From Principal Supervision to Support: How Philadelphia Reimagined Its Leadership Pipeline
August 25, 2025
Listen to the full conversation between Dr. Jackie Wilson and Dr. Michael Farrell on the 51萝莉 Principal Supervisor Podcast Series. You鈥檒l hear how Philadelphia is transforming central office roles, strengthening its pipeline, and putting schools at the center of its system:
How Philadelphia is redefining principal supervision
How Philadelphia is redefining principal supervision
Philadelphia鈥檚 15 assistant superintendents each support about 15 schools. Their role is not to manage compliance but to grow the instructional leadership of principals. Through strategic coaching and side-by-side school visits, they help principals build capacity, solve problems, and remain focused on student learning.
Why coaching beats compliance
Dr. Kullar emphasizes that leadership is not about titles鈥攊t鈥檚 about influence and initiative. In Cobb, teachers are tapped to lead teams, mentor others, and contribute to schoolwide decisions long before they become administrators.
Jackie Wilson, host and Executive Director of the National Policy Board for Educational Administration, highlights the importance of this model. "When you treat leadership as a mindset rather than a role, you change the entire culture of your schools."
How the district taps and tracks future leaders
Dr. Farrell describes a district culture shift away from "checklist supervision" and toward what he calls transformational coaching. Principal supervisors are expected to enter schools with curiosity鈥攏ot demands.
They use a simple but powerful practice: pausing in the car before a visit to reflect on what they鈥檙e bringing into the school and what they need to leave behind. The goal is clear: support the principal as a leader, not solve the problem for them.
Jackie Wilson, Executive Director of the National Policy Board for Educational Administration, reflects: "No principal comes into the job with every skill they鈥檒l need. They grow through support, not directives."
A system built on alignment, not silos
Philadelphia is working to align its entire leadership ecosystem鈥攆rom principals and coaches to professional learning specialists.
Dr. Farrell recalls a principal who listed 20 different central office visitors in just three weeks. That kind of overload, he says, is exactly what the district is trying to avoid. Through role-mapping and coordinated PD efforts, they aim to unify the message: support principals, don鈥檛 overwhelm them.
"If we鈥檙e not aligned, we鈥檙e sending mixed messages鈥攁nd principals end up stuck in the middle," he says.
Partnerships that build internal capacity
Strategic partnerships help the district go deeper. One standout is the Philadelphia Academy for School Leadership (PASL), a nonprofit that trains school leaders with an eye toward ecosystem impact.
Dr. Farrell also highlights a leadership development program co-run with Temple University. The Inspiring System-Level Leader Program pairs professors with district leaders to co-teach coursework in the central office. The goal? Help experienced principals explore what it means to lead at the system level.
Growing leaders from within
"We鈥檙e not trying to create mini versions of ourselves," says Farrell. "We鈥檙e trying to cultivate reflective, capable leaders who don鈥檛 need us in the room to lead well."
The district sees leadership as a continuum鈥攆rom teacher leaders, to APs, to principals, to system-level leaders. Every level is supported. Every leader matters.
The big takeaway: Leadership development IS school improvement
As Dr. Farrell puts it, "Our people are our greatest resource." From coaching principals to aligning central office supports, Philadelphia is building a leadership pipeline that centers on people, coherence, and growth. In a time when fewer people are entering the profession, and more are burning out, this kind of work is not just innovative鈥攊t鈥檚 essential.
51萝莉, with support from the Wallace Foundation, produced this series featuring school system strategies that serve to enhance the leadership pipeline.
National Principal Supervisor Academy
This academy reimagines educational leadership through personalized coaching, collaborative learning, and a research-backed framework. Become a catalyst for systemic change and transform principal supervision into powerful partnership today!
Apply TodayAdvertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement