As noted in prior updates, following the 2021 revisions to the Guidelines for the Preparation of Administrative Leaders , DESE worked with Evaluation Systems Group (ES) of Pearson to update the Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL) to align it to the revised Guidelines and incorporate the anti-racist leadership competencies. The Program Year 2025-2026 Candidate Assessment Handbook is available on the PAL website under the Coming Soon section. However, candidates should not plan to submit PAL Tasks 1 and 2 using the new Candidate Assessment Handbook until the open window for the November 13, 2025 submission date.
Candidates who have been working or will work on their PAL Tasks using the Candidate Assessment Handbook from Program Years 2023-2024 or 2024-2025 must submit Tasks 1 and 2 by July 10, 2025 in order to be scored using the corresponding rubrics in the current Candidate Assessment Handbook.
Candidates who have already received a passing score on Tasks 1 and 2 prior to the transition to the revised PAL in the Fall of 2025 will continue to have their scores honored for the purposes of passing the full assessment following the transition. Per PAL policy , scores on each Task remain valid for a period of seven years from the score report date.
Please note, as has always been the policy, ES will continue to conduct originality checks for submitted PAL Tasks. Software is employed to screen submissions for originality of content. Any candidate using another candidate's work will face disciplinary action, from voiding their submission up to and including the loss of their license.