NASBE Report Outlines State Role in Priming Principals to Lead Innovative High Schools

Alexandria, VA—While many states champion innovative high schools, the gap between what these schools demand and what principals are prepared to do can undermine even the best-designed models. A new NASBE analysis explores what effective leadership of innovative schools looks like and the state policy levers to support it.

While innovation takes many forms, redesigned high schools typically offer flexible, student-centered pathways to college and careers and relevant, competency-based learning experiences. Four leadership strategies stand out as essential for starting and sustaining innovative high schools: a rigorous, coherent instructional vision; strong, trusting relationships; distributed leadership roles across staff; and alignment and monitoring of partnerships with external organizations like colleges, employers, and/or community groups.

The report offers these state levers:

• Preparation and Licensure. High-quality principal preparation addresses instructional leadership, people and resource management, and change management. North Carolina’s Principal Fellows Program, for example, provides in-depth training and support while candidates earn master’s degrees.
• Professional Development and Support. Once hired, principals need mentoring, coaching, and supervision. Efforts such as Pennsylvania’s Principal Inspired Leadership program set up early-career principals for long-term success.
• Flexibility. Some regulations—such as those around staffing ratios, scheduling requirements, seat time, and course sequencing—constrain principals’ ability to innovate. Colorado lets schools submit innovation plans to better meet the needs of students.

The report draws from school leadership frameworks, research on comprehensive high school reform, and insights gathered during a spring 2026 NASBE meeting of the High School Transformation State Network and the Principal Collaborative to explore these forms and their impact on principal roles.

“By better aligning principal preparation, licensure, and support systems with these [high schools’] demands, state boards of education can unlock the potential of innovative high school models,” the authors write.

Read “Preparing Principals to Lead Innovative High Schools.”