2025–26 Program Year Resources Now Available

PAL has been updated to align to the 2021 revisions to the Guidelines for the Preparation of Administrative Leaders in 2021  which incorporate anti-racist leadership competencies.

While the updated PAL tasks include the same prior components (i.e., Investigate, Prepare, Act, and Assess), the assessment has been reframed to include culturally responsive and evidence-based practices, self-reflection, and equity pauses. The updated PAL has also incorporated intentional equity pauses that encourage PAL candidates to pause and reflect on their actions, as well as the ideas and assumptions behind their actions.

PAL updates are outlined in the table below.

Task	Intentional Equity Pause	Artifact Updates	Evidence Charts	Rubrics
Task 1	Yes	Reframed to align to Guidelines for the Preparation of Administrative Leaders in 2021  including attention on systemic bias and equity and ways to reduce barriers to learning	No changes	Four rubric indicators revised to align to revised Guidelines for the Preparation of Administrative Leaders in 2021
Task 2	Yes	Reframed to align to Guidelines for the Preparation of Administrative Leaders in 2021  including attention on culturally responsive and evidence-based practices, systemic bias and equity	No changes	Four rubric indicators revised to align to revised Guidelines for the Preparation of Administrative Leaders in 2021
Task 3	Yes	Reframed to align to Guidelines for the Preparation of Administrative Leaders in 2021  including attention on systemic bias and equity	No changes	No changes
Task 4	Yes	Reframed to align to Guidelines for the Preparation of Administrative Leaders in 2021  including attention on systemic bias and equity	No changes	No changes

The Rules of Assessment Participation have been updated to include a policy related to the use of generative AI in PAL. The use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including a chat bot, to generate any content included in PAL submissions is prohibited.

The candidate attestations have been updated to reflect the policy prohibiting the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools in submissions.

The Administrative Field Guide has been updated to reflect the updated PAL assessment.

Candidates can access the Candidate Assessment Handbook, Confidentiality, Anonymity, and Collaboration Form, and Evidence Charts in the Pearson ePortfolio system and on the Candidates/Resources page of this site.