Leaders participants gathered in Memphis, Tennessee. Learn how one district and local foundations are supporting the development of leaders at every level.

The path to school leadership is always unique. Discover why one New Leaders alum is excited to step into the principal role for next school year.

Hear from nonprofit leaders, school and district leaders, and two Latinx educators pursuing principalship on what more we can do to boost more equitable representation in schools.

The inaugural cohort of the National Aspiring Principals Fellowship is principal-ready and looking to lead. Go behind the scenes of their leadership seminar and see what the Fellowship does best.

Developing teachers into leaders builds pipelines for high-quality leaders for high-need schools. Here’s how a network of schools in South Carolina is partnering with New Leaders to create career pathways.

Research shows that students excel and schools thrive when they are led by diverse, committed, effective, and resilient leaders. Here are five qualities that drive teachers to become principals.

Effective communication is more than what is said or posted on a website or social media. Strong K12 leaders use communication to move their vision forward. Here’s how.

Assistant principals play a vital role in our schools. Here’s how one New Leaders alum is developing the vice principals in her district to be coaches and instructional leaders.

Educators of color face unique challenges when advancing into school leadership. Yet, new public-private partnerships are removing financial barriers for aspiring principals. Learn how.

Checking in with teachers about their professional learning progress fosters dialogue about how they’ve grown this year and where they still need support. Get the conversation started with these questions.

Job-embedded coaching for school and district leaders can be a game-changer. Here are ten reasons why leadership coaching might be a good fit for you.

The “shoulder tap”—when someone sees your leadership potential and helps you navigate a path forward—can be life-changing. Start more of those conversations with the future leaders you know. Here’s how.

Research shows that strong school leadership accounts for about 25 percent of a school’s impact on student achievement. You can elevate that impact through instructional leadership—particularly through ELA-focused strategies.

We can do more to systematically improve the strength and diversity of our nation’s principals. Here’s what our research tells us—and here’s where districts and states are making an impact.

Strong instructional leaders can add up to three additional months of learning for students every year. Build teacher capacity and increase student achievement with these math-focused actions.

Here are five top blog posts from 2022 that explore effective leadership. May they inspire you to keep building on your strengths and taking your leadership to new heights.

A critical way to keep great teachers in our classrooms is to work alongside them to support their professional learning and growth. Here are three leadership actions to consider.

As district leaders work to address principal shortages, one strategy tops the list of retention efforts: providing high-quality K-12 professional development. Here’s how to support the learning opportunities principals are seeking.

As National Principals Month comes to a close, we’re elevating principal voices to motivate and inspire the next generation of aspiring principals to step into the role. Read on.

Now is the time to diversify educational leadership at every level. With intentional actions, careful planning, and commitment, district leaders can build more equitable representation. Learn how.

New Leaders and Baltimore City Public Schools are committed to working together to prepare aspiring leaders, building and retaining a strong bench of talent. Here’s how our district partnership works.

For many schools and districts, teacher shortages will continue to be a challenge. To flip the script, let’s focus on why teachers stay in the classroom and why it might be the key to retention.

Read the second paper in our series on reshaping educational leadership for the future. Learn how school leaders can accelerate student learning and keep great teachers.

Now is the time to recommit to your passion as an education leader—and to building your resilience, too, in this new school year. Here are resources to get you started.

How can we develop future school leaders of color to endure and thrive in today’s complex education landscape? Our National Aspiring Principals Fellowship offers a way forward.

Need a dose of inspiration? Ideas to enhance your leadership? Here are five TED Talks from influential leaders that you can watch on your own or reflect on with your team.

By diversifying teacher and school leader pipelines, we empower more students to realize their futures. Read the first in our series of papers on reshaping educational leadership for the future.

Podcasts are a convenient way to stay current and learn something new. Here are six podcasts to try as you move through the final few weeks of summer and beyond.

Looking to trailblazers in the field can be inspiring and motivating. Check out these up-and-coming equity-focused thought leaders in education to discover new ideas and shape your own perspective.

Training to become a principal is a big step in your leadership journey. Here are the most important components to look for in principal preparation programs.

Summer break is a time to discover new ideas for your professional growth. We looked across industries—from business to healthcare—to compile four tried-and-true leadership practices to add to your toolbox.

Summer break is a time to focus on your own learning and add to your leadership toolkit. Here are eight books for your summer reading list recommended by our staff.

It’s been a year—and no doubt your leadership made all the difference. Now it’s time to catch your breath. Learn how to restore, retool, and recommit this summer.

In addition to helping you grow as an educator, becoming a teacher leader can broaden your impact beyond your classroom. Here’s how to get started.

Considering starting on the path to principalship? With the help of a few New Leaders alumni, we’ve put together some insights to consider as you’re thinking about your next step.

New Leaders launched the National Aspiring Principals Fellowship in partnership with Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University. Learn more about why representation in leadership matters for students and our society.

Strong leadership is an indicator of school success, but it doesn’t need to be in a vacuum. Here are five important qualities to look for when building leadership teams.

Learn how one HBCU graduate is spearheading our new online principal preparation and master’s degree program via a first-of-its-kind partnership with Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University.

The educator shortage isn't new, but it's increasingly concerning as more teachers leave the profession. Here are five actions you can take to reverse this trend in your school.

Everything you need to know about the different kinds of leadership effective principals leverage and what to look for in a principal preparation program.

First-of-its-kind principal preparation and masters degree program designed in partnership with Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University to train the next generation of equity-focused principals.

Virtual coaching allows more school leaders access to coaching when it’s needed most. Coaching in a virtual environment is resource-effective, provides trusted thought partnership, and focuses on your leadership goals.

Celebrating women’s voices and insights from education leaders at every level. From spreading joy in our schools to empowering principals and teachers to motivating women to step into leadership roles.

Hear from four New Leaders leadership coaches about how one-on-one virtual coaching is lifting up and supporting principals and assistant principals in this moment and the next.

Good coaching leaves a legacy. Here’s how an instructional coach forever changed the way one school leader taught his high school students and later led his school.

Learn why a leadership coach is an important part of your support system, and how a coach can help you cut through the clutter, get clear on goals, and take action.

Why invest in teacher leadership? Principals can’t do it all. Teaching and leading are different skill sets. And strong teachers with job-embedded training can have a greater impact on more students.

Principals matter, a new report from the Wallace Foundation concludes. We could not agree more. Charged with driving excellence and equity within their school communities, principals challenge the status quo.

Learn how one online-by-design principal preparation program is training transformational school leaders. In partnership with New Leaders, this program offers a unique blueprint for remote professional learning options.