Each new school year brings a sense of possibility. Classrooms reopen, leaders step into new roles, and systems take stock of what matters most for the year ahead. It’s a time of reflection, renewal, and recommitment to the work of ensuring every student has the opportunity to succeed. At The Leadership Academy, we believe that effective leadership is at the heart of that opportunity.
For more than twenty years, we’ve partnered with districts, states, and schools to prepare and support education leaders who make a difference for students. In working with more than 15,000 education leaders, we’ve seen shifting contexts and evolving challenges. Yet, the qualities that define effective leadership have remained remarkably consistent.
In fact, we’ve often heard the same call from many leaders: to name those leadership qualities in terms that are grounded in research and universally understood.
Why SHINE — and Why Now?
We’re answering that call by introducing SHINE Leadership. It crystallizes what we know about effective leadership into qualities, behaviors, and actions that are both straightforward and substantiated.
SHINE is leadership that is Student-centered, sets High expectations, and that is Innovative, Nurturing, and Engaged. It distills decades of scholarship, insights from our partnerships with school districts, and the lived experiences of students and families. And it describes the most important elements of leadership in terms that are accessible, memorable, and anchored in practice.
Here’s how we define each of the behaviors:
- Student-centered: Leaders prioritize each student’s strengths, needs, and aspirations, ensuring ambitious, relevant learning experiences.
- High expectations: Leaders set ambitious goals for students and educators, providing the right balance of challenge and support.
- Innovative: Leaders blend creative experimentation with research-based methods to broaden opportunities for every person.
- Nurturing: Leaders build supportive environments where every person is known, valued, and encouraged to reach their goals.
- Engaged: Leaders unite the school community around a shared mission, build relationships, and navigate complex contexts to prepare students for life.
The framework is designed to be “sticky”—not just because the acronym is easy to remember, but also because it brings clarity. It names the core dimensions of leadership in a way that resonates with educators, policymakers, and community members alike.
Critically, SHINE also links leadership practice directly to what we believe are the four foundational elements of a transformational student experience.
The SHINE Student Experience
When leaders are Student-centered, set High expectations, practice being Innovative, provide Nurturing support, and stay Engaged, they create the conditions for students to:
- Experience academic success and deep learning through rigorous and engaging instruction.
- Develop strong relationships and collaboration in learning environments that honor their identities and voices.
- Grow as empowered problem solvers who take informed action in their schools and communities
- Practice confident communication by expressing themselves clearly and advocating for their futures.
These are the foundations to ensuring that students are seen, challenged, and supported to thrive in school and beyond. Making that experience a reality for every child starts when leaders bring SHINE to life.
SHINE in Action
SHINE is not an abstract concept—we’re introducing a comprehensive suite of tools to help leaders move from aspiration to action.
We’re starting with actions for principals, an intentional choice grounded in decades of research on the pivotal role of the principalship. As the groundbreaking study from The Wallace Foundation demonstrated, the influence of a principal on student learning is second only to that of a classroom teacher. It means that elevating principal leadership represents one of the most powerful levers for improving student outcomes.
In the weeks ahead, we’ll also be sharing actions for principal supervisors and superintendents, as well as portraits of effective classrooms, schools, and systems. Our goal is to support you in working together seamlessly so that leaders SHINE across all levels of the education system.
A Framework for This Moment and Beyond
Education leaders are navigating a rapidly evolving landscape, competing demands, limited resources, and rising expectations.
Clarity is essential. That’s where SHINE comes in.
It affirms that effective leadership is not about chasing new initiatives, but about embodying qualities that endure: centering students, setting high expectations and ambitious goals, innovating to meet new challenges, nurturing people and communities, and engaging authentically within your school communities.
With SHINE, we offer a framework that is both a mirror reflecting what great leaders already do, and a guide illuminating the path ahead.