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Beginning February 2026, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) will partner with educator preparation providers (EPPs) to embark on a data collection pilot period for principal preparation programs. This two-year pilot will provide the Illinois State Board of Education with valuable insight into principal preparation program performance and workforce impact and will inform the development of indicator definitions, scores, and weights for the public-facing Illinois Educator Preparation Profile (IEPP.)

The new data collection will allow EPPs the opportunity to access never-before-seen employment, retention, and principal performance data. Programs will also be able to see how their candidates and completers compare to statewide program performance, which may inform continuous improvement efforts. ISBE will collect data from EPPs during the annual preparation program reporting window of February 1 through April 30, 2026.  ISBE will also provide data for some indicators, resulting in a true joint effort to understand principal preparation program impact across the state.​

Pilot Timeline

Data Collection & Pilot Program milestone February - April 2026:
Year 1 of Principal Preparation Data Collection Pilot
Data Analysis milestone Summer 2026:
Data Analysis
Advisory Group Convening milestone Fall 2026:
Technical Advisory Group Meeting reviews pilot data and recommends initial scores and weights
Data Collection & Pilot Program milestone February - April 2027:
Year 2 Principal Preparation Pilot
Data Analysis milestone Summer 2027:
Data Analysis
Advisory Group Convening milestone Fall 2027:
Technical Advisory Group review updated data and recommends refied scores and weights
Data Collection & Pilot Program milestone February - April 2028:
Full Implementation of Principal Preparation Data Collection
Publication milestone December 2028:
Principal Preparation data published on the IEPP

Pilot Data Collection Year 1: (February 1- April 30, 2026): All EPPs will report available data during the APR data collection window. Programs will report candidate-level data for each indicator and will provide data for the past five years (September 1, 2020 through August 31, 2025.) There will be no penalty for missing data, and no data will be published on the IEPP. However, data reported in the pilot will provide insight into data availability and quality and will provide the foundation for establishing scores and weights for each indicator and domain, so ISBE strongly encourages all EPPs to provide as much data as possible.

Pilot Data Collection Year 2: (February 1-April 30, 2027): All EPPs will report required data during the APR data collection window for the past five years (September 1, 2021 through August 31, 2026.) All data must be provided, but no data will be published on the IEPP. This second pilot year will provide additional insight into setting final scores and weights for each indicator and domain.

Full Implementation: (February 1-April 30, 2028): All EPPs will report required data during the APR data collection window. All data must be provided, and data, including associated scores and performance designations, will be published on the IEPP. Each principal preparation program will receive a performance designation on the IEPP.​

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Domains and Indicators

The following domains, indicators, and definitions establish the framework for evaluating Illinois’ Principal Preparation Pilot and its impact on program quality, candidate development, and workforce outcomes.

Descriptions of data to be provided by each Educator Preparation Provider (EPP) appear under indicators that are not currently reported by EPPs in the Annual Program Report (APR) system.

Definitions:

  • Accepted candidates are those the institution of higher education deems eligible to enter the preparation program. These candidates are offered admission to the program.
  • Admitted, or enrolled, candidates are candidates who choose to accept an institution of higher education’s offer of admission and enter the preparation program.
  • “The Past Five Years” means between the dates of September 1, 2020 and August 31, 2025.
​​​​Domain ​​​​Indicator Definition​​​​
​​​​Candidate Selection Program Selection and Enrollment​​​​

Percentages derived from the number of applicants accepted into the program divided by the total number of program applicants, and the number of enrolled applicants divided by the number of accepted applicants.

Data to Be Reported by the EPP: Each EPP will provide the number of applicants and the number of accepted candidates for its principal preparation programs for the past five years. ISBE will supply enrollment numbers.

​​​​
Diverse Candidates​​​​

​​​​The percentage of candidates enrolled in a preparation program that identify as nonwhite or female.
​​​​Candidate GPA ​​​​

The percentage of candidates who had a specific undergraduate GPA or higher upon entry into the program.
​​​​Candidate Employment

The percentage of candidates who currently work in an Illinois public school, an Illinois high-needs public school, or elsewhere at the time of acceptance into the program. Public school data will be disaggregated by region.

Data to Be Reported by the EPP: Each EPP will report if each candidate has employment experience in a non-public or out-of-state school for the past five years. ISBE will provide public school experience.
Candidate Professional Experience​​​​ ​​​​

The percentage of completers who have two, three, four, or five or more years of professional experience at the time of acceptance into the program, compared to statewide averages.

Data to Be Reported by the EPP: Each EPP will report the number of years of teaching or school support personnel experience each completer has in non-public and out-ofstate schools for the past five years (based on the candidate’s acceptance date). ISBE will provide public school experience.
Candidate Completion Program Completion

The percentage of candidates who complete the program within the standard program length, disaggregated by gender and race/ethnicity.
Diverse Completers ​​​​

The percentage of completers of a preparation program who identify as nonwhite or female.
Licensure Acquisition

The percentage of completers who apply for and are issued the principal endorsement within one year of program completion, compared to the number of candidates who graduate with a degree but do not earn licensure.

Data to Be Reported by the EPP: Each EPP will provide the name and IEIN of candidates who were previously enrolled and who did not complete the licensure program but still graduated with a degree. Data should be provided for completers who enrolled within the last five years and graduated by August 31, 2025.
Knowledge and Skills for Leadership​ Completer Survey (FUTURE INDICATOR)*

An index score that measures how well completers feel that their program has prepared them as principals upon completion of the program.
​​​​Novice Principal Survey (FUTURE INDICATOR)*

An index score that measures how well completers feel that their program has prepared them as principals after one and three years in the profession.
Expertise in Instructional Leadership

The percentage of candidates who pass the Principal as an Instructional Leader content test after a specified number of attempts.
Performance as School Leaders​ Demonstrated Leadership Skill

The percentage of principals scoring “proficient” or “excellent” on their overall performance evaluations.​​​​
Superintendent Satisfaction Survey (FUTURE INDICATOR)* ​​​​

An index score that measures how well superintendents feel new principals were prepared for the principal role.
Workforce Preparation and Impact

An index score that measures the correlation between novice principal satisfaction, position retention, school retention, and job performance (as identified through performance evaluations and superintendent satisfaction surveys).
Contribution to State Needs ​​​​Placement in Leadership

The percentage of completers who begin working as a full-time principal, assistant principal, or in another administrative position in an Illinois public school within a specified number of years of completing the program.​​​
Placement in Leadership in High-Needs Schools

The percentage of completers who begin working as a full-time principal, assistant principal, or in another administrative position in a high-needs Illinois public school within a specified number of years of completing the program.
Persistence in Leadership

The percentage of completers who continue working as a full-time principal, assistant principal, or in another administrative position in an Illinois public school for a specified number of consecutive years.
Persistence in Leadership in High-Needs Schools

The percentage of completers who continue working as a full-time principal, assistant principal, or in another administrative position in a high-needs Illinois public school for a specified number of consecutive years.

* Future Indicator: Recommended for inclusion in future phases of the pilot; not currently collected or reported.

Advisory Group Work

An advisory group comprised of Illinois educators and representatives of Illinois principal preparation programs provided ISBE with recommended indicators and domains to pilot for the principal preparation data collection.

After each year of the pilot, ISBE will convene a technical advisory group to review pilot data and recommend scores, weights, and nuanced definitions for each indicator.  This group will first meet in fall 2026.

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