The National Institute for School Leadership (NISL) was introduced to Virginia educators by the Virginia Foundation for Educational Leadership (VFEL) in 2013 as a national-level training program with proven records of success for school districts throughout the US in developing impactful and creative school leaders and dramatically improving student achievement. Drawing on standards from the Interstate School Leadership Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) and leadership research from the fields of medicine, law, business and military, NISL designed the “Executive Development Program” (EDP).  The NISL program incorporates best practices from the leading research on adult pedagogy and reflects the importance of job-embedded professional development.  Participants work collaboratively during case studies, simulations, role-playing, and facilitated group discussions. An individually-developed project enables each participant to reinforce concepts of the EDP, culminate their own learning, and become a resource for cohort colleagues and future school leaders. Virginia educators expanded the impact of the EDP by recommending its training as acceptable for meeting requirements for Virginia’s Principal of Distinction, Level II.