Massachusetts Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL)

Notice — Important PAL Updates and Timeline

In 2021, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released revised Guidelines for the Preparation of Administrative Leaders with updated indicators that incorporate anti-racist leadership competencies. These revised Guidelines for the Preparation of Administrative Leaders are designed both to reflect recent research confirming the important role of school and district leaders, and to disrupt historical patterns of racial inequity and promote success for students by preparing program completers to become anti-racist leaders who understand and embody antiracist competencies, strategies, and mindsets so that each and every student can thrive in rigorous and culturally responsive learning environments supported by high-quality curricular materials and evidence-based practices.

As a result of these revised Guidelines, DESE is now working in partnership with Evaluation Systems Group (ES) of Pearson to update the Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL) in alignment with the revised Guidelines and to incorporate the anti-racist leadership competencies. PAL will continue to be composed of four Tasks that educators must complete. While we are revising the content of the Tasks, the structural design of the assessment will remain the same.

Currently, revised PAL Tasks 1 and 2 are being piloted. The Department anticipates that the revised PAL Handbook will become available to candidates and educator preparation organizations in Spring of 2024, prior to the launch of the revised tasks in Fall of 2025.

We anticipate that the revised Tasks 1 and 2 will become operational in Fall of 2025. For candidates who have already passed Tasks 1 and 2 prior to this change, they will still be able to use their scores from prior Tasks 1 and 2 for the overall assessment following this change.

We will continue to provide updates on this process as they become available, but in the meantime, candidates interested in the principal/assistant principal license should be aware that revised PAL Tasks 1 and 2 are anticipated to be released and implemented in Fall of 2025.