Education Leadership Initiative

Introduction to the Educational Leadership Policy Standards

Introduction

The Council of the Chief State School Officers is pleased to share the recently revised and approved national standards for educational leadership policy, which most of you have come to know over the years as the "ISLLC1 Standards."

The ISLLC Standards have helped guide leadership policy and practice in more than 40 states since they were first released in 1996 by the CCSSO Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC)2. The idea then, as now, was to give policymakers and education leaders a common vision and goals for how to improve student achievement through better educational leadership.

This document is intended to make you aware of the new standards-Educational Leadership Policy Standards: ISLLC 2008 as adopted by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA). We also want you to make them available as you develop, align, and update your policies and other school leadership activities.

The State Education Standard Vol. 6, No. 2 September 2005

The Wallace Foundation generously funded NASBE's issue of The State Education Standard on Education Leadership. The State Education Standard is the policy journal of the National Association of State Boards of Education. Written for lay leaders and professional educators alike, the journal explores major education issues through the lens of policy development and implementation.

Each issue of the Standard features the thinking of an array of prominent education analysts as they examine a specific theme such as the quality of the teaching work force, state assessments, or education finance. In addition, regular departments provide briefings on state education policy actions across the nation, education developments at the federal level, expert advice on the art of education policymaking, features on state innovations, and a legal perspective on education issues.

This issue of the State Education Standard was produced with support from The Wallace Foundation. The Foundation supports the development of knowledge and analysis from multiple sources and differing perspectives. The findings and recommendations contained in this publication are solely those of their authors. To learn more about The Wallace Foundation and its work in education leadership and other fields, please visit the Knowledge Center at www.wallacefoundation.org.

In 2000, The Wallace Foundation launched a national initiative on education leadership to place quality leadership at the core of school reform. It has supported a range of efforts aimed at significantly improving student learning by strengthening the standards, training and performance of education leaders along with the conditions and incentives that affect their success. The focus has been to develop, test and share useful approaches for improving the training of education leaders and the conditions that support their ability to significantly lift student achievement across entire states and districts, especially in high-need schools. To that end, NASBE seeks to inform state boards of education on why leadership matters and how to exercise the specific policy levers under their authority to strengthen leaders’ knowledge and skills in improving student learning.

NASBE works in partnership with the Council of Chief State School Officers, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the National Governors' Association in helping states design cohesive leadership systems to ensure leaders are effective in improving student achievement. NASBE along with our national partners continues to work with state policymakers to leverage their political and legal authority towards the goal of improving education leadership.

States have brought together key players to challenge the status quo and craft systems for developing leaders that connect with the overall efforts to improve schools and advance student learning. The comprehensive assistance has lead to the implementation of policy frameworks grounded in research and proven practices and designed with the ultimate goal of raising student performance.

Current states active in this project include: Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Individual district sites include: Atlanta, Georgia; Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Eugene, Oregon; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Jefferson County, Kentucky; Springfield, Illinois; Springfield, Massachusetts; St. Louis, Missouri; and Providence, Rhode Island.

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