AWSP
Text reads “A Statewide System of Leadership Development” with icons for grow, support, and sustain.

A Statewide System of Leadership Development

School Leadership: A Demanding Profession

Over the course of the last 15 years, the complexity and demand placed on school leaders has grown exponentially. Many are reporting the job to be overwhelming, untenable, and nearly impossible. This has resulted in higher turnover, decreased longevity in the role, mid-year resignations, and increased medical leaves. The people suffering most from this problem are our students. AWSP and several partners in education have decided it's time to take action and work toward a Statewide System of Leadership Development.

Three smiling adults wearing lanyards pose indoors; two women in blazers and one man in a sweatshirt.

Awareness and Action

AWSP is embarking on an awareness and action campaign to start identifying both short and long term solutions that will grow, support, and sustain our school leaders. Until we can change what we expect of our school leaders, we need to figure out how to support and keep our current leaders while also attracting our future school leaders.

How we prepare and support our school leaders doesn’t match the realities of their work, and continuing to ignore this fact is compromising the entire system. The consequences of a revolving door of leadership changes in a school have a catastrophic impact on students, staff, and the community at large. We must all come together and make reimagining a Statewide System of Leadership Development a priority and do it now.

How AWSP is Working Towards Change?

The AWSP Board is leading the charge by engaging statewide partners, organizations, agencies, and associations in this conversation. We’ve moved from talking about the problem to identifying some action steps despite ongoing reductions in education funding at the state level. We're working toward creating a model of what an ongoing Statewide System of Leadership Development could look like in our state.

AWSP Executive Director Dr. Scott Seaman shared the following policy brief with partners at the January board meeting in Seatac. The brief outlines a proposed Statewide System of Leadership Development that supports school leaders at each level of AWSP's professional learning continuum: Aspiring, Launching, Building, and Mastering.

Read the Brief

Stay Up-To-Date

  • Support Schools by Supporting Leaders

    Dr. Scott Seaman, Executive Director, AWSP
    Apr 3, 2025
    AWSP is embarking on an awareness and action campaign to start identifying both short and long term solutions that will grow, support, and sustain our school leaders. Until we can change what we expect of our school leaders, we’d better figure out how to support and keep our current leaders while also attracting our future school leaders.

How You Can Help

  • Share your stories with us, your supervisors, elected officials, and community. 
  • Bring awareness to the important role you play, the impact you have, and the challenges you face daily by visiting our Advocacy and Action Center or contacting a local representative.
  • Get involved with an AWSP Grade Level Leadership Committee.
  • Loop back to your principal prep program to share how they could bolster their programs to better prepare future leaders. 
  • Start a local principal support group to share best practices and problem-solve together. 
  • Serve as a mentor or coach to principals and assistant principals in your region and/or context. 

AWSP Priorities

 

Grow

Partner with other organizations to identify, recruit, and develop future school leaders with a focus on underrepresented groups.

Support

Support and equip all school leaders with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to foster positive school culture, build equitable systems, and lead learning in their respective school contexts and communities.

Sustain

Support all principals in their capacity to be effective long-term leaders, specifically in highly impacted schools where strong and consistent leadership is needed most.