History

SLN Incubated as Advisory Board to Brown University’s Educational Lab

SLN originated with a group of school principals who met in 2000 as guests of the U.S. Department of Education and the Rainwater Charitable Foundation to discuss and solve critical national school leadership concerns.

For the next five years these principals served as the Principals’ Leadership Network (PLN), an advisory board to the Educational Laboratory at Brown University. Their work focused on three topics relevant to school leaders: 1. the role of the principal as instructional leader, 2. communicating the principal’s complex role to the community, and 3. mentoring.

In 2006, SLN was formally established to address the leadership development needs of principals, to accelerate their learning in their efforts to increase student achievement and to create a community of mentoring and support.

Today, school leaders in 18 networks across the US are provided with opportunities to identify, reflect, and dialogue on critical leadership issues. Over 265 network members represent a wide range of ethnic/cultural backgrounds and experiences. More than a quarter of a million students across the country currently attend schools led by SLN-participating principals.