recently the australian institute for teaching and school leadership aitsl developed a national set of professional standards for school principals to provide a national framework for use in all of the country s schools and education systems as a step towards a more consistent nationwide approach the national professional standard for principals aims to define the role of school principals and to unify the profession nationally to describe the professional practice of school principals in a common language and to make explicit the role of quality school leadership for improving learning outcomes the national content standard is designed to assist in attracting developing and supporting aspiring and practising school principals