When Brent Osbourne became principal of the lone high school in a small school district in Washington state, he realized he didn’t have many administrators around him to learn from. His superintendent, while a great sounding board, could only share what he’d learned as a middle school principal.
Osbourne felt isolated—until he went to an Association of Washington School Principals meeting.
“Going to that meeting changed my career,” said Osbourne, who has led the 500-student Lakeside High School in Nine Mile Falls for 15 years now. “As I grew in my principalship, the state association grew what they were offering as professional development to principals.”
The nature of the PD sessions has changed since Osbourne started attending—there was a lot more content on “compliance and evaluations” years ago, he said. More recently, sessions are focused on how to develop “emotional intelligence” as a leader and how to build a sense of community within a school.
The shift in tone has been crucial for Osbourne, who, like principals across the country, is dealing with an ever-changing job description.
“As glorified middle management, you live in the middle of this hourglass, where there’s stuff from states and communities on one side, and then the building that you have to manage,” said Osbourne. “There’s just so much to do that you’ve got to have the tools and assets to lead through all of it.”
The principalship can be a tough and lonely job. Beyond the years spent in preparation courses, school leaders aren’t offered many PD opportunities that meet the needs of their evolving roles.
Principals can attend regional and national conferences or find mentors and coaches in their districts. But it’s largely up to individual principals to create their own learning opportunities, said Adam Heywood, the principal of Winman Middle School in Warwick, R.I. Heywood and his assistant principals are always on the lookout for PD opportunities within and outside their district.
Districts largely focus on making sure teachers have the training they need, school leaders say.
“Principal PD falls into a vacuum. It’s harder [for district leaders] to think about what they’re doing to keep principals on top of things. But it should be prioritized,” said Osbourne.
Principals seek PD focused on teacher engagement and student success
In the 2024-25 school year, Osbourne was among nine school administrators who attended a year-long training on school culture, facilitated by the state association for principals. The training, Osbourne said, helped him identify which teachers were fully immersed in the school’s culture and which were indifferent or “on the fence” about participating.
Once Osbourne knew that data, he could strategize on how to engage all his teachers, so they would look forward to school every day.
In their PD sessions, Osbourne and his cohort picked up useful tips to engage teachers during staff meetings. The cohort met once a month to brainstorm strategies that would make school more fun for teachers, improve their well-being, and celebrate their hard work.
As Osbourne implemented those strategies, teacher morale improved—and he noticed teachers were more ready to buy into the school’s goal to push students academically.
“We believe the rigor [students] choose is a great predictor of success at the post-secondary level,” said Osbourne. Over the last three years, 85% of Lakeside’s seniors have enrolled in advanced math, which, to Osbourne, is an indication that teachers are setting high expectations.
Heywood, the principal from Rhode Island, searched for PD that would help him get teachers on board to revamp the “portrait of a graduate” for their school. Heywood and his assistant principals signed up for training offered by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, an accreditation body for public and private secondary schools.
The training helped Heywood and his administrative team survey teachers, students, and parents to “get honest feedback” on what should constitute the revised portrait.
“Teachers really weren’t necessarily focused on data, and they were making decisions based on, … ‘if we’re doing a lesson with kids, it’s because we’ve done it for the last 30 years, and it’s our favorite lesson to do in this method,’” said Heywood.
Using the survey information—which prioritized skills like communication, critical thinking, and lifelong learning—Heywood could help his teachers evaluate if their lessons reinforced the new portrait of a graduate.
Over the last five years, Heywood has introduced new curriculum in every subject at his school. The PD helped him get teachers on board and adapt their teaching to the new goals and standards.
Principals need PD that addresses their day-to-day challenges
Setting up training for principals can be challenging, said Luke Spielman, the principal of Park View Middle School in Mukwonago, Wis. It needs to be the right mix of lofty leadership lessons and practical strategies that principals can apply to the daily challenge of running a school.
Spielman said both types of PD help. His district has partnered with a leadership training organization called InitiativeOne to coach school leaders on topics such as communication or leading with empathy.
Spielman has mixed these lessons with PD by the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators, which offers different levels of training that correspond to where a school leader is in their career.
Over the last two years, Spielman has used the lessons he learned in PD to address teacher retention in his school. For example, he implemented “stay interviews,” a spin on exit interviews.
Spielman asks the staff he wants to stay questions like: “What do you love? What can we do to make our district a better place that creates trust?”
Spielman has also involved more teachers from his school in the district-level PD offered to principals.
“It’s been really interesting because now we have a teacher group and administrator group who are using the same language,” he said. “I think it’s easier to make change when you are speaking the same language, when you have the same values, when you have the same expectations.”
Principals want more peer learning
Formal PD aside, all three principals believe that districts should set up more coaching and mentorship for school leaders at every stage of their journey—especially for those in more rural or remote school districts.
Osbourne coaches newer principals in Washington state, an opportunity he wished he had when he started at Lakeside High. His advice to younger principals is to make time for PD, even if it takes them out of their building.
It’s often hard for principals to see the benefit of PD, Osbourne added, especially when there are always small fires to put out in the school. Still, he encourages principals to tap a colleague or a teacher to cover for them.
“A couple of days of meaningful reflection of your craft can change the way you do things,” said Osbourne.