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The 2015 standards characterize leadership as intentional strategic, and moral
In October 2015, a new set of national standards for educational leaders was adopted by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA), an umbrella organization whose membership includes the primary professional associations of educational leaders-the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), and NASSP-and other national organizations associated with the development and support of the profession of educational leadership. The Professional Standards for Educational Leaders 2015 (PSEL 2015) replaces the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) Standards that have shaped the landscape of educational leadership for the last 20 years.
The profession of educational leadership played a crucial role in developing PSEL 2015. Principals and superintendents provided information and recommendations through surveys, focus groups, and public comment periods, and professional associations also were instrumental in creating and supporting the new guidelines. The result is a set of new standards oriented toward the future that fuses the values and wisdom of professional practice with the profession's latest research knowledge.
Introducing PSEL 2015
PSEL 2015 builds on the ISLLC Standards and represents the major domains of educational leadership work. The primary focus of every domain is student academic success and well-being. The new standards are presented in Table 1 (see page 39). The full public report on the standards is available on the NASSP website at www.nassp.org/leaderstandards.
PSEL 2015 presents a systemic view of leadership, and the standards are best understood as mutually enforcing, and attending to all, not just one or a select few. PSEL 2015 emphasizes human relationships in leadership success. The virtues of school leadership-caring, integrity, trustworthiness, etc.-are distinctly visible and controlling. PSEL 2015 stresses community and culture. The standards focus not only on relationships with the community outside the school, but also on the cultivation of community for students and teachers inside the school. They focus not just on organizational culture, but the children, families, and professional staff as key ingredients of student success. PSEL 2015 presents a positive view of educational leadership that focuses on human potential, growth, and support with rigor and accountability, a view...