The purpose of this study was to measure the extent to which school leaders who completed the preparing new principals program in School District A perceived the program’s effectiveness in preparing them to demonstrate Florida’s principal leadership standards as adopted in November 2011. This study also identified the components of the preparing new principals program that influenced the professional practice of the program completers in their current leadership roles within School District A. This study was conducted at the request of the professional development services designee in School District A and is a companion study to research conducted by Eddie Ruiz and Wesley Trimble. The Preparing New Principals Program Completer Survey was sent to 90 administrators in School District A who completed the preparing new principals program between 2008 and 2011. Follow-up interviews were conducted with six volunteers in order to further clarify responses to the survey and to gather additional input from program completers. Survey results as well as interview data were analyzed in order to give the professional development services designee information for designing a new principal preparation program for School District A. The literature review and the results of this study supported the premise that preparing principals for school leadership in 2013 involves more than developing management skills and knowledge of the functions of a school. Principals must be instructional leaders with an unwavering focus on student achievement. Overall, results of the study found the PNPP in the urban school district supported the participant’s awareness of the FPLS and also showed they perceived they were prepared to demonstrate the majority of the standards. However, the individual requirements and experiences of the PNPP had varying levels of perceived value to iii the professional practice of the participants. Results of the study recommended the PNPP experiences perceived to be invaluable or not practical should be evaluated for applicability, revised accordingly or possibly eliminated to improve the effectiveness of the PNPP. Although the structure of principal preparation programs in the state of Florida are unique due to laws that created a two leveled principal certification process, the findings and conclusions of this research study could be useful to any school district working to develop future principals. Suggested improvements to the PNPP included a longer principal internship, a strengthened mentor relationship, an application process for initial program entry, differentiated experiences, and an emphasis on increasing teacher effectiveness

This study sought to determine to what extend completers of School District A’s Preparing New Principals Program (PNPP) are prepared to meet the 2011 Florida Principal Leadership Standards (FPLS). Major questions addressed (a) the perception of principals regarding how well prepared completers of School District A’s principal preparation program were to meet the 2011 Florida Principal Leadership Standards, (b) if the perceived importance of the 2011 Florida Leadership Standards varied by leadership level, (c) if the perceived importance of the 2011 Florida Leadership Standards varied by a school’s free/reduced lunch percentage, and (d) the 2011 Florida Principal Leadership Standards perceived as the most beneficial to increasing student achievement. This mixed method study employed an online survey. The participants in this study included 46 supervising principals of Preparing New Principals Program completers from an urban school district in central Florida. Findings indicated that principals believed that Preparing New Principals Program completers were prepared to meet the 2011 Florida Principal Leadership Standards. Principals also believed that the following experiences would enhance the program: (a) more meaningful experiences that require participants to solve identified deficiencies, (b) an 18 to 24 month principal internship as opposed to the current eight-week principal internship, and (c) differentiating principal preparation based on participants’ experiences and school district needs.