ED6852 develops the knowledge, dispositions, and skills required of effective building-level principals across the preschool through grade 12 continuum. Anchored in the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL), the course addresses instructional leadership, school culture, equity, community engagement, and the managerial responsibilities that together define the principal's role.
PSEL standards: the framework for principal preparation
| Standard | Focus Area |
|---|---|
| 1. Mission, Vision, and Core Values | Developing and sustaining a shared mission focused on student learning |
| 2. Ethics and Professional Norms | Acting ethically and with integrity in all leadership decisions |
| 3. Equity and Cultural Responsiveness | Ensuring every student has access to high-quality, culturally responsive education |
| 4. Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment | Leading a rigorous, coherent, and well-implemented instructional program |
| 5. Community of Care and Support | Cultivating an inclusive, caring, and supportive school environment |
| 6. Professional Capacity | Developing the instructional capacity of every teacher and staff member |
| 7. Professional Community for Teachers | Fostering a professional community of teachers focused on student learning |
| 8. Meaningful Engagement of Families and Community | Engaging families and the community as partners in education |
| 9. Operations and Management | Managing school operations efficiently and effectively |
| 10. School Improvement | Actively pursuing continuous improvement driven by evidence |
What ED6852 covers
Instructional leadership is the core of the principal's role — research consistently shows that the principal's instructional leadership is second only to classroom teaching in its impact on student learning. Instructional leadership encompasses defining and communicating a clear vision for teaching and learning; establishing high expectations for academic achievement for all students; supervising and evaluating instruction through regular classroom observation and evidence-based feedback; organizing the master schedule to prioritize instructional time; supporting professional learning communities; analyzing student achievement data to guide instructional decisions; and coordinating curriculum coherence across grade levels and subject areas. ED6852 develops each of these dimensions and examines how principals balance instructional leadership with the many other demands on their time and attention.
School culture — the shared assumptions, beliefs, values, norms, and practices that characterize life in a school — is both the context for and the product of principal leadership. Research by Deal and Peterson identifies two predominant culture types: toxic cultures characterized by negativity, isolation, blame, and low expectations; and positive cultures characterized by collaboration, high expectations, shared purpose, and celebration of student and staff success. Principals shape school culture through what they pay attention to, what they model, how they respond to crises, how they structure time and space, and what they recognize and reward. Culture change is slow and requires sustained, consistent leadership over years — not a single initiative or staff retreat. ED6852 develops the cultural leadership skills to diagnose school culture, identify cultural barriers to improvement, and lead deliberate culture change.
Writing a principal leadership case study or school improvement plan?
Our education writers apply PSEL standards and instructional leadership frameworks with the building-level specificity Capella requires.
Key topics you write about in ED6852
- PSEL standards: all 10 standards and their application to building-level practice
- Instructional leadership: classroom observation, feedback, professional development, data use
- School culture: diagnosing culture, cultural leadership, building positive professional communities
- Equity leadership: closing achievement and opportunity gaps, culturally responsive school practices
- Teacher evaluation and professional growth: frameworks (Danielson, Marzano), evidence-based feedback
- Family and community engagement: partnerships, communication, community schools model
- School operations: budgeting, scheduling, facilities, safety and crisis planning
The principal as instructional leader: five key behaviors
- Be present in classrooms — frequent, brief, focused observations signal that instruction is the priority
- Provide specific, evidence-based feedback — not evaluative judgments, but observed evidence connected to student learning impact
- Use data — disaggregate achievement data to identify which students are not learning which standards with which teachers
- Protect instructional time — guard against non-instructional interruptions; make scheduling decisions that prioritize learning
- Build teacher capacity — design professional learning that is job-embedded, collaborative, and connected to student data
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Frequently asked questions
The Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL, 2015, updated from the earlier ISLLC standards) are the national standards for school principal preparation and licensure developed by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA). They define what effective school principals know and do across 10 domains, from mission and vision to ethics, equity, curriculum and instruction, school culture, professional capacity, family engagement, operations, and school improvement. PSEL standards matter because they structure principal preparation programs (including Capella's), inform state licensure requirements, and provide a framework for evaluating and coaching practicing principals. They shift the emphasis from administrative management to instructional leadership and equity — reflecting research on what principal behaviors actually improve student outcomes.
Management refers to the operational, administrative, and logistical functions of running a school: scheduling, budgeting, facilities, compliance, safety, personnel paperwork, and problem-solving. These are necessary — a school cannot function without effective management. Instructional leadership refers to the principal's role in directly improving teaching and learning: defining academic expectations, observing and coaching instruction, analyzing student data, coordinating curriculum, and building teachers' professional capacity. Research shows that instructional leadership has significantly more impact on student outcomes than administrative management. The challenge is that management demands are urgent and constant while instructional leadership requires deliberate time investment. Effective principals protect time for instructional leadership activities — classroom visits, data meetings, coaching conversations — by delegating or systematizing management tasks.
School culture is built through sustained, consistent leadership behaviors over years, not through single events. Principals build positive culture by modeling the values they want the school to embody (arriving early, being visible, treating everyone with respect); publicly celebrating teacher and student achievement in ways aligned with the school's academic mission; creating structures for teacher collaboration (common planning time, professional learning communities, peer observation); narrating the school's story — articulating what the school stands for, what it has achieved, and where it is going; managing cultural contradictions — addressing behaviors or norms that contradict the stated values; and hiring and inducting new staff members who fit and strengthen the culture. Deal and Peterson's research emphasizes that culture is shaped through symbolic leadership (what the principal pays attention to and celebrates) as much as through structural changes.
Data-driven decision making at the building level means using multiple types of evidence — not just annual standardized test scores — to understand what is happening in the school and to guide decisions. Types of data principals use include: achievement data disaggregated by student subgroup (identifying which students are not learning which standards); formative assessment data from classroom instruction (identifying which instructional approaches are working for which students); attendance and behavior data (early warning indicators of disengagement or crisis); teacher observation data (identifying instructional patterns and professional development needs); and perception data from student, family, and staff surveys (identifying cultural and climate issues). Effective data use involves building teachers' capacity to analyze and respond to data in collaborative team settings, not just reporting aggregate scores to faculty meetings. The goal is instructional response to evidence, not data collection as an end in itself.