Educational Leadership Principal Preparation Programs: Are We Intentionally Supporting Aspiring School Leaders’ Well-Being?

The Professional Standards for Educational Leaders require that effective school leaders promote student academic success and student well-being. The National Educational Leadership Preparation Program standards go even further to require that effective school leaders also promote the well-being of the adults in the building, which includes the administrators themselves. This exploratory qualitative study was designed to examine what strategies or curricula related to well-being were in place in educational leadership programs across the country. The study’s findings indicate that principal preparation programs need an intentional approach to well-being using the structures and processes they already have in place.