AACTE PRESENTS: Preparing & Sustaining School Principals

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education•aacte.org

The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) brings you our second podcast dedicated to supporting the often-unsung heroes in our education system, our principals. With support from the Wallace Foundation, this podcast will dig into research from the Wallace’s Knowledge Center for School Leadership through interviews with researchers like Dr. Darling- Hammond, as well as the practitioners and principal preparation leaders who are implementing findings from that research to good use. Over the next six episodes, we will discuss topics like: how to prepare principals to be equitable in a climate of censorship? Or what type of preparation matters when principals are called to be crisis leaders? And how do principal candidates view their preparation and future roles as school and community leaders?

Last refreshed: July 8th, 2025 at 6:36 AM ⓘ

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Episodes

So You Want to Be a School Principal? The Candidate Experience

Welcome to AACTE PRESENTS: Preparing & Sustaining School Principals, the podcast shedding light on the often-overlooked heroes of schools and universities – our principals. In our final episode of the series, we delve into preparation and the transition from teacher to assistant principal and principal roles with insights from Jennifer Castor and Don Kotnik, both recently minted school leaders. They share experiences, emphasizing the importance of communication, problem-solving, visibility, ...

Apr 05, 2024•21 min•Ep. 5

Who is Supporting our School Leaders? - Principal Retention

Explore the pivotal role of support systems in retaining and empowering school leaders in the latest episode of AACTE PRESENTS: Preparing and Sustaining Principals. Uncover insights from experts at Colorado State University, featuring Dr. Wendy Barnes, Dr. Donna Cooner, and Dan Seegmiller including their innovative School Leadership Institute designed to address challenges faced by new administrators. This episode serves as a compelling call to action for universities and school districts to col...

Feb 23, 2024•23 min•Ep. 4

Principals as Crisis Leaders

Explore the challenges of principal retention in the face of crisis management on the latest episode of AACTE PRESENTS: Preparing & Sustaining School Principals. Four out of ten principals anticipate leaving the profession within three years, a trend exacerbated by the pandemic and political tension. With guest experts Emily Asqueri and Kathy Mackay, the episode emphasizes the need for tailored crisis management. Guests discuss best practices for preparing principals to be crisis managers, s...

Feb 19, 2024•22 min•Ep. 3

What Do School Districts Need in their Principal Pipelines?

Explore the unique skills needed for principals in rural and mixed districts in this episode of AACTE PRESENTS: Presents and Sustaining School Principals. District leaders highlight their challenges, chief amongst them hiring and retaining trained principals. Learn about successful programs preventing burnout, including an aspiring administrator initiative, gain insights from one superintendent’s experiences in a small rural district, and reflect on applications of principal pipeline research li...

Feb 01, 2024•23 min•Ep. 2

What Makes an Effective Principal?

The Wallace Foundation's Knowledge Center on School Leadership released a report, Developing Effective Principals: What Kind of Learning Matters, that synthesized two decades of research on principal pre-service preparation and professional development. In this episode, we discuss the critical themes of the report with experts and practitioners, including lead author Linda Darling-Hammond, all of whom emphasize the importance of equity and diversity throughout principal preparation and how stude...

Nov 28, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 1

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