Leadership preparation studies in general have been limited relative to specific program practices and outcomes (Murphy & Vriesenga, 2006; Perez, Uline, Johnson, James-Ward, & Basom, 2011). The authors in this special issue provide clear evidence of effectiveness of their program approaches, including newly-developed tools to inform programmatic and curricular decision-making, consistent with a growing interest in establishing a link between leadership preparation and program outcomes (Orr, 2009). This special issue presents a different focus, an examination centered on a shift from accountability, demonstrated previously as a response to shifting policy mandates, to responsibility to prepare effective leaders who are trained to lead learning-centered schools (Southern Regional Educational Board, 2007). In this first of two special issues, we present a critical discussion of leadership preparation practices that improve organizational conditions which focus on improving learning for every student, reaching across urban, rural, suburban and exurban contexts. This research furthers our understanding of the real and significant impact of leadership program benchmarking, the utility of using multiple data sources to evaluate program effectiveness, and the impact of principal preparation on student learning (Seashore Louis, Leithwood, Wahlstrom, & Anderson, 2010; Orr, 2011; Pounder, 2011; Orr & Orphanos, 2011).

Using a continuum of methodological traditions, the authors in this issue describe practice-oriented concepts and critical pedagogical skills requisite to the development of socially just school leaders. They write about the challenges of changing university faculty practices, a microcosm of the challenges that await aspiring principals in schools where mental models need to be collaboratively surfaced and challenged in order to develop a shared vision of transformative possibility. They focus even more granularly at leadership preparation practices and processes that yield demonstrable evidence of serving the rapidly evolving needs of today’s – and tomorrow’s - students, teachers and communities.