Educational Leadership Professional Development: Ultimate Guide

School and district leaders play a crucial role in the educational process as they are responsible for hiring educators and admins, managing staff, organizing functions and activities, and ensuring that students are provided with the high-quality education and emotional support that they need to thrive academically and psychologically. To do this, they need to obtain continuous educational leadership professional development that expands their knowledge, sharpens their skills, and keeps them up to date with the latest trends and best practices in the sector.

This article looks at what professional development for different K-12 educational leaders looks like, with focus on district superintendents. It explains why leaders need professional learning and where they can find the best options that not only count towards their license renewal requirements but also offer the highest value for personal and professional growth.

Looking for comprehensive, effective, yet easy-to-implement professional development opportunities for school and district leaders? Check out SimplyPD, an online peer-to-peer marketplace where educators, admins, and leaders can connect with colleagues from across the country to offer and get PD from fellow professionals.

What Is Educational Leadership Professional Development

Professional development is a two-fold process in the US educational system. On the one hand, the majority of states require superintendents, assistant and deputy superintendents, district directors, principles, school deans, department chairs, instructional coaches, and other district-level and school-level leaders to complete a certain number of hours or credits of PD activities every 3-10 years in order be able to renew their state license or certificate. Meanwhile, holding a valid state-issued license or certificate is a must to be able to work in an educational leadership position in both public and private schools as well as in charter schools.

On the other hand, ongoing professional learning presents leaders - just like teachers - with a valuable opportunity to continue building their expertise, acquire new competencies, advance their career in education, and access pay raises. The education sector is undergoing continuous changes and advancements in order to respond to the ever-evolving needs of students, the job market, and after-school reality in general. Technology is playing a crucial role in this process. What this means for educational leadership is that they have to enhance and update their proficiencies at all times to be relevant in the current environment and capable of leading their district or school in the most effective way.

You can also learn about teacher professional development and principal professional development to make sure that the entire staff at your district is meeting the regulatory requirements.

Why Educational Leaders Need Professional Development

Educational leaders such as superintendents obtain many important benefits from access to continuing education opportunities. In brief, PD is key because it provides school and district leaders with the knowledge and tools they need to better lead their institutions and staff and offer higher-quality and more up-to-date education to students.

The specific reasons why professional development is crucial for educational leadership include:

• Meeting the formal requirements for license renewal at their state: First of all, superintendents and other leaders need to go through a certain amount of PD training to be allowed to renew their state-level licenses. The specific PD requirements vary by state, so it’s important to check out the necessary credits or hours in your state and include them in your individual professional development plan. You cannot continue practicing the educational leadership profession without holding a valid certificate from the state where you work.
• Career advancing: Obtaining new expertise and developing new skills gives access to career advancement chances. PD is one of the main factors that those above you in the job hierarchy consider when deciding whom to promote.
• Being eligible for salary raise: Receiving regular pay raises also depends on how invested you are in continuous professional learning. Each new certificate and credential makes you eligible for a salary raise.
• Establishing a culture of continuous learning: As a district or school leader, you have the power to set the tone for a culture of learning among educators, administrators, and students within your governance. Putting effort into enhancing your own knowledge is an important part of leading by example and inspires others to do the same.
• Improving leadership skills and capacities: While you need to have good leadership and management capacities to get your initial license, there are so many important skills that go beyond the formal education that you require to qualify to be a superintendent or another educational leader. PD activities help you strengthen these skills to better lead your team and your district or school.
• Upgrading human resources management skills: Some PD topics focus on developing your teacher recruiting and teacher retention strategies, which is crucially important in the current environment of excessive nationwide teacher vacancies. This can help you build a strong team and retain it over the course of multiple years via good HR practices, positive motivations, and relevant professional development opportunities for each staff member.
• Building a strong and supportive environment: Culturally responsive leadership is an integral part of professional development for superintendents and other educational professionals. It can provide you with the practical skills and the practical strategies you need to establish a positive environment at your institution where differences are celebrated, respected, and addressed in the curriculum and teaching methods to help students feel recognized and enabled to achieve their full potential.
• Staying up to date on education laws and policies: Educational leaders have to be familiar with all relevant federal, state, and district laws that pertain to education, to adjust school policies according to them, and to educate the rest of the staff on them. PD activities are an excellent venue to learn about recently adopted as well as upcoming legal changes that concern your district or school.
• Integrating technology in the educational process: PD training helps superintendents learn about new educational technologies and how to implement them in the processes at their district or school. Tech-based solutions can help reduce the manual work associated with being an educational leader, leaving you with more time and energy to focus on the strategic aspects of the job.
• Enhancing student outcomes: By staying up to date on trends in education, building a positive and supportive environment, and implementing technology, professional development for educational leadership has the capacity to boost academic and emotional outcomes for students, which is the ultimate objective of the educational system.
• Networking and cooperating with fellow educational leaders: Finally, attending professional development allows superintendents to meet peers from the district or state or even beyond to build long-lasting collaborative relationships. Fellow leaders can turn into a major part of your support network that you can go to with just about any challenge you face in the workplace as they are likely facing it too and would be willing to work together on common solutions.

With all these benefits in mind, it becomes easy to comprehend the major role that professional development for educational leadership plays in enhancing the quality of education and emotional support for students.

How Educational Leaders Can Get Professional Development

Superintendents and other leaders can engage in a number of different activities that can qualify as professional development. Before getting started, it’s a good idea to confirm that your selected initiative would count towards formal PD requirements for license renewal.

Following are the most common types of PD that educational leaders can choose from:

• College courses: In some states, educators need to get a certain number of credit hours from an accredited college or university during each renewal cycle. That’s the most formal form of PD for educational professionals.
• Online courses: School leaders can enroll in a wide range of free and paid online courses that focus on many different leadership and management skills. It’s important to go for a credentialed provider who meets the state requirements though.
• Certification programs: These are short-term, in-person or online programs that conclude by providing educators with a specific certification. Some common examples include cultural competence, effective communication, blended learning, trauma-informed leading, and others.
• Conferences and workshops: Attending as well as presenting at some educational conferences and events can count as professional development. There are a number of local and national conferences that focus on educational leadership, and it’s worth checking which ones qualify as formal PD. In addition to getting updated on new developments in the sector and polishing your management skills, that’s also a good way to connect and network with peers from across the nation.
• Seminars and webinars: In-person seminars and online webinars provide superintendents with an opportunity to cover major topics together with their team.
• In-service education and training (INSET): Districts and schools are given a number of days each academic year for the professional development of the entire leadership, faculty, and administration. You can organize a series of events to boost your own skills as well as the skills of your staff.
• Focused district and school faculty meetings: You can hold staff meetings that provide training on a specific subject and have this count towards the PD development hours of your entire team.
• District collaboration: You can collaborate with leaders from your district or other districts to work together on professional development.
• Peer observation: Observing the leadership practices of more experienced peers in your school or district offers a hands-on approach to PD.
• Mentorship: New superintendents and other educational leaders benefit immensely from being mentored by those with more experience in the field as a form of on-the-job professional development.
• Professional learning communities (PLCs) and professional learning networks (PLNs): Educational leaders can join various PLCs and PLNs that meet in person or online to discuss common problems, share best practices, and look for solutions to different challenges.
• Research: You can do research on your own or with other leaders on district or school leadership and management as part of your professional development hours.
• Podcasts: Listening to some education podcasts counts as professional development while offering one of the most entertaining and easy-to-implement forms of professional learning. Podcasts allow you to learn from education experts from the comfort of your home, car, or office.
• Publishing: Writing and publishing a research paper, an article in a journal, or a book is one of the most rewarding types of professional development for educational leaders as it allows them to share their knowledge with the community.

When choosing the best type of PD for yourself, you should consider the skills that you’d like to gain, the time that you have available, the most effective learning method for you, and the budget that your district or school has allocated for your PD activities.

How Educational Leaders Can Provide Professional Development

In addition to receiving professional development themselves, district and school leaders are responsible for providing PD to their educators and admins. In many states, a certain part of teacher professional development has to come from the school or the district, and there is a special budget allocated for this purpose.

The most efficient ways in which superintendents and other leaders can enhance the skills of their team by offering professional development hours include:

• In-service education and training days: You are required to organize INSET days during the school year where staff get access to professional development within the institution. You should ensure that these events provide training that is relevant to the needs and interests of your faculty and administration and that is delivered in an entertaining manner.
• PD staff meetings: You can schedule regular in-house meetings where you tackle a specific topic that counts as PD for staff. You can conduct quick surveys to identify the most demanded topics to boost participation and engagement.
• Workshops and seminars: You can invite experts from the district or other districts to provide hands-on training to teachers or admins.
• Collaboration across schools and districts: It is worth cooperating with other leaders in your district or neighboring districts to establish opportunities for PD collaboration for the benefit of faculty and administration.
• Classroom observation and mentoring programs: You can provide your staff with the right incentives to support each other and enhance each other’s skills through classroom observation and mentorship programs. There is a lot that educators and administrators can learn from peers who have spent more time in the field.
• Research and publication: You should provide your team members with the time to work on their own research and encourage them to publish it in industry publications. Moreover, you can acknowledge their extra effort by nominating them for the top teacher awards focusing on research and other contributions to the profession.

In the design of professional development activities for your team, it’s key to take into consideration their needs as well as the needs of your school and district. The more relevant and focused the professional learning is, the more engaged staff will be and the more benefit they will extract from it.

Best Sources of Professional Development for Educational Leaders

Among a myriad of PD activities for educational leaders, following are the top 5 opportunities that provide diverse, yet affordable and sometimes even free opportunities for superintendents and other professionals to advance their knowledge and capabilities:

1. SimplyPD

The best source of professional development for district and school leadership is SimplyPD, the most comprehensive online marketplace bringing together educators and administrators from across the country to offer or look for PD activities. Whether you have certifications that allow you to provide PD hours or need to complete your PD requirements, you can connect with the right peers to exchange knowledge and competencies.

While you can access a wide range of topics and different formats of professional development, options are affordable. Most importantly, as all activities are delivered by fellow superintendents and other educational leaders practicing in the field, the outcomes are very positive and effective as they are tailored to the exact needs of educational leaders.

2. Learning Can’t Wait - The Fullmind Podcast

Another unlimited source of PD for district and school leaders is the Fullmind education podcast - Learning Can’t Wait. Each episode of the podcast features a highly qualified and truly engaging expert who tackles one of the hottest topics in the education sector. Every time the discussion produces practical tips that leaders can take right to their institution and implement immediately on how to innovate the educational process for the benefit of students.

To make the Learning Can’t Wait podcast count towards your PD requirements, all you have to do is to listen to an episode and fill in a simple online Podcast Reflection Form.

3. The School Superintendents Association (AASA)

The School Superintendents Association (AASA) serves as the premier association for school system leaders and the national voice for district leadership and public education. AASA holds various events focused on professional learning throughout the year, and many of them could qualify for official PD hours. PD activities include in-person and virtual, regional and national roundtables, webinars, cohorts, conferences, summits, academies, and others.

Some of the most important PD events organized by AASA are:

• AASA National Conference on Education, organized annually
• AASA/ASBO 2025 Legislative Advocacy Conference, held annually

4. Harvard Institute for Superintendents and District Leaders

The Harvard Institute for Superintendents and District Leaders, part of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, helps K-12 educational leaders acquire leadership tools and strategies to enhance their capacity to build effective teams and drive change in the education sector. In specific, the Institute has a 3-day in-person program designed for superintendents, central office administrators, district leaders, state agency administrators, and their teams that features faculty-led sessions, small group discussions, and case discussions.

The tuition fee for this program of the Harvard Institute for Superintendents and District Leaders is $3,425 excluding travel, lodging, and food.

5. The Consortium of State School Boards Association (COSSBA) National Conference

The Consortium of State School Boards Association (COSSBA) National Conference is one of the leading events for school board members, district superintendents, assistant superintendents, school district legal counsels, school principals, school administrators, and other district and school leaders. The Conference aims to create a unified front of educational leaders from across the country that work together to develop and implement policies and practices that eliminate barriers in public education and create opportunities for all students.

In 2025, the COSSBA National Conference is happening in Atlanta, GA, on March 21-23, under the slogan “Education for All: Bridging Gaps, Breaking Barriers.”

What Educational Leadership Can Learn in Professional Development

While professional development topics need to be selected based on the needs and preferences of each educational leader and the knowledge gap in their institution, there are certain PD activities that prove of high value to the majority of superintendents and other leaders.

The most important things to learn in professional development for educational leadership include:

• Blended teaching: Considering the continuous shift towards digital education, leaders need to be trained in delivering blended teaching, also known as hybrid teaching, in the most effective way that bridges the gap between online instruction and classroom activities. Leaders who implement best practices in blended teaching can afford to opt for virtual staffing to address teacher shortages. Fullmind virtual staffing services help districts hire highly qualified, state-certified K-12 teachers in all core and many elective subjects within 2 weeks.
• Educational technology integration: Related to the topic above, most educational leaders find a lot of value in professional development that focuses on the latest technologies in the education sector and how to use them successfully and efficiently at school. Similar PD topics aim to not simply teach leaders how to use EdTech but also how to introduce it to their institution in the most beneficial manner.
• Mentorship: Professional development can give leaders the skills and strategies they need to support new educators and administrators for strong retention. Mentoring new hires, especially those with little to no previous experience in the education field, is crucial to get them started on the right footing, ensure they have everything they need to succeed at the job, and retain them in the long term to reduce future hiring needs.
• Equity and inclusion: Amid culturally diverse school environments, educational leaders have to be trained in building a positive environment based on equity and inclusion for both staff and students. This starts with cultural competence and expands into establishing culturally responsive teaching practices.
• Differentiated instruction: Superintendents need to be trained to help teachers and other educators use instructional and teaching methods that are tailored to the needs of students with diverse needs, including students with learning disabilities. Differentiated instruction is required to ensure that students are given the opportunity to maximize academic results based on their specific needs, strengths, and weaknesses.
• Conflict resolution: It’s important for district and school educational leaders to be familiar with methods in facilitating peaceful resolutions of conflicts at the workplace. Conflicts can arise among teachers, administrators, students, or between any of them, and it is the job of the superintendent or another high-ranking leader to ensure that any tension ends peacefully. This requires special training.
• Financial management and resource allocation: Finally, one of the duties of superintendents and other leaders is to manage the financial and human resources of their district and school that are often very limited. Succeeding to run a K-12 academic institution with limited resources requires skills that can be obtained during professional development activities.

After covering these basic topics, you can expand into more specialized PD activities such as effective communication, social emotional learning, time management, and self-care.

Bottom Line on Professional Development for Educational Leadership

Educational leadership has to have access to high-quality, effective professional development opportunities, just like educators and administrators. In addition to allowing superintendents and other leaders to renew their state license, PD helps them continue learning, expanding their skills, and improving the services they provide to their team, institution, and - ultimately - students. To have the most impact, PD activities need to be determined in line with the qualifications and interests of the educational leader, the needs of their district, and the requirements of their state.

SimplyPD is an online educational professional development marketplace that connects leaders, educators, and administrators to offer and receive peer-to-peer PD opportunities. Check out SimplyPD to explore the best options for your needs.