IPLA: Iowa Principal Leadership Academy
Previous IPLA participants interested in obtaining licensure should apply for licensure immediately at https://educate.iowa.gov/educator-licensure
The current IPLA cohort will complete their work in March 2025. Upon the conclusion of this cohort, the IPLA program will be discontinued. PK-12 Principal programs can be found here.
Iowa’s Standards for School Leaders
(Adopted November 18, 2020. Effective July 1, 2021)
STANDARD 1. MISSION, VISION, AND CORE VALUES
Educational leaders develop, advocate, and enact a shared mission, vision, and core values of high-quality education and academic success and well-being of each student.
STANDARD 2. ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL NORMS
Educational leaders act ethically and according to professional norms to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.
STANDARD 3. EQUITY AND CULTURAL RESPONSIVENESS
Educational leaders strive for equity of educational opportunity and culturally responsive practices to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.
STANDARD 4. CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION, AND ASSESSMENT
Educational leaders develop and support intellectually rigorous and coherent systems of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to promote each student’s academic success and wellbeing.
STANDARD 5. COMMUNITY OF CARE AND SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS
Educational leaders cultivate an inclusive, caring, and supportive school community that promotes the academic success and well-being of each student.
STANDARD 6. PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY OF SCHOOL PERSONNEL
Educational leaders develop the professional capacity and practice of school personnel to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.
STANDARD 7. PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY FOR TEACHERS AND STAFF
Educational leaders foster a professional community of teachers and other professional staff to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.
STANDARD 8. MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT OF FAMILIES AND COMMUNITY
Educational leaders engage families and the community in meaningful, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial ways to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.
STANDARD 9. OPERATIONS AND MANAGEMENT
Educational leaders manage school operations and resources to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.
STANDARD 10. SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
Educational leaders act as agents of continuous improvement to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.
Adapted from National Policy Board for Educational Administration (2015). Professional Standards for Educational Leaders 2015. Reston, VA: Author.
The current IPLA cohort will complete their work in March 2025. Upon the conclusion of this cohort, the IPLA program will be discontinued. PK-12 Principal programs can be found here.
The Iowa Principal Leadership Academy (IPLA) provides a comprehensive framework for PK-12 principal certification in the state of Iowa and is licensed in other states on an individual basis. Requirement to enter the program is a master’s degree and a minimum of four years successful teaching.
The program is a dynamic design based on six problem-centered learning themes, predominantly field-based, related to the Iowa Standards for School Leaders. Each theme includes seminars, action research studies, action plans, portfolios, log of activities, toolbox activities, study of theory and research, and mentoring. Students engage in cohort groups over a two-year period. Faculty of the program is selected primarily from practitioners with expertise in the selected areas. Participants show evidence to meet the standards and criteria of the Iowa Standards for School Leaders and acquire necessary skills to become instructional leaders. The School Administrators of Iowa, Northwest Area Education Agency, and Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency and Keystone AEA are the partners of the IPLA.
Tesha Moser-Zimmerman
Administrator of Educational Services / Associate Administrator
Keystone AEA
1400 Second Street NW
Elkader, IA 52043
Ph: 800-632-5918
Fax: 563-245-1484