About The Principal Center — The Principal Center

Programs & Offerings

Instructional Leadership Challenge — A 21-day program that helps school leaders build the daily habit of getting into classrooms and giving teachers meaningful feedback

Ascend Masterclass — An intensive program for aspiring administrators preparing for the job search

Classroom Walkthrough Certification — Training for leaders who want a structured, evidence-based approach to informal classroom visits

Teacher Evaluation Certification — Professional development for leaders responsible for formal teacher evaluation

Instructional Leadership Association — Our comprehensive membership for school leaders, including Repertoire (the professional writing app for instructional leaders), the Instructional Leadership Challenge, a hardcopy and audiobook of Now We're Talking!, the Classroom Walkthrough Toolbox, weekly accountability, and ongoing training. Learn more →

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About Justin Baeder, PhD

Director, The Principal Center — Full bio →

Justin Baeder, PhD is Director of The Principal Center, where he helps senior leaders in K–12 organizations build capacity for instructional leadership. A former principal in Seattle Public Schools, he is the creator of the Instructional Leadership Challenge, which has helped more than 10,000 school leaders in 50 countries around the world:

Confidently get into classrooms every day
Have feedback conversations that change teacher practice
Discover their best opportunities for school improvement

Dr. Baeder directs the Instructional Leadership Association, the premiere professional membership for school leaders, and is the author of three Solution Tree books on instructional leadership:

Now We’re Talking! 21 Days to High-Performance Instructional Leadership
Mapping Professional Practice: How to Develop Instructional Frameworks to Support Teacher Growth (with Heather Bell-Williams)
Cultivate and Activate: Building Teacher Capacity for Instructional Leadership (with Keith Fickel)

Justin is the host of Principal Center Radio, a long-running audio podcast featuring more than 400 education thought leaders and more than 500 books, as well as The Teaching Show and The Eduleadership Show. A prolific education commentator, he has more than 250,000 followers and 30,000,000 annual impressions on social media, and is frequently consulted by major media outlets on issues of education research, policy, and practice.

As a consultant, trainer, and speaker, Dr. Baeder has worked onsite with groups across the US, Canada, and Central America, and virtually with groups across the Middle East, Australia, and around the world. He is a frequent speaker at conferences, and regularly provides administrator professional development on classroom walkthroughs, teacher evaluation, and instructional leadership.

He holds a PhD in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies from the University of Washington and an MEd in Curriculum & Instruction from Seattle University, and is a graduate of the Danforth Program for Educational Leadership at UW.