Fit is critical for school leaders to realize a long, successful tenure in a leadership position. More importantly, research now reinforces the correlation between the length of a school leader’s tenure and impact on student and adult performance. So, once you are hired for a school leadership position, your students, teachers, and community need you to be there for an extended stay.

To get you started on the right foot, the Illinois Principals Association (IPA) in partnership with the members of the School Leader Collaborative have developed this School Leader Entry Plan. In this document, you will find guidance anchored to the School Leader Paradigm to help you frame your thinking about starting well. We discuss critical leadership competencies and attributes for you to reflect on early in your tenure. Further, we look to focus your relationship building and learning processes by providing you with suggestions of people you should consider engaging with, documents you should consider reading, and work you should consider doing.

The purpose of the School Leader Calendar is to help you stay focused, organized, and growing — critical attributes of any school leader. This robust resource provides you with monthly lists of essential responsibilities aligned to the School Leader Paradigm, dates to remember (some just for fun), critical professional development opportunities, and timely advice on key leadership topics. While the School Leader Calendar is comprehensive, it is not exhaustive.

School leaders need a clear understanding of what it means to be learning leaders leading learning organizations and a more formalized approach to learning and continuous improvement. The Cycle of Inquiry is an excellent mechanism for both individuals and organizations to utilize for unlearning, learning, and relearning to foster continuous growth and improvement. At the individual level, it can be employed for self and professional growth. For schools, districts, and other larger organizations, inquiry can be a powerful continuous improvement tool. The Cycle of Inquiry is a mechanism to make the School Leader Paradigm a living, breathing document, helping school leaders and their schools improve their practice.