Member Support

AWSP Leadership Framework History


In 2010, AWSP's seven leadership responsibilities became the foundation for a new set of criteria for principal evaluation in Washington state. An eighth criterion, "Closing the Gap," was added by the Legislature that same year. 

Since then, a significant shift has taken place--a shift that has required the evolution of new school cultures, the understanding of new roles for teachers and the development of new student accountability performance standards established and measured outside of the classroom. 

Pivotal to the success of this shift is a new type of principal leadership. With this in mind, AWSP assembled a task force of more than 20 principals to analyze this new type of leadership and create a new set of principal responsibilities to match it.

The goal was to create a document showing the interrelationship between these responsibilities and district policies and practices. The task force realized that, as the principals' work changed, the districts' principal evaluation models would also need to change in order to provide the support critical for these school leaders. 

The task force developed a Statement of Accountability to guide its work: "Student achievement in a performance-based school is a shared responsibility involving the student, family, educators and the community. The principal's leadership is essential. As leader, the principal is accountable for the continuous growth of individual students and increased school performance as measured over time by state standards and locally determined indicators." 

Out of its work, the task force developed seven leadership responsibilities for principals. Also generated were examples of corresponding components that allow principals to successfully carry out those specific responsibilities. 

In 2010, AWSP's seven leadership responsibilities became the foundation for a new set of criteria for principal evaluation in Washington state. An eighth criterion, "Closing the Gap," was added by the Legislature that same year. 

In 2019, AWSP began the process of revising the Leadership Framework to create version 3.0. The AWSP Framework 3.0 is the result of a process that included an analysis of other school leadership frameworks, feedback from focus-groups and interviews with principals and their supervisors who have been using the original AWSP Framework. Our goal was to create a document that provides structure for conversations leading to the improvement of leadership practices. Resources and commentary have been added to this version in order to support and emphasize the importance of growth-oriented conversations. Version 3.0 goes into effect July 2020.
Back To Top